The Privy Council

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 15, 11 April 1907, Page 12

The Privy Council

On various- occasions in this Colony cases have been taken . from our highest court— the Court of Appeal—to the Privy Coiunctf, .and im view of this fact something about the highest court in the Kingdom will be of interest. It is not a little curious (says an exchange) that, while the inferior eciurts of law are, in some cases unpleasantly, familiar to the public at large, probably not one man in a thousand 'has any practical knowledge of the supreme and ultimate court on which the last hope of the persistent litigant depends— the Appeal Court of the House of Lo'fds, - which is one of the busiest, and certainly the" most important and interesting, of all our tribunals The reason, no doubt, is that few litigants a re sumqiently resolute or have a long enough purse t 0 carry Jheir grievances from one court to .another until they reach the goal of the House of Lords It is a luxury beyond the reach of the man of average meansfor the appellant must, "as a preliminary, give as securi lty for costs his own recognizance for £500 and the bond of a surety for a further £20.0 ; and he miust

brief two counsel, whose fees run to large figures. In addition, he must have__ a petition prepared praying that the judgment against which he -appeals •' >may be reviewed before lAis Majesty the King in his Court of Parliament ' ; he must lodge with the petition forty printed and boun,d N copies describing in detail his case and that of the respondent ; and he must supply ten copies bound in purple cloth for the use of the Lords of Appeal. ' The Court which adjudicates on this, the final appeal, consists of the Lard Chancellor, as President, the four . Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, each of ' whom receives a salary of £6000 a year, and any peers who have been or are judges of the Supreme' Court of Judicature. Lay peers are entitled to sit as .judge's, but in practice the Court is confined to the legal lords named, who are certainly among The Most Learned Lawyers in "the Land. Let us in fancy attend a sitting of this exalted Court, wihich 'is open to any member of the public who chooses to attend. The experience will be both novel and interesting;- for this tribunal is not only the most picturesque of all, but its procedure is entirely different from that of all the .inferior courts. At half-past ten the Lord Chancellor makes his stately entry into the House of Lords (in which the Court holds its sittings on four days a week during term), heralded' by the Serjeant^-at-Arms bearing the mace and by the Purse-bearer carrying the richly-em-broidered bag which is supposed to, but in fact does not, contain the Great Seal. His lordship proceeds to the Woolsack, on whi-h he takes his seat, with the mace at his back. When the law lords have also taken their seats, on the front benches near the Bar, the court is formally opened with prayer, read by the Chancellor and responded to by his colleagues. This' preliminary over, the doors are opened 'by the yeoman usher ; the waiting crowd of counsel, litigants, and the curious public flock into the chamber and take up*** their position outside the Bar, the lawyers and the parties to the .appeal entering a railed-off -enclosure appropriated for their use. Meanwhile the Lord Chancellor has lef.t the Woolsack and has taken his seat at a table nearer the Bar, flanked on each side by his noble colleagues, all of whom, unlike his lordship, are in ordinary lay attire, without either wigs or gowns. Then the first case is opened by one of the counsel,- who proceeds to give his arguments in a quiet, conversational fashion, while the judges listen gravely and patiently to him' No witnesses are called, no technical objections and quibbles, such as are common in inferior courts, are heard. It is simply a plain unfolding of his client's case, with- a statement of the law on which he relies to support it. No more than two counsel are heard on either side, and when each has exhausted his arguments the Court reserves its judgment until someluture day, and the next case is called. When the day arrfves on which the Court, after mature deliberation, is prepared to give its verdict counsel and litigants again attend, and the Lord Chancellor, leaving the Woolsack, reads his judgment from the clerks! table ; the other law lords follow in order of precedence, and, finally, the Lord Chancellor ' puts the question ' in the form of his * own decision'As many as are of that opinion- will " say " content," and of the contrary opinion »'•' non-content "' announcing the result, as the contents or non-contents are in the majority. From this verdict there is no further appeal The law has said its last word on the dispute and if the appeal is dismissed the appellant has such satisfaction, as he can derive from the knowledge that he has done everything that money, pluck, and skill can do to win his case.