The Express. — 1859-02-10 (London, England)

LAW AMENDMENT SOCIETY.  On Monday evening a special meeting of the Law Amendment Society wee held, in the society's rooms, Waterloo-place, fur the porpoise of considering the present state of the law relative to coroners,' and magistrates courts, and the necessity for .1 measure of redone, so as to prevent the existence of a jarring juri&lietien between the two courts, and, at the same tune, to consider the derrirabWty of placing the coroner's °thee in a more independent position. The Right Hon. Lord B101:011AX presided. Mr. HASTINGS, the secretary, opened the proceedings by reading a paper, in which the author (Mr. Dempsey) spoke of the question ariaing as to the desirability of enu.ely remodelling the whole system pursued in this ancient and useful office, or of extending the duties of the coroner so as to nut= his office en =foiling check upon crime, a powerful limitary engine, sad ohe et the greatest boons founded by a liberal end wine administration. Although the law held the coroner reeporasibles wader a Ilse, for not holding *Me= when called ape'', yet county magistrates bad, through a power they pomesed, been in the cot:latent h shit is many counties of disallowing the corners' fees; and to such a eerie= pitch had this met.= arrived, that istuests bad not been held in csses the law Imperatively d red= they should be when coroners allowed tbeevelvee to be trammelled by the county megistrates, and the consequence was the low wee evaded and justice might be easily hoodwinked. Very remedy such a oats of things was brought under the nodes of the Homeerflice as occurring in Kent. The coroner had no protection at veleta against such magisterial interference ; and the time bad arrived when some more &finite and intelligible rule, should be laid down for the guidance of the coroner and the protection; of the court. After speaking of the coroner's as • people's court, " a shield menet oppression sad lajeetice," and drawing attention to its being a watchful guardian over the =alto of the community at large, the author observed It was highly uncalled for, dmprom to permit a meddle.onie intertersece on the slot the • magistrates, both mhe meaty and stipendiary. T • !mule tor ages, it may be truthfully said, his cocaine= • odium of corm= a whe sad salutary check upon crime, sad a great protection W the people, imperially m terse their health and Yves are esnewned, sae thureLrs why megistesial Minket:cies? He would have the colorises sam foe and net paid by foes ; be would give to the coroner's court a supervision over chemists and druggists in the mile of poisons end Oreg., and the adulteration of food, se being ' injurious to the public health, shooed be an indictable effence through the eour. at the querier eles'one. Inv,etigatiot sin all sanitary matters should he left with the roan, and prin..' chial officials should he severely dear with where death arese from the r negker, cruelly, or Indifference. An importer.* checge 'ha with .r further prop oaf as regards intaniocide and c morale, rat of bath. A cam of Infanticide was under enduing eireurostenese very hard to prove; but he would check infentioble by obtaining a wider delbetion of marmotmeat of birth, and punishing emeraly for the minor offence. In Bootle= the law was much clearer on this subject, sod there could be no doubt a Loge population was thereby saved to mhstreer to the et ote, for the law there had it to be concealment of birth not only where the body was maosaled alter death, but where the mother rionerand her pregnant condition for a curtain pitied before coaanemest. as it was wiled she thus probably soul l sacrifice the child's life by not having tuAnal and other ON ammo at hand at the time of birth. Then it was proposed to abol Mt inquiry Into the state of mind of persons INK, had oommitted suicide, and the author in comlusion proposed to estatiluh a coroner oysters io Scotland. .  A long dirruionon toot place upon tire pinto treated of in the paper of Mr. Dempsey, in the tours* of ethic& the sear eity of =king moo iniportent eltrati in in the Meat of twofer for am inane's' to the positive of that °Meer, wan ittroonly inalatodoe. It wen decidei to apFoiata c aramitteo to otaimulir and retort on the matters conhontd in the paper. The await g then adjourned.