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I enclose Copy of Ordinance No 8 of 1845, of which the first clause invests the Attorney General with the functions of a Grand Jury.
I have in like manner to report that the right of refusing to bring prisoners to trial is and always has been exercised at the discretion of the successive Attorneys General of this Colony.
The most immediate proof of this is found in the very first case that came before the Consulate after Smale had been informed of my disapproval of his claiming these fees. I enclose Extract from the Criminal Calendar of the last July.
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I have given Your Lordship's decisions, and beg particularly to call Your Grace's attention to the remarks of the Acting Chief Justice, from which Your Grace will receive confirmation of the reply to the two points on which Your Grace requires information, viz.: that the Attorney General is legally recognized as a Grand Jury, and that he legally exercises the right of refusing to bring cases to trial.
I would specially draw attention to this Extract as meeting a further point and showing that this right has been exercised by Attorney Smale in Criminal Cases from the Consulates. I have no doubt it has been from time to time...