SUPREME COURT

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 85, 7 October 1931, Page 10

SUPREME COURT

QUARTERLY RETURNS

"SLUMP" IN DIVORCE

Supreme Court returns for the quarter ended 30th September and the figures for the corresponding period of last year make a rather interesting comparison.

Taking first the criminal cases, although ten persons were convicted, after trial, in each quarter, there were more acquittals in the quarter just ended . and 13 more persons sentenced under the Justices of the Peace Act, that, is, persons who had pleaded guilty and were merely before the Supreme Court for sentence. The position is interesting so far as the divorce returns are concerned. There was

a falling off under this heading which possibly may be read as a sign of the times. A slight increase is noticeable in both the number of debtors' and creditors' petitions filed in bankruptcy. The returns in respect of. civil actions sho-\y increases in the actions commenced, the amount claimed, and the amount recovered, but this is not unusual, as the third quarter of the year is regarded as the busiest.

It should be pointed out that cold statistics iv certain respects do not give a reliable indication of the business transacted at the Supreme Court, and this is accounted for by various reasons. For instance, big increases will bo noted in the amount claimed and the amount recovered in civil cases tried last quarter in comparison with the figures for the third quarter of 1930, and yet reference to the fees collected shows a reverse position. Fees collected in the quarter last year amounted to £4189 5s 7d, one of the highest, if not the highest, amounts collected in the local office. The fees collected in the quarter just ended totalled £3458 16s, the highest to date this year. Details of the returns are as follows, with those of Die 1930 quarter in parentheses:—

Criminal.—Persons convicted, 10 (10); persons acquitted, 6 (2); persons sentenced under Section ISI of the Justices of the Peace Act, 42 (29).

Divorce.—Petitions filed for restitution, 4 (3); dissolution, 37 (03); trials by Judge, 3S (47); trials by jury, 1 (2). Bankruptcy.—Debtors petitions filed, 10 (7); creditors' petitions, 7 (4); adjudications on creditors' petitions, 3 (5); discharges granted, 1 (3). Civil Actions commenced, 90 (as); actions tried by Judge, 27 (16); actions tried by jury, 2 (6); judgments for plaintiff, 19 (19); judgments for defendant, 7 (3)- amount claimed, £34.915 (£C66O); amount recovered, £27,366 (£5488).