Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-05
Proposed Substitution for the Roman
System.
ANGLO-SAION METHODS OPPOSED
Declared to Be Antagonistic to
Justice.
ASON FOR SECRECY


| least IN importance Is the question OF GRIM
inal jurisprudence. That the substitution
of the Anglo Saxon system for that hereto
fore In vogue mere is not looked upon with
favor by the Havana bar is pretty vel!
known by this time. and a careful study
of the question leads to the conclusion that
it will be some time yet before the problem
is solved.
AS there two sides to every question.
SO with this and it has been no easy task
| to obtain disinterested opinions of both,
| which at the same time would be entitled
to weight. In this instance the case for
the plaintiff is presented by Venezuelan
| lawyer of ripe years and mature judgment.
| Educated in Madrid and Paris and long
a resident of the United States, he has
| practiced in the courts of his own country
and Mexico and his standing here Is high.
| If his language should be deemed intern
perate at times all there Is to be said about
it is that his expressions are mi k and
| water compared to those of the average
Cuban lawyer on the same subject. Fol
| lowing is the gst of several conversations
| with him:
Roman System Not Comprehended.
ct is unfortunate for Cuba at this time
that not one American lawyer in a thou
sand understands the Latin system of GRIM
inal jurisprudence. The opinions of bench
and bar on the Dreyfus case. published
| in the American press, are, l think, sutii-
cient proof of this assertion. Were 1t 9TH
erwse you may be assured that no such
| subverslon of the laws of the land would
| ever have been contemplated, much less
put in force during the military occupa-
ton of the country. 1t is to every legal
mind throughout the Latin-American world
| the substitution of brute force for justice.
| The inSenSate talk of temporary residents
| of the country of the horrors of the in
| communicate system is largey responsible
| for the present state of affairs. l would
that the American people understood just
! what fncommuncado really is Founded
! upon all that is best in the laws of an
! cient Rome as coditied by Justinian it is
part of the system used today by all civil
| lied nations outside of Great Britain and
| the United States of America If l were
asked to define it's virtues in few words
! should use the famous saying of General
Grant: Let no guilty man escape
Reasons for Secrecy.
"A man accused of crime under our laws
| is arrested and detained in prison. He
| is not permitted to place himself in COM
| muncation with others, and contrive some
| scheme by which he may defeat the ends
| of justice. This is the famous 'incommuni-
| cado' about which such a bother has been
| made. There are two stages in the trial.
| In both all testimony is taken down in
| writing. There is no need In the first stage
| of his trial for the accused to know of
| sists, nor even for him to know the crime
| for which he is charged.
| "A great ado has been made in the
United States and by misinformed persons
here because the proceedings of the first
! stage of a prisoners trial are held in Sc
| cret The answer to this is that the prac-
| tice has been sanctioned by custom. which
| is stronger than any law, and that it has
always been found to work well. Besides.
| the second stage Of the trial is public, and
| all the proceedings of the first are then
| made known. There must be some secrecy
| about the process of ascertainlng the guilt
| or innocence of the accused, as Is borne
| out by the manner of conducting affairs in
| your own grand jury system.
Lynchings Are Unknown.
| 81 have studied the Anglo-Saxon crimi-
| nal laws, and have no hesitation whatever
| in saying that ours are in every way su-
! perior to them in accomplishing the ends
| of Justice To my mind the ripest fruit of
; your system is the court presided over by
Judge Lynch. No such revolving crimes
| committed in the name of justice have ever
been perpetrated In any country ruled by
Roman law as the lynchings which occur
so frequently in your highly civilized
United States.
Again. it is a matter of common knowl-
edge that murderers caught red handed,
who have escaped conviction through some
techniCality, because of some eloquent
advocates appeal to the feelings OF the
Jury are common all over your country.
1t is not so with US. 1t is not to be sup
posed that with these glazing defects Cuban
lawyers will submit without protest to the
abrogation of the laws under Whlcn JUS
tice has been administered since the cOun-
trv has been first settled. Military law Is
pa ra mount here now, and until 1t Is super
seeded by some form of civil government
chaos will reign. But the time will come
when the old order of things VIII return
| and meanwhile the legal fraternity has
adopted the doctrine of passive resistance
The other Side.
The other side-the case for the defense
is presented by a distinguished American
jurist. temporarily sojourning here, who
has had excellent opportunities for study
ing the laws of the country, and has
availed himself of his privileges.
He says: The two systems of procedure
in criminal cases are so utterly different
that any comparison between them is
matter of difficulty. Comparing great
things with small. it might be said that
the difference is something like that which
exists in the dishes of the two countries. L
have prejudice in favor of American
cooking which same cooking | am entirely
willing to believe would be repugnant to
the Spanish-Amercan palate, for the simple
reason that their culinary efforts have no
charm for me.
No Regard for Individual Rights.
IN the same way, | am reluctantly COM
PEELED to say that after careful study [ can
find nothing in the Roman system of GRIM
inal Jurisprudence to admire. l have tried
to divest myself of prejudice in this mat
ter and bring to the work impartial
mind. But the result has not been salts
factory to me. 1t Is difficult task for one
educated under system to see any good
in mething which is the exact opposite.
They seem to have little no regard for
the rights of the individual. Trial by jury
is unknown here. A is arrested,
thrown into prison. kept in solitary con-
tinement during longer shorter period.
is secretly examined by a Judge whose sole
duty seems to be to convict and is not
even allowed the privilege of counsel until
his public trial, which takes place at the
pleasure of the Judge. 1t should be under
stood that this is not Spanish outrage in
Cuba. On the contrary, the same system is
in vogue in all the Latin American coun-
tries. Such thing permitting a pris-
oner to be released on bail is of course I'M
known and the habeaS corpus act has
place in their code. The defects in their
system from point of view are many
and great. But I am far from believing
that they should be forced to submit to
such a complete change in their laws as the
imposition of our methods in criminal trials
would involve. 1t seems to me that Con-
gress in its wisdom will evolve some plan
l