PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882
9
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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23 July 190299
MARITHS ROYAT COMMISSiog, 1909.
Sir LV DELAFAYE
He wrote me a very nice then in the Colonial Office jetter and saul, I hope you are not one of those who leet to English judges I wrote back that 1 was certainly of opinion that out of four judges there ought to be two English judges, provided we could Mr Moncrieff or Mr. Smith or hite such nien as Mr Wood Renton, not such men as have made us very much regret that they should have been sent We have had very good English judges; ILN may, we have had Mr Moncrieff. Mr Smith and Mr Wood Renton
to us
to be an
13.124 (Chairman. Yes, but there seems to be an objection in Mauritius to the advent of people who are not Mauritians, and yet you make this pently very reasonable complaint. That would entirely met if the judges and the magistrates were people who were not born in the Island or connected with people in the Island, and, although there seems to be an objection to strangers coming here although
a British colony, there also SEE DIR lection on the part of the men who are born and Brought up in Mauritius to go anywhere else. Why 1 that P-I do not think it could be said generally that there is an objection to men from England Coming here. There is not an objection when they are men of stamp; when they are men who can give satisfaction. They are, on the contrary, welcome You have some English gentlemen who are in this Colony, and who, I believe, like the place very much. You have a gentleman like Mr. Trotter, for example. He went on leave, he went on 12 months' leave, and after six months he came back and said he could not live out of Mauritius.
[Contraned
For instance, we have had Mr. Pellervau, and we have had Sir Lionel Cox.
13,126 Yes, but they were men who left the Colony when they were not young and not actuated with a desire to stop in Mauritius-They are anxious to go I think that Sir Lionel Cox had been anxious to go for Яome time. He had his name put down on the list, but an opportunity did not offer sooner.
13,127. (Mr. Woodcock.) Do you think that th young Mauritian would be willing to take office in the Colonial Service in other Colonies --They would be very glad, most of them.
13,128. (Chairman.) There are a good many points in connection with your officers which we should have liked to have asked you about, but unfortunately there I understand from you, on that ie no time to do so paper which you prepared, that you have suggested all the economies which you think can be made?—Yes.
13,129. Otherwise I should have asked you about that, because it seems to me that there are a great many people in your office who are doing the same sort I was only of work, but of course, if the Master is removed, that would make a considerable reduction. wondering whether it was not possible to make some further reduction, but if you say not, I need not ask you any further questions on it ?--I think not.
13.130. (Sir Edward O'Malley.) Have any of your members of the bar here been called to the bar in France ?---No, in England.
13,131. But not in France, too - Yes, there are some, but they are not the best.
13,132. I had an impression that it was a common routine for a young barrister, when he was called, to go and study in France -Yea, some do that in order to enjoy one year or 18 months more in Europe. The witness withdrew.
13,125. Is there an objection to Mauritius people going to other countries -I do not think there is.
(8.)
REPLIES of His Honour C. 8. DAVBON to Written Questions.
(1. I have a clerk drawing Rs. 250 per mouth.
C. 2. Flis duties are:-
(i) Typing judgments.
The office is pensionable. He was at work to-day.
(ii) Receiving applications in chambers, attending with solicitors and parties before the judge in
chambers, drawing up orders, summonses, &c., and attending all chamber business.
(ii) Taxing orders, summonses and all documents signed by the judge.
(iv) Attending in court when I am on the Bench.
(v) Interpreting in chambers and in court the French and Créole languages into English, and vice
Ders.i.
(vi) And doing all clerical work.
C. 3 to C. 10. These questions have reference to the department as a whole, and the Chief Judge is replying to them.
With reference, however, to C. 3 and C. 4, I may say that my clerk's time is not fully occupied, and that he might from time to time do, in my chambere, clerical work connected with the registrar's office, and the librarian might be used in a similar manner.
Economies might be effected by-
(i) Having one cashier instead of two, and paying him Rs. 3,500, saving Ra. 1,300.
(ii) Abolishing a 4th clerkship in the Master's Office, and transferring his duties to the 3rd clerk, who
would receive Re. 500 more, saving Rs. 1,300.
(iii) Abolishing the post of shorthand writer, and
(iv) One 6th class clerk.
C. 11. As regards the abolition of a judgeship, I have sent in a report to the Governor, which, I believe, in to be laid before the Commissioners, and I have nothing to add to what I have said there. Such abolition would, of course, carry with it the abolition of a clerkship.
25th June 1909.
(9.)
CHARLES 8. Dayson,
3rd Puisne Judge.
His Honour Charles Simon Dayson, called in and examined in private.
13,133. (Sir Edward O'Malley.) You say, if one of mendation. Those are the answers to the questions. the four judgeships should be abolished a clerk would naturally go-Yem
18,134. That is all you may about the staff P-That is all I said in that letter: I have made a small recom-
In that I had made a suggestion which I may say is founded on the master and registrar's opinion. He is the person who is in immediate charge of these people.
23 July 1909.]
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE.
Mr Justice DAVBON
13.135. Then a little lower down, with reference to the abolition of two clerkshipa, you say: "Economies might be effected by (i) Having one cashier instead of two, and paying him Rs. 3,500, saving Rs. 1,300, (1) Abolishing a 4th clerkship in the Master's office and transferring his duties to the 3rd clerk, who would receive Ra. 500 more, saving Rs. 1,300, (iii) Abolishing the post of shorthand writer." That has already been put before us-Yes, I may say that these recommendations are made, not so much on my direct knowledge, because I am not in touch with the working of the office, but the registrar was called upon to make suggestions for reductions and he himself says he could do without them; that is why I have put them forward.
