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England.
Meanwhile we must carry on as best we may, and when a General
Court sits members will probably have to be detailed from the Services to
constitute the Court.
Until such additional personnel becomes available the Court will exercise criminal jurisdiction only. Later it may be possible to authorise it to deal with the more pressing civil matters such as Probate.
Organisation Needed: You will appreciate, however, that considerable organi sation is required to ensure the smooth running of Courts. Thus in the case
of criminal courts arrangements have to be made for suitable prosecution and defence, for the custody, feeding and transport of persons awaiting trial and
of prisoners. It is for this reason that Military Courts have not been
opened before today.
Barristers and solicitors may be wandering what their present position
is. Some of them have suffered privation and lost their office equipment and their papers and records. The Administration proposes to give them
every reasonable facility to resume their practice. As far as the Standing
Military Court is concerned, leave to practise therein can be obtained from
the Legal Adviser. Needless to say, those who are authorised to practise will observe the same high standard of professional integrity as the
ordinary Courts expected of them.
No Privileged Class: I should like to take this opportunity of
drawing attention to an important feature of the laws which will be adminis- tered here, and that is that in a democracy, as opposed to an autocracy, there is no privileged class in the eyes of the law, and every man, whether he be rich or poor, a Government official or a purely private individual,
receives the same justice. This has been a feature of British public life for centuries, and has been applied wherever British institutions have been
set up.
It is in great contrast to that which we have seen in recent years in
so many countries, notably Germany, Japan and Italy, where large classes of individuals were held to be above the law and responsible only to their
party or ruling clan. The result of this lack of justice has always shown itself in corruption, graft and lack of efficiency, and is entirely repug-
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