IN VIEW OF ALL this it is welcome news that
Mr. Butler has appointed a committee under Lord Tucker to inquire whether any restraint should be placed on the publication of proceedings before examining justices. Lord Tucker's committee will consider the whole question thoroughly, but a law on these lines would combine the advantages both of present English practice and the practice of Scotland and Northern Ireland : preliminary pro- ceedings to be in public and reported in the press unless the Defence object. if they do object, the public and the press should be allowed to remain in court but no report of the proceedings should be published. If the magistrates commit for trial, the proceedings would remain unreported; but if they decide there is no case to answer, reports of the proceedings could then be published.
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