Page:The Public Records and The Constitution.djvu/26

22 House of Lords—became the highest Court of Appeal for the rest.

The Channel Islands, which formed a part of the original possessions of the Conqueror, were unaffected by the growth of the English Courts of Justice, and the English Parliament. There was an appeal from their own Courts to the King of England, who had originally been Duke of Normandy; and the tribunal for hearing the Appeals was eventually the King in Council, which still directly represented the Norman Duke and his Court or Council in one of its aspects. The Channel Islands being the King's possessions beyond the sea, the analogy was applied to the King's possessions beyond the sea acquired at a later time; and an appeal lies, in the last resort, from the Courts of all the Colonies, and of India, to the Sovereign in Council. Thus we see how the Imperial Idea, of which so much has been heard of late, has been made to fit in with the traditions handed down from the time of William the Conqueror.

This jurisdiction has long been entrusted to a Committee known as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Council, which, after hearing the causes, makes a report to the Sovereign in Council, upon which report judgement is given.

The principle of appointing Committees of the Council which is, in fact if not in name, as old as the Courts of Common Pleas, and King's Bench, has developed, and is still developing in various other directions.

One of the best known Committees of the Council is the Committee appointed for the consideration of matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations, which has, since the year 1861, been known simply as the Board of Trade. The germ of this Committee can be traced back as far as the reign of Edward III, when power was given to the Chancellor and Treasurer, with others of the King's Council, to prolong the term limited by an Act of Parliament for the exportation of wool.

The use of the word Committee is of much more