The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : In
the matter of Law Reform the Government has a highly commendable record. In recent years there has been a whole series of enactments designed to remove anomalies and cut away the dead wood. Major Milner was not far short of the mark when he observed that a silent revolution is being effected in the law and legal practices of this country. Nevertheless it must be confessed that the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which came before the House of Commons on Monday, is a somewhat disappointing measure. There are still a number of counties where the chairmen and deputy-chairmen of Quarter Sessions have no legal qualifications whatever. Everyone, except possibly the Justices concerned, agrees in condemning this state of affairs. No doubt there is something still to be said for a lay magistracy in courts of summary jurisdiction. But a system which permits a lay magistrate to preside over trials on indictment and to direct the jury on complicated points of law can scarcely be defended. The Government now proposes that it shall be open to Quarter Sessions in such cases to apply to the Lord Chancellor for the appointment of a qualified chairman who will receive a salary from county funds. In other words, such a change will be merely optional, and trials in these important tribunals may still be conducted by persons who have no sort of training in, or professional experience of, the administration of justice. The legal Members in all parts of the House joined in criticising the inadequacy of these provisions. As on pre- vious occasions the demand for reform of the law seemed to come almost entirely from the lawyers.
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