LEGAL CASE.—BRANDON V. SHAW.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3908, 29 January 1884, Page 3

LEGAL CASE.—BRANDON V. SHAW.

Wellington, This day. Referaico was made at the Supremo Court yesterday to the civil suit of Brandon v. Shaw,- which had been held over in tbe hope that it would be settled out of Court. Mr Chapman mentioned that the parties were exceedingly ■ anxious to settle the matter, but unfortunately it was necessary that the case should proceed to trial. ' Mr Justice Richmond remarked that from what ho know of tho case he did not think he' : should try it without a jury if he could help it. He was altogether against doing so, and if he had power to declare, as he rather thought he had, he should order a trial by a jury. : It was, he added, entirely opposed to his good will that cases of libel, slander, malicious prosecution, breaches of promiso of marriage, and- so on ehquM b ? tried wi,th.ot}t g, iurj|.. lffp,t that it 'was agreed that a juty'.*as tiie best mean., of ascertaining the truth, No ono was disposed to think that—but it was the 1 best means of giving confidence to the pooplo in regard td the administration of justice-, while It also preserved the Bench from a load of odium which it would be utterly unable to bear in a free'country. The verdicts of juries were soon, forgotten, but the decisions-of judges, romaiuod, aad wero romeip i<s

years. After looking over the rules, His Honor said he thought that this being a case which would necessarily affect personal character profoundly, he had the power to order it to be tried before a jury, but ho would cnauire further. _ In the Supreme Court this morning, Mr Chapman, solicitor for the plaintiffs, again mentioned the case of Brandon and Brandon v Shaw, applying to have a date fixed for the trial. Mr Gully, for the deficient, insisted on the case being tried before a jury, and the trial was therefore postponed until after the close of the long vacation.