TRIAL BY JURY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 13 June 1913, Page 4

TRIAL BY JURY.

Important reamuswradaiiaiie regwfdiag tha j«ry sjrsteaa.vtt* «*4ained in a report oi a sjwo»4 * cwwaittea pre* issued fay tha Hmo Offeft. In the caao. a# aa absent inrymaa it is i»aggested that the trial should be allow, ed ttt proceed with the other 11. .Occupiers of fiats, also the hnsbandg of women who pay rates, will be made liabla for jury serrieo if the new idea* come into faroa, and the State wili psrj expenses. Jury "bah will not to sumnioned more than once In threa years. The majority report confcaiHS 46 proposals and suggestions for the amendment of tha law and practice relating to juries. The most important recommendation is that- in certain common lav cases tha right to trial by jury shall be moils less absolute. Two members of fchtt committee, Messrs Harrison and Ghrynne, dissent strongly, and contend that this amounts to the abolition of the rights to trial by jury. The minority report urge 8 greater and more drastic changes than the majority suggest, on tlia ground that it is neoesssary to adapt the jury system to modern needs. The majority report again states that the present law is not regarded afl satisfactory. The statutes are confused and obsei.vi, and there ha« been a decided failure to keep pace with the changing conditions. •Tt also claimed that persons in good positions have methods of escaping service oB juries.