GRAND JURIES.

West Coast Times, Issue 302, 11 September 1866, Page 2

GRAND JURIES.

Jn hj[s charge to the Grand Jury at, Dunedin, delivered by Mr Justice Chap- , man on the 3rd instant, his Honor thus referred to the new Act of" the General Assembly, empowering the foreman of the Grand Jury, or any other member of that body authorised to act on his behalf, to administer oath* to witnesses :—: — Mr Foreman and gentlemen of the Grand Jury,— An Act was lately passed, and it received the Governor's assent on the 10th August, entitled, *i An Act for Amending the Law of Evidence and Prac- , tice on Criminal Trials, and" for Facilitating the despatch of Business before Grand Juries* There are three clausefe of that Act-which affect the mode of sending witnesses to the Grand Jury — which, in fact, empower a Grand Jury to administer an oath — a power which they did not possess at common law. The first nine sections .of the Act do zidt affect your functions ; but the remaining three (thd ioth, llth, and 12th) are so important that I will read them to you, and then make some brief observations upon them. The 10th section is as follows : —

From and after the passing of the Act,*it shall be lawful for the Toreman df every Grand Jury empaneled in the colony, and he is hereby authorised and required to administer an oath to all persona whomsoever who shall appear before such Grand Jury to »give evidence in support of any bill of indictment, and ali such persons attending before any. Grand Jury to give evidence may be sworn and examined upon oath by such Grand Jury touching the matters in question; and every person taking any oath or affirmation iv support of any bill of indictment, who shall wilfully swear or affirm falsely, be deemed guilty of^ perjury ; and the name of any witness so examined, or intended to be so examined, shall be endorsed on such bil 1 of indictment, and the Foreman- of eachGrand Jury shall write his initials against the name of each witness so sworn and examined touching such bill of indictment Provided, that upon the written order of the presiding Judge, but not otherwise, any other witness may be sworn and examined by and before the Grand Jury, though the name of the witness may not have been endorsed on the bill of indictment.

Formerly, as you are aware, all the witnesses were sworn in open Court. That was necessary, because the Grand Jury had not the power to administer an "* oath ; their functions beiug merely ancillary to the proceedings of the Court, and, strictly speaking, no p^rt of it — their examination being merely an inquisition or inquiry, and always held in some remote room of the Court building. Now, howjever, all the delay and inconvenience of marshalling and swearing the witnesses in Court will be avoided. You are sufficiently acquainted with the mode of drawing up. bills of indictment, .to know that' the names of witnesses to be called ate usually endorsed at the back of a bill. It is competent to you to examine all the witnesses in each case, whose names are so endorsed; but if the Crown Prosecutor desires to send before you a witness whose name is so endorsed, it will bo necessary for him to obtain the consent of the Judge, and that consent will be delivered to you in writing. Without such consent, you will' remember that you are no^ entitled, to examine any witnesses except those whose names appear at the back of the bill. I will ask you, also, to be very careful with respect to another provision made in this section, namely, that the Foreman, or the juror who acts' in that capacity — for you wll find "that one of the sections I shall read to y s ou refers to that ' pomt — puts his initials against the name 6f each witness examined. The 11th tion is this :—: — < 1 rom and after the passing of this Act,, it shall not be necessary for any person to take an oath in open Court, to qualify' such person to give evidence before any , Grand Jury. Then comes the interpretation clause, of which only this portion bears, at all upon your duties: — And the word " Foreman" in this Act shall include 'any .member of such Grand • Jury who may for the time being act-on. behalf of such* Foreman iv the examine-, tion of witnesses in support of any -bill of "indictment. And the word " oath" in this A.ct shall include affirmation, when by law such affirmation is required or allowed to be taken in lieu of an oath.