SUPREME COURT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5196, 2 December 1895, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.

HIS HONOR'S CHARGE. Zfy lehgraph.—Press Associativa. Wellington', Monday.

In charging the Grand Jury this morning the Chief justice said the cases on the calendar were considerably more numerous than usual, but that was probably owing to the fact that the sessions had to be adjourned and some of the committals had taken place since the date first fixed for the sittings. Referring to the abortion charges, His Honor said evidence of other acts of a similar kind by the same accused would bo laid before the jury, and they should consider these apart from any subsequent argument as to its admissibility. The proofs of the charges with this eiception wore not difficult. His Honor then went on to refor to the many cases of failure of justice that had occurred in charges such as these and also in cases of criminal assault 011 children ; a state of things which he attributed to the recent alteration iu the law of evidence. The law in this respect seemed to be in favor of the persons charged with the very worst form of crime, and ho considered it his duty to call attention to this flaw in the law of evidence, and regrotted that this colony had not availed itself of the experience of other colonies in regard to these cases.

At a laler stage the Chief Justice recalled tho foroman of the Grand Jury, and explained that in making his strictures in regard to the law of evidence he had overlooked section nine of the Evidence Further Amendment Act of last session, which provided that a doctor's evideuce as to nature of a charge, could be accepted without reservation in a criminal case, but not in a civil case. His strictures, therefore, must be takon to apply only to civil cases.