13.136. You know the system that we had in British Guiana?—Yes.
13.137. We had three judges trying the causes in all civil cases? Yes.
13,138. Do you see any objection to that system here I see none whatever in principle na applied to this particular Colony. Of course we cannot fail to recognise the existence of strong prejudices against it which exist here.
13.139. To three judges? I thought you were referring to the single judgeship. In British Guiana the judges try cases aingly.
13,140. No, we tried them with three judges sitting together?-Pardon me, there was limited jurisdiction of the court, or possibly that started after you were there, but the Supreme Court had a limited jurisdiction below a certain amount.
13.141. Yes, but the ordinary cases we tried with three judges witting together P-Yes, above a certain amount, but there were more cases tried by a single judge than by three judges.
13,142. Those were amall cases P-Yes, cases too big for the magistrate's court.
13.143. Here they do not like a single judge at all? No, they have a very strong objection to a single Judge.
13,144. And if time allowed and there was not much pressure of business, you do not see why they should not be tried here in the same way by threa judges P-Yes.
13,145. To be disposed of then and there ?-No. That is assuming that we only have a three judge establishment; that there are not four judges.
13.146. Yes, quite P-As the cause list stands at present, perhape for the last three years and more; especially for tht last year, I do not think there would be any difficulty, but of course it is to be assumed that as the Colony becomes more prosperous, so will there be more litigation. At present I think the cause list could be dealt with if all cases had to be tried before a full bench of three judges, but for myself I do not see why a bench of three should be compulsory. I think the two judge system works well. It has been my experience while I have been here; at any rate it is unnecessary, in every case, to have three judges.
13,147. Below a certain limit?-I was speaking generally. Of course it might be that where the amount involved is very high, there should be a hard- and-fast rule to have three judges to try it, but until this year, I think I have sat in most of the long cases that have come on during the last three and half years, and generally with only one of the other judges, and I do not remember a single case where we failed to agree. Of course one great objection to that system would be that the two judges may not agree, and the whole thing may have to be gone over again, but, as a matter of fact, that has not occurred as far as I can remember, speaking for myself personally.
19,148. You always agreed ?-Yes. Sometimes it takes a little time; we have to discuss the matter, but there in not generally much room for disagreement here. I think, about the law, because we have a code in which the law is pretty clearly laid down. As regards fact, we may not see eye to eye at first, but I may it has never occurred to me that we have finally been unable to agree. Once, sitting with three judges, I had the
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[Continued.
misfortune to differ from the other two, but that did not matter as regards deciding the case.
13,149. You see so many people are more anxious to get a decision than they are to get a right decision, and if there are only two judges, and if they wait to leave things to be thought over, it is apt to cause delay ? -Yea. I do not say that we have been able to agree at once, but we have not been very long in agreeing; sa rule, the judgment has not been delayed unreasonably perhaps a week or perhaps a fortnight.
13.150. Not more than that ?—As a rule; I do not say there have not been cases where we have been longer, and, of course, that happens even with three judges, because sometimes the judge who differs from the other two tries very hard to get them round.
13.151. (Chairman.) Yon therefore do not see any very great difference between two judges and three ?— Not in practice; in theory me sees that there is objec- tion to the two-judge system, but not in practice. That has been my personal experience since I have been here.
(Sir Edward O'Malley.) We have been over the whole ground with the Chief Justice in his memo. rundum, and so I think, as far as I am concerned, that is all I really want to ask you.
13,152. (Chairman.) Do I understand that you think it would be possible to do with only three judges?
-Yes.
13,153. Am I right in thinking that you said just now that three judges could always have sat within the last 12 months or so, because there has been so little to do? Perhaps I ought to modify that slightly The first year I came here, that is 1906, there was more work than there has been since; it has been gradually decreasing; and we had some long cases, and I think that possibly, if three had had to sit there might have been some congestion,
19.154. I only mean within the last 12 months?— I think I may say the judges' work would have been dealt with without undue congestion or delay. Of course, some cases take a long time; there has been one case which has been tried lately which has taken a great many sittings, but then the court would have had to take some other case in the meantime, and this case would probably have taken a little longer still, because, instead of giving four days a week to the one case, the judges would have had to give it three, and clear off the others on the other days, but I think that last year the thres judges could have dealt with matters, sitting always all together.
18,153. Are there any criminal cases which take « long time-which take as long as a week sometimes? -Yes, I had myself, when I first came, a case which took six or seven days.
19,156. Is that very unusual, or is it very common? -It is not very common. We have four sessions & year, and I do not think that there is more than one case in each session; there may be three in the year. I am speaking entirely off-hand so far as that is concerned, but that is the longest ouse, I think; certainly the longest I have had; and I do not think we often have cases longer than that. I may say that that case had to be tried at the next sessions again. because the jury did not agres; and I tried it again at the next sessions, and it took six days.
18,157. How long have you been herą ?—Three and a half years; since 1906.
13,158. Will you tell us, during the last twelve montha, speaking roughly, how many days a week and how many hours each day have you sat P--Speaking of the last year?
18,159. Yes?—I must explain that this year I was very ill during the first three months of the year, of which one month was vacation, but two months were not, so may I take the six months last year?
13,160. Take last year P—I should say that I sat four days a week, but not a full sitting each day.
18,161. About how many hours a day, taking it as an average ?--Four hours a day, but not for each of those four days; four hours, say, on three days, and perhaps half a day on the fourth day. Some days I did not sit at all, but there are very few days when all the judges are sitting.
I