THE MAN IN THE DOCK

Shannon News, 5 July 1929, Page 4

THE MAN IN THE DOCK

Relic of Barbarism It i> a'curious thing in a Cu;::' of Justice to-day to see everybody suited at ease except the one r:an er woman most in need of eomf ft. I f.m inclined to til ink I "rial the- dock is a relic of barbarism, and the law should -runt to a prisoner the sr,me degree of ennu'eirt that, it odors to hii jurors. \\( no longer style an unconvicted man a "culprit" as our grandtathers did. but we trrat hi.a as one, .vhich i* jv. t :ui ■iHt'aiiv To understand, why this is so wt .:11-st s.;ady the '-t up and Fccnery ot .u.cient. C.'«u:':s of Jus,:;;.'?. Ir. the e-rue-st courts, ci' which we have pic-iiu-ps o:ih\ the judges, au.l sometimes, t.'uOr clerk, had xivM' to sit on., The julgo, who the king, took a. seat, .if there \vr..s'o:ir, aud, as it is not etiquette court:-;, for r.:iy to sit uninvited in Un; icing's prepuce, arid a- there was'" a sv-ruity of stools to si- un. every ;>:ie else stood afrr.U'.d. _ Even in the e.v:!^ed-days o; Elizabeth an:! hto ir.tc thl> seventeenth century,, a judge of n*sizo aU in soma great 'hall **iu a-tribunal or place ox judgment made aloft on the''. Irghest bench." The justices a? Hl-j peace had lower benches and the clerk of ii-tsce and the under-sherilf sat, at a fible beneath, where the sergeant also sat. This table was within-the "bar, which was a !ra::s:i:n p'ueed beyond-it. There was then no dock ami no jurybox, an-.l everyone but thes'r- few privileged -pr-op'e stoo.. during *..v \.hole "proceedings.'_ ' Behind the bar the jury stood, and behind the jury was a further bar, "and there stand the prisoners, which will be brought by the jailer, all •chained one to another." At a later date thte prisoner is placed on a raised, platform. This had railings put round it and was called a pew, but it gradually enlarged into the dock as we now know it.

At the Old Bailey there was a room in the corner of the court called the bsil-clock. This was a kind of reservoir for prisoners, kept ready to be brought-to the bar, and when the pcw : at the bar was made large enough the bail-dock was no longer needed, arid the bar was colled the dock. But the prisoner stands at the railings of the dock to-day because in'the eye of the law he is still standing a + . the bar., There he must stand for all time unless Parliament or, the judges decree that he shall bo treated like other unconvicted citizens. When Ca.ptain Douglas in 1840' was tried for taking part in a duel, Thesigcr, his counsel, applied to Mr Justice Williams, that he might be seated near him in the custody of the sheriff. But the judge rightly decided „that he "-'iild not make v any distinctions between one person and another. So he .rid to stand in the dock, but at his cqucst three personal friends were alii.'wed to Stand, with him for company luring the trial. Mary Queen of Scots at her trial had .: chair placed within the bar for her accommodation, but that has never been made a precedent for the convenience of common citizems. Hu-ne Tooke, is 1794, when tried for treason, put. up a strong argument as to the inconvenience of the dock as a place from which an innocent , man can adequately instruct '. his counsel. But all the judges were sitern for the law. He, however, had mentioned illhealth, and Lord Chief Justice Eyre said that if his plea was on that grouud it might be listened to. Tooke wisely expressed his readiness to accept a seat near his counsel as an.indulgence '' very acceptable and neces-•wiry-'for his health," and the judges after consultation permitted him to-do so. i When the jury were allowed to leave I the bar and sit in a. jury box at the side of the court I do not know. It was some time in the eighteenth century, and probably the practice arose in civil courts and was adopted later in criminal courts. To-day when a judge enters everyone stands to greet him, and when he has bowed to thorn and taken his seat they take their seats, not perhaps as. cf legal right, but *by courtesy of long standing, if one may put it so. Whether a modern Jefferies could compel a juryto stand during a trial is, I think, very doubtful. ,' But the prisoner's prohibition of sitting is clearly law to-day. Mr Maurice Healy at Derby Assize's recently argued in favour,, of the right of a prisoner to be seated when the rest of the public took their seats. He contended, with very much show of reason,, that the courtesy extended by the judge to the citizeHs in court, where he was the representative of the Crown, ought to be extended to all alike, a.nd therefore to include the man in the dock. Mr Justice Horridge ruled that "unless there was some special reason prisoners should stand." This, I think i? sound law. But is not the question really one of good manners? And- why should not the judges pass a resolution in favour of further and better courtesy towards the man in the dock? — Sir Edward Parry, in t/he "'Morning Post.'