Connecticut western news., 1879-12-31
The L0W's Delays.

The new Practice Act' goes into effect
 the lst of January and the commencement of
 this new era in our practice would seem to be
 overhaul our judicial machinery and see if it
 is not possible to effect some much-needed re-
 forms The people are entitled to speedy jus
 tice. Some delay of course is inseparable
 from any system, but when delays can be
 avoided as well as not it is the duty of the
 Legislature to apply the remedy. The Litch-
 field Enquirer of last week, whose editor is an able and experienced lawyer as well as edltor,
 had some suggestions which struck us as be-
 ing well worthy of consideration. We cannot
 give the article entire on account of it's length,
 but we take the liberty of giving the follow
 ing extracts
 So great has been the delay of business in
 the courts that frequent propositions have
 been before the legislature for an increase in
 the number of Superior Court Judges. Litch-
 field County, especially, has grave ground of exception to the present mode of conducting
 business in the Superior Court. For B year past there has been scarcely any trials of or.
 dinary civil cases. Even those cases which are by law entitled to preference have not had speedy disposition, but cumber our dock- cts, and make the trial of cases not entitled to preference practical lmpossibility, The chief occasion of this delay has been the shortness of terms, and the interference of criminal busi- ness. How then is the citizen to get that speedy justice which is his right? Plainly not by any existing methods. An increase of.the Superior Court bench is the remedy us- ually proposed. If hy the addition of two or three new judges the laws inevitable delay can be shortened year, it will be we'll worth the State the $SO0O or $l2,0OO it will cost in additional salaries.
 Our own opinion is that great relief can be effected without trying any new experi- ments, or mourning any new expense, simply by return to old methods. Until 1855 all the work of the Supreme and Superior Court was done, and certainly as speedily and as we'll done as now, by five judges. This wa, made possible by the old system of County Courts which did nearly all the criminal busi- ness, and much of the less important civil business, now crowding the dockets of our Superior Court. There was one great evil. however, in the fact that an appeal lay in most civil cases from County to Superior Court, upon which there was not only a re. b airing of the law. but an entire new trial usually by jury, of the facts It was this bur. den of double trials of fact which broke down the old county courts. .
 After the county courts were abolished | there were at first but two courts of general | jurisdiction known to our law; Superior and | Supreme. The rehearing of fact involved un. der tle cid system was avoided, but the dock | ets of the Superior Court became over:rowd- l sd and Common Pleas Courts were establish | ed in four of the eight counties in the State f}lp in Tp ! he constitution of these courts the old diff | ,ulty of rehearings of fact in the Superior Court was avoided by allowing revision of er- 'ors on points of law in the Supreme Court ,nly, but no rehearing of fact. D. ..
 Unfortunately, as it seems to us, auxiliary ,ourts were given no criminal jurisdiction. As awyers well know, the trial of criminals sell lom requires the high judicial attainments called for in the disposition of civil 'ases. To set judges of inferior courts trying 'ivil business, and judges of superior courts rying ordinary erissinats is little, less than ab- urd. As a necessary sequence from this fun lamental error the Superior Court has had leither the amountnor tile kind of relief it leeded. Common Pleas judges have been rying civil causes involving property to the mount of $lOO0, while Superior Court judges ave been at the far simpler work of trying ommon assaults, and mere jail offences. Ap- eal from any justice decision lay to the Com 1on Pleas court in civil case, but to the Su- erior court in the simpler criminal case.
 Will it not be wiser, then, to give the Su eror Court precisely the relief it most needs { y establishing system of inferior courts of , riminal jurisdiction? Eight, and perhaps , ,ss, competent judges, at salaries averaging 2oOO each, would easily accomplish this. In Il the counties but Hartford and New Haven lese judges could be given jurisdiction of lstice appeals, and civil causes under per aps $3OO, and thus dispense with the need oI ommon Pleas courts in Fairfield and New ondon counties, and of the District Court in itchfield county. The Superior Court wo. Id len have no criminal business, except that a uperor Court judge should sit with the 4 'unty court judge in capital cases, and there ould seem little doubt but that the business A that and of the Supreme Court could be by eight judges. This plan, it
 estimated, would be saving in salaries to
 e amount of $l9,OoO, while it would relieve e Superior Court of petty civil and criminal a lsiness. .