THE IRISH CRIMES ACT.
THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] Sut,—In your first leading article on the 23rd inst., in alludingto the proposed renewal of certain portions of the Irish CrimesAct, you say that the provisions of that Act which it is proposed to renew, ought, in your opinion, to be extended to England and Scotland. In thus writing you are, of course, unaware that two of the provisions which, it is understood, are intended to be renewed,--viz., power to change the venue and power to examine witnesses with the view to discover a crime without charging anyone as the criminal,—already exist in Scotland, inasmuch as the Lord-Advocate can order any case from any part of Scotland, which in the ordinary course would be tried at the next local Assizes, or Circuit Court, as it is called in Scotland, to be tried before the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh ; and the Procurator Fiscal (the local Public Prosecutor) can and does constantly investigate crimes before any one is charged with the crime, and if he considers it necessary, he can -examine witnesses on oath, although this last power is very seldom exercised. Now, it seems to me a little odd that no Scotch Member of Parliament, although there are several lawyers in the House, has ever mentioned this fact. I doubt if anything will reconcile the Irish Members to any of the provisions of the Crimes Act being re-enacted; but the fact that the powers I mentioned exist in Scotland, excite no complaint, and are found in practice to work well, might reconcile them to the continuation of these provisions if anything would.—I am, Sir, &c.,
A Scoica LAMTS.R.
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