LAW PROCEDURE IN AMERICA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1982, 21 March 1885, Page 4

LAW PROCEDURE IN AMERICA.

A f'Aiinm\iv\ banister writes in a Melbo'iuie paper :— Ah to tli» pioredme in the ctul iourt9 of California, ib dilftm iom thos" in tins colon} (Victmi.i) in foiii csii'iitnl ji.vi tiunliiM :— I Tint no profession il costs whatever between patty and party ate allowed '2. The t lUiug of notes liy the judge presiding i? ,iliohsiied. Ever \ tinny that takes place it a tiial h taken flown in shorth ind by ,in odicor of the court '■aIK-il a"j.woiit leporter. All disputes dming thu trial as to what was said by witness or counsel or judge are «» ttled at onco by reference to Ins notes 3. The judge, when eumiiiiiit! up the cue to the jury, it required liy law to inform tin juiy that they — the jnrj — and not th« judge aie the at biters on tin- facts and the judges of the ciedi bihty of the witnesses, and that if he should happen in the com si* of Ins address to betray his opinion, they aie not to allow themselves to be influenced by ivi u 1 4 The fourth point is the mode of selection of jurymen, both as to the w hole panel and for trial of each case. This method differs greatly from oujs, and thu object seems to be to leseen the burden of jury service to the community in general, and to enable each party to the suit to question every juryman in a very searching manner, and thus secure an unbiassed jury wholly unconnected by blood, marriage, indebtedness, or even closely connected in business transactions with cither of the litigants whose case they are to decide. These changes have i<volutionined the administration of justice in the Caliloinian courts, and in my opinion the resolution is entirely an improvement so far as the public good ii concerned, and not less 30 as reg.uds the inteusts ef the lawyeis The nbohtion of all costs between paity and party might be supposed to injure the legal profession, but the actual ettect has bicn the very opposite. San Francisco is not a moio populous city than Melbourne, and yet it «uppotts 1100 lawyers ! The two leaders of the bar (Mr Hall M'Alister and Colonel Barnes) are each said to lealhe an income of 30,000 dollars a yar, that is £10, 000 sterling. The abolition of all law} ci 'b costs has had a twofold effect on litigation :— All u&eless briefs and writ ings, and all court or chamber proceedings whose object is the making of costs have disappeared, and the courts ai<> thus lelieved of fully half their w oik — the half that is with us the most expensive, harassing, and disagreeable of all legal work. Each lawyer being paid by his own clientaud alumpsum being agreed upon for his services, it becomes the object on both sides to save labour instead of increasing it The courts also oppose po strenuously all attempts to delay or upset a suit on mere technicalities that such questions arc seldom raised by counsel. Thus, an American lawsuit, as compared to a Victorian one, is as a light buggy to alnmbeiing wnggon, and the progress of a snit in California w to tho pio gress of a similar suit in Victoria as the speed of a train on a willmade railroad to that of an ox waggon on a trackless morass. The second point of improvement— the employment of a "sworn leporter" to takedown all that tak< s place at a trial — is a most valuable improvement It makes everybody, from the judge downwards, more caicful of what he says or docs. In the event of any dispute during a trial as to what has bei n said by a witness, counsel, or judge, the sworn reporter is called upon to read his notes aloud, and what ho reads prevents all further question. The relief to the judge from taking notes loves his mind free for the discharge of the moic impoitant part of hia functions, viz., the attentive watching of the incidents of the trial and the consideration of legal questions as they arise for his decision, and, above all, in case of appeal from his decision, he is relieved of the invidious task of declaring fiom his own notes the subject matter of the appeal. No one who has not experienced its actual wot king could imagine to what an extent this "hwom reporting" smoothes the iucidi n ts of a trial, how far it operates to secure a fair and impartial administration of justice at iim prim. The office of chief ot the ''sworn reporters "is very highly pud, and is eagerly sought after ; it is sud to be worth £900 stcilingpei annum. It is an appointment in the gift of the judges, but with certain rights of nomination and iote by the bar. The chief of the ".sworn rcpoitcis " sends Ins deputies (all "sworn reporters") to each of the conits, and every evening the shorthand repoita arc transciibed at the head office by a htalr of writers. Next moi ning the litigants in each case arc furnished with a copy of the day's report, on payment of a fee according to a lixed tariff. The third point, conGning the judgo expressly ta deciding legal points at the trial, and prohibiting him from making himself a, thirteenth juryman, results, w hen taken in conjunction with the sword reporter" system, in removing the judge from the position of a despotic monarch to the more wholesome sphere of a constitutional monarch hedged round by constitutional restrictions. The fourth point is considered by Americans as one of vital importance— the perfecting oi the jury system. Our schemes of law iefoun, both in England and tho colonies, seem to coincide in the the attempt to altogether eliminate from our civil procedure the jury system, as being an intolerable burden on the mercantile community, on whom the weight of jury service falls. The Americans, on the contrary, cling with undiminished affection to the good old plan of ti ill by jury, and are directing their efforts to bring the jury system to pel fection ; to obtain the greatest benefit to the public ot the smallest cost to the jurymen. They so arrange the jury lists that no man shall b ' called upon nioie than once in several years to serve on a jury.