The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1909-08-31
NEW FORM WILL Be REMEDIAL
Specialization the Order of the Day.
New Measure Provides Against De-
Gliding on Mere Technicalities-lt
Will Be Less Expensive In Operation
and Vastly More Efficient.

land. The proposed amendment, for
INFLATED by commission of lawyers
and laymen. is the result of painstak
ing effort Criticism of the plan as orig
inally prepared by them was invited,
suggestions were made by those of
our citizens who took an interest in
the subject. and these suggestions, as
far as valuable, have been incorporat-
ed in it. 1t preserves what is valuable
in the old; 1t discards what is cum
bersome and Anticipated. This will APP
pear by comparison.
There are at present five county
| courts-the common pleas, the circuit
court, the orphans court, the general
| quarter sessions and the oyer and
terminer-relics Of a bygone age. For
these have been substituted one coun-
ty court containing, generally speak
ing, the powers and jurisdiction of al
Of them. There are now four superior
courts-the supreme court "a mispo-
mer), the court of chancery, the pre-
rogative court and the court of. errors
and appeals in the last resort of all
causes These have been combined into
one supreme court having three divi-
sions, court truly supreme.
inferior Courts if Necessary.
These two courts are to be the only
constitutional courts. The legislature
is, however. autHori ed TO establish
inferior courts if they Shall be found
necessary, just as Congress is author
/ izad IN fol lich 1tfe, inf fo In
supreme court of the United States,
which derives it's being and powers
| from the federal constitution.
The scheme is characterized by sim
plicity and effectiveness. Its simple
ity cannot be questioned. Its effective
ness will appear ON little considera-
ton.
There. is to be at least one county
court for each county In the smaller
counties one will suffice; i'll the larger
there will be as many as the legisla
ture decides to be necessary.
The supreme court will consist of
three divisions-the common law, the
equity and the appellate. The justices
assigned to the common law division
will, as Of old, try jury cases. They
have almost ceased to do so now. 1t
may be said without fear of contra
diction that it was this feature of our
present system which for so many
years gave to New Jersey its preemi-
nent position in the dispensation of
fearless and impartial justice in the
courts of first instance. The best
judges sat at the circuits. They were
| able to do so until within the last ten
or fifteen years. Now their duties in
the supreme court and in the court
Of errors and appeals require their I'M
divided attention, and issues of fact
are tried by the circuit court judges.
who cannot speak with the authority,
experience and learning of the judges
of the supreme court. The new sys-
TEN will in this respect take us back
to the old order of things The SUI
preme court judges assigned to the
common law division, relieved from
appellate work, will have ample time
to try jury eases, civil and criminal,
and any sutton having an important
case will be able to bring it on before
a supreme court judge.
Specialization the Rule.
The equity division will do the work
Of the present chancellor and vice
| chancellors. These judges do not now
| sit in the court Of errors and appeals,
| and they have therefore been able to
devote themselves exclusively to the
| trial of causes. In many of the states
law and equity cases come before the
same Judge Our subdivision of labor
! is preferable and up to date. 1t makes
experts in two great but distinct
branches of our Jurisprudence. There
are a few lawyers who think that the
| same Judge should try all questions
| connected with either branch. They
| forget that such a vast and complicat-
| ed body of law as necessarily arises
out of our complicated civilization can
| not be mastered by single mind
| Specialization is the order of the day.
| AS well might one say that special
lists in medicine, in engineering in
| the arts and sciences. is unnecessary
| and that we should go back to the old
time general practitioner. The judge
| who habitually applies himself to one
branch of the law will necessarily
work more quickly and satisfactorily
| He will know more about the law of
| that branch. will decide more prompt
", will make fewer mistakes and will
| thus diminish the necessity for and
! cost of appeal The equity judge tries
cases without a jury; hence there Is
considerable practical convenience in
separating such cases from those that
are tried with a jury. Because he has
a panel Of jurymen on his hands, main
tanned at large expense to the county,
the Judge compelled to try both classes
of cases will almost necessarily give
the preference to jury cases, although
the equity cases may be the more
pressing and important.
The appellate division, composed OF
seven judges, to be selected by the
governor from out of the entire court,
is a very important part of the general
scheme. The present court of errors
and appeals now consists of the chan
cellor, all the justices of the supreme
court and six additional judges, known
as lay judges Until recently these
six judges were in fact laymen I'M
versed in the law. Now some of them
are laymen and some of them lawyers
who are or may be in active practice.
The system is Objectionable because
1t gives an equal vote to those who
know the law and those who do not.
1t Is an anomaly that a case in our
highest court, where the judges are
divided in opinion, may be decided by
the votes of those who have never
studied the law and who do not pro-
fess to know what the law is. 1t may
be doubted whether in this age the
highest court of any state here or In
Europe has in this regard such con-
stitution. Moreover, a court of six
teen is too numerous The supreme
court of the United States contains
only nine judges, that of the populous
state of New York only seven. The
highest court of the other states con-
tains. as a rule, from three to FIVE. But
the chief objection to the court as at
present constituted is that 1t cannot
give proper consideration to the cases
that come before It, The lay judges
are neither expected nor paid to give
their whole time to its work. The
chancellor has his own work to do in
the court of chancery, and the justices