Lord Kenyon, as the son of a Law Lord, writes
thus to the Standard, on the assertion imputed to Lord Wharncliffe and Lord Brougham, that the Law Lords constitute the court of appeal in the House of Peers-
" I well remember an instance occurring, when Lord Loughborough, Chan- cellor, Lord Thurlow, Ex-Chancellor, and Lord Walsingham, constituted the House on judgment being given in an appeal. Lord Walsingham gave hie vote with the Chancellor. There must be three Peers to constitute a House ; and there being only two Law Lords present, the vote of the Lay Peer, as they differed, must determine the judgment. To say that no Lay Peer ought to vote on any case of appeal, might be to prevent any judgment whatever being given, It may be smatter of delicacy in what cases Lay Peers may determine whether they will vote or not ; and there can he no doubt that if they do so, they should try to enforce the best-founded legal decision. Whether they have judged correctly in the case of O'Connell, I will not presume to say."
Previous page
