BILL TO ALLOW FELONS’ COUNSEL TO ADDRESS THE JURY, ETC.
Several attempts had been made to obtain an act for allowing prisoners on trial for felony the benefit of counsel to address the jury on their behalf. Hitherto these attempts had been unsuccessful; but notwithstanding this, the subject was again brought before the commons at the commencement of the present session. The bill was introduced by Mr. Ewart, and it passed the commons by a great majority. The second reading of the bill in the house of lords was moved by Lord Lyndhurst, who descanted at large on the justice and reasonableness of the bill in its principle, although he did not approve of all its details. Lords Denman and Wynford also spoke in favour of the principles of the bill, and it was accordingly read a second time without opposition. In the committee, however, several amendments and alterations were made upon the bill, none of which were of great practical importance except one, and all of which, except that one, were agreed to by the commons. It frequently happened that persons were tried for felony where no counsel were present, and by this bill the privileges of the counsel were extended to attornies. The bill, as it came up from the commons, contained a clause entitling the accused to copies of the depositions upon which he had been committed. This clause was struck out, on the ground that the rights of a prisoner in this respect were already settled by law; but, to prevent all doubt upon the subject, a clause declaratory of the right was again introduced, before the bill finally passed the lords. A more important matter, however, regarded the right of the prisoner to have the last word. As the bill passed the commons, this right was established; but the clause enacting that he should possess that right was struck out, and the effect of the alteration was to make the practice the same as in cases of misdemeanour, and in criminal cases, giving the last word to the prisoner, only in the event of his adducing no evidence. The bill now consisted of this simple enactment:—“That all persons tried for felony shall be admitted, after the close of the case for the prosecution, to make full answer and defence thereto by counsel learned in the law, or by attorney in courts, where attornies practise as counsel.” When the bill as amended by the lords came to be taken into consideration by the commons, its supporters argued that, as it now stood, it conferred no real advantage, and that it would be better to leave to prisoners the benefit of the commiseration which the state of the law, such as it was at present, induced, than to deprive them of it without giving them anything substantive in return. It was resolved that the lords’ amendments should be referred to a select committee, and that committee reported in favour of the other amendments; but they decided that any arrangement which would deprive the prisoner of the last word would be injurious to his interests, and to the ends of justice. The attorney-general urged the house to accept the bill as it stood; but the amendment was rejected, and its rejection immediately communicated to the other house. The lords, however, still resolved to adhere to the amendment, and a conference was held, at which their reasons for adhering to it were communicated to the commons. The amendment was finally adopted by the lower house, and the bill passed—Lord John Russell stating that the matter in dispute would form a subject of future deliberation, and Mr. Ewart assuring the house that he would not fail still to press upon it the principle which he now sacrificed, rather than reject the bill, which still retained a great deal of good.
Another act passed during this session had reference to the execution of those convicted of murder. By the existing law a person convicted of murder was directed to be executed the next day but one after that on which he was convicted, unless it should happen on a Sunday, in which case the execution was to take place on the following Monday. The law further required that after conviction such persons should be fed only on bread and water, except in case of sickness, and that no other person than the gaoler, surgeon, and chaplain, should have access to them, unless by the permission of the sheriff or the judge who had presided on the trial. During the present session an act was passed repealing these provisions, enacting that “sentence of death maybe pronounced after conviction for murder in the same manner, and the judge shall have the same power in all respects, as after conviction for other capital offences.”
A third act passed this session related to medical attendance on inquests. This was an act to provide that when medical men were called from their ordinary duties to serve the public by giving evidence on coroners’ inquests, and going through the anatomical and chemical processes which these examinations sometimes required, they should receive a proper remuneration. This bill, which was brought in by Mr. Wakley, enacted that not only the coroner should have power to summon medical witnesses, but “that if the jury were not satisfied with such medical evidence, the coroner should be bound to summon another gentleman of the same profession; and every medical witness so summoned was subjected, in case of non-attendance, to a penalty of £5, to be recovered summarily before the justices.” On the other hand, every medical man attending to give evidence was entitled to the fee of one guinea; and if he had performed a post-mortem examination, his fee was to be two guineas. The fees were made payable out of the poors’-rates.