Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/287

 The constitution of the Criminal Court needed revision. J ** To propose a promiecuons, or indeLul a reatriL'tod^ aeleelkm of jiiryinen I from among the preatjnt inhabitants, exclusive of office rg, ifoeB not appear at all adxisable, although I have no douht that in twenty nr thirty-" years that extension of Ktitrliiih JLirinprudeute miiat be necessivrily carried that far., . . At present i Criminal Court consist^s of the J utlge- Advocate hud BIX otficera of Hib Majesty's sea or land forces, who act both as judge and jury, moat certainly the wisest mode for administerinfj justice in the very inffuifc state of the colony. But as it has increased in numbers and jarring interests have (as in every other part of the world) shown the I necessity of those trials being eompo«ed of different orders, I humbly pre- Ijliinie it W'ould be advisable, instead of tlie .Judge- Advocate and six officers 'of His ]Majestys sea or hmd forcest to introduce into the patent the Judge- Advocate and six membera to be composed from among the officers of iiia Majesty's sea and land forces, officers of the civil department, or re- spectable merchants^ or other inhabitants who came to the colony free. ., , As our Criiriiiuil Courts, that are to decide on the life of His ^Majesty's subjeet«r are at present composed entirely of one (lescriptiou of arsons, it certainly will be more satisfactory to the inhabitants ana colony iLirge to see every advance towards complete Trial by Jury. The pngemeiit I have the hononr to }»ropose would be gratefully received, fl humbly conceive that the knowledge and abilities of a professional man will he thought as necessary foi' the president of the Criminal Court, which has to decide on the life of the subject, an for the same person who, In the Civil Court, has to decide on his property,'* To prove the iieeesaity of having a professional president, and some admb^ture in the composition of the court, he cited a recent case, in which an assistant-surgeon apphed for a court-martial upon the principal surgeon for assault. King dechned to grant it, alleging that the matter might be tried in the ordinary court as an offence against statute. The complainant brought his case into a Criminal Court com- I posed of officers of the New South Wales Corps. The pro- 'aecutor's witness proved that the prosecutor was the aggressor. The defendant proved that he acted in self- -defence* The com-t acquitted the defendant, and without any reason assigned sentenced him to find security to keep the peace for three years, or be committed to gaol- «ccased ought to have been the prosecutor, woiUd have been sufficient grounds for me to have extender! the powers delegated to me by exonerating Mr. Jamison, w^hiuli 1 did not choose to do/'. . . *' But It has operated with me as a very suihoient reason for thus respectfully suggesting the necessity of a professional man being placed here as Judge- " Singularly enough the Act 4 Oco. IV. cap. 96 providing that, on the application of plaintiff and defendant, cases should be tried by jury, was ed twenty yeara after tliia written anticipation, — VrovWi l-o ^^.
 * So extraordinary a sentence being attached to a committal, where the