Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 2).djvu/90

 Some of the magistrates, no doubt, merely occupy their positions on the bench for the gratification of their own vanity; but there are others who perform their duties ably and conscientiously for the public good, and these are certainly deserving of the thanks of the community. It is the incompetent men, swayed by class prejudices, who, by their absurdly vindictive sentences in labour disputes, trespass and poaching cases, and the like, bring the whole body into disrepute. Perhaps, if it were necessary for those young gentlemen who aspire to the dignity of a magistrate to first obtain a call to the Bar, many of the present evils might be mitigated.

The Quarter Sessions are established in all the counties, including the county of London and other county boroughs, as well as in certain Quarter Session boroughs. In the small boroughs where there are no Quarter Sessions, the appeal from petty sessions goes to the Quarter Sessions of the county in which the borough is situate. Besides its appellate jurisdiction, the Quarter Sessions constitutes a court for the trial of those criminal cases that are not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court. In London the Court is presided over by a salaried officer known as the Assistant-Judge; in some boroughs the Recorder presides, and in the counties there is usually an unpaid justice called the Chairman. All the cases are heard before a jury. The Quarter Sessions in the provinces are usually attended by a numerous Bar, chiefly composed of the younger men on each circuit, together with a few more experienced barristers who have never emerged from criminal work. A prisoner unable to employ a solicitor to instruct counsel is entitled to secure the services of a barrister by handing a guinea over the dock, and many young advocates do a brisk trade in what are termed "dockers." It would be a great gain if the State were to provide for the proper defence of prisoners, who are undoubtedly at a great disadvantage when opposed by astute criminal lawyers. In Scotland a system prevails by which every prisoner can secure the services of counsel; whereas in this country they are left entirely to their own resources, and there can be little doubt that a miscarriage of justice is too often the result. It has often been advocated that the jurisdiction of Quarter Sessions should be extended so as to include some of those more serious cases that can now only be tried before a judge of assize; and this would undoubtedly relieve the pressure on the High Court judges. But, until the presiding officer is of a higher type than the ordinary Chairman of Quarter Sessions (some of whom, however, are very capable men), it would be unwise to enlarge the jurisdiction. Probably the County Court judges—who, at present, have ample leisure—might, if better men were obtained, be entrusted to preside at Quarter Sessions with extended jurisdiction; and certainly, if a Court of Criminal Appeal were established, such a scheme as this would be open to no objection.

The judges of the High Court go on assize four times a year to try those more serious cases which are outside the jurisdiction of the Quarter Sessions, and also to deliver the gaols of such prisoners as, whatever their offence, have been committed for trial since the previous Quarter Sessions.

And while the judges are away on assize, the Common Law work of the Metropolis is, as we have previously pointed out, absolutely at a standstill. Even at the Assize Court it is doubtful whether adequate justice is always done; it certainly depends in a great degree on the individual temperament of the judges. The extraordinary disparity between the sentences passed by different judges for offences of the same gravity gives rise to continual comment. It seems strange, indeed, that the judges and chairmen of Quarter Sessions have not conferred together to lay down some approximate rule as a guidance in the measure of their punishments. Some