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82. As for Terms and vacations, they were the subject of an enquiry in England before a Select Committee of the House of Parliament. Condemned by the common sense of Mankind, they would have been abolished but for the influence of the lawyers, and principally on the ground of the necessary Recreation required by the hardest working of the Bar, which would have made it Term all the year round. Many Chamber practitioners wished it, but the leading barristers, versed in the brats of Law and Equity, were for the most part in Parliament, and spoke against the change.
Practically, Term is all the year in Hongkong, the Judge not suffering the existence of com... recreation required by the ... to be made a handle for delay.
There is too little difficulty in Hongkong in setting down a cause, or in hearing it - mutual convenience is quite as conducive to justice as Compulsory hearing, and probably an application for the hearing to stand over on the ground of the absence of a witness, &c...
Every body knows when the cause is to be heard, for he applies to the Judge to fix a day long enough in advance to give the required notice, and on that day the cause is usually heard, unless some unforeseen circumstance should prevent it.
Uniformity in Office hours is, no doubt, desirable, but officers of the Court require some relaxation as well as others. This has been secured by a long vacation at Christmas, with half-holidays...
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