The Lord Chancellor gave notice on Thursday that he should
take the sense of the Peers on the propriety of creating a Court of Appeal, to be called the Imperial Supreme Court of Appeal-.-- why not "Supreme Court" only ?—which should absorb the judicial functions of the Lords and of the Judicial Committee of Privy Council. There is no doubt of the public approval of a plan which will give the Empire a much-needed Court, and enable us gradually to allow an appeal from all Courts upon im- portant questions of law and public policy to a tribunal of much more authority than either the Lords or the Committee, but there is doubt about the approval of the Lords. It is vain to deny that it will diminish their prerogative somewhat, for with it will depart their privilege of being tried only by their own House, while it is unfortunately not certain that the new Court will have sufficiently impressive rank. If it has, if it contains five judges, two of them jurists rather than lawyers, if they are invested with distinct precedence above all other judges, and if they receive salaries of not less than £8,000 a year—it ought to be £10,000 — the Court will be a great benefit to the Empire, able to revise, to connect, and to give life to the body of decisions, often conflicting, which make up English Law.
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