Hon. Attorney-General,
Enclosure 5.
27756 100
Rece Reo 19 AUG 09,
I think the amendment of the Code in this matter to bring it into line with the new English practice was made without a full appreciation of its possible results or of the difference between local conditions and those prevailing in England.
With a Court consisting of two Judges only I consider that a litigant who desires to have issues of fact decided by a jury should be entitled as of right to a jury.
2.
The old stories about the unreliability of Hongkong juries have little bearing on present conditions - the Jury Lists (Special and Common) are much larger than they used to be, owing to the growth of the Colony, and the Special Jury List especially contains jurors of a very high standard of intelligence and experience.
3.
It is improbable that employer and employed would sit on the same jury, as the former would probably be a special, the latter a common juror.
I think the letter of the Chamber of Commerce and the enclosed bill should now be referred for consideration to the Law Society, which has (I hope) just entered upon a new lease of life.
(sd.) F. B. L. Bowley,
Crown Solicitor.
31st May, 1909.