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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
compelled under threat of imprisonment to waste three or four days in a musty court listen ing to the laboured arguments of counsel en- deavouring to convince seven men quite as in- telligent, though perhaps not so learned, as him self that black is white or white is black-that it should be possible for energetic business men who make this colony and build up the com- merces on which the legal fraternity thrive, to be condemned to several days' physical discom- fort and mental torture, adjudicating in some paltry squabble between landlord and tenant, disentangling truth from the perjured evidence of native suitors, or deciding as to who shall sell tinned turnips in the colony-these things, I maintain, constitute an abuse of the jury sys- tem and should not be sanctioned by law. The men who in days gone by sacrificed their lives to give to us the privilege of trial by jury, did not contemplate this local travesty of justice, this absurd parody of a sacred right, and it is but due to their memory and to our own self-respect that the abuses I speak of should forthwith cease. (Hear, hear) I therefore ask you to support the resolution which I shall now pro- pose, viz:-"That in the opinion of this meet- ing the jury system as applied to civil cases constitutes a hardship upon jurors, and that the Government be asked to legislate for its total abolition in such cases.
munity, it was décided to amalgamate the special and common juries, power, however, being reserved to the judge to allow a special jury if be considers the application just and reasonable. There are some other details as regards juries in the Straits, and why should Hongkong not be placed on the same terms? I admit there have been too many cases lately for which special juries seem to have been called at the caprice of one of the litigants, and to busy men whose time is valuable such a Bystem is intolerable. In one case af er all I believe the finding of the jury was set aside in part by the judge, so if a judge can do that, where the great value of a special jury comes in, I fil to see. (Hear, hear.) On the other hand there are cases in which a judge will be glad to have the opinion of prac- tical business men as to custom and practice in affairs of trade. I remember one case in which I listened with astonishment to a learned judge and counsel arguing as to whether a bill of lad ing had been executed by the consignee or ship per. They never decided it, for I never heard of the shipper or consignee executing a bill of lading, and I fancy if some of our smart young shipping clerks had been there they would have informed the Court that that can only be done by the master, owner or agent of the vessel. In a small place like Hongkong service as special jurors must bear hardly on a few, but I think the burden would be more evenly distributed if the law did not permit solicitors to strike out the names of their friends without giving a reason, and if the clerk of the Court were severely admonished to be more care- ful in seeing that the names of those who have served do not go back into the ballot box till all the others after him on the list have served in their turn. You have done me the honor to elect me chairinan of this meeting, but I may say that the notice on the paper was not mine, nor is the resolution therein proposed. I say this, because, in fact, personally I would rather have waited until the New Code drawn up by the Chief Justice bad come into operation, and we could have seen how it worked, as from what I can learn it is likely to meet all our difficul- ties. However, now that we have put our hands to the plough we cannot go back, and I cannot see that it will do any harm to follow the suggestion of the Chief Justice the other day and address the Government at once. I am therefore prepared to vote for the resolu- tion as it stands in the notice. I would suggest that you now bring forward your resolutions, and afterwards we can nominate someone to draw up a letter to the Government which we can all sign later on forwarding the resolutions come to. I feel quite sure that the Governor will not turn a deaf ear to our tale of woe, al- though I doubt if more can be done at present than what Sir John Carrington is now doing in the New Code. (Applause.)
Mr. OSBORNE-Mr. Chairman and gentle- men: The responsibility for calling this meet- ing rests with me, and aros in consequence of the Chief Justice's remarks to the jurors who were called the other day to serve in a condensed milk ouse. His Lordship sympathised with the jury for having been summoned in such a case, and intimated that if we special juriors con- sidered we had a grievance we should address the Government on the subject: Gentlemen, this is, I think, the third instance within about two years where I have sat as a juryman and where the judge has either allowed us to depart without hearing the case or where we have given our decision without wasting our time listening to the whole of the evidence. This shows, I think, that there was no necessity to summon us, and that the jury system as applied to Hongkong is frequently abused. For iny own part I consider compulsory service an unjustifiable interference with the liberty of the subject. *** (Hear, hear.) Other methods are adopted in other countries commercial asses- sors, for instance-which appear to work well and might be applied to the English Courts. The principal fault to my mind lies in the fact that the legal fraternity have it in their power to compel the attendance of special jurors, and that for reasons of their own they unnecessarily that power in cases which might be equally well disposed of by the judge alone. That it should be possible for busy men to be dragged from their offices at the instigation of the most recently imported solicitor's clerk and
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Mr. POATE seconded.
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The CHAIRMAN said he made a mistake when he said he would support the resolution. He understood it to refer to such civil cases as could be decided by a judge. Personally, he did not believe in abolishing special juries in all civil cases, and as the resolution stood he could not support it.
Mr. OSBORNE said he was prepared to alter the resolution to secure the unanimity of the meeting.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed as an amend ment the addition of the words "in which, in the opinion of the Chief Justice or Judge for the time being, such jury is not advisable."
Mr. WILCOX-The amendment, I think, will meet the case, and I am quite sure the New Code will give us what we want. A jury should not be called unless, in the opinion of the judge, it is necessary that it should be so called. "I beg to second the amendment.
Mr. BROWN then proposed as a further amendment “that to lessen the likelihood of s special jury being called in unimportant special cases the Government be asked to fix the minimum daily fee at $30 per juryman, '
Mr. POATE seconded.
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These amendments, together with the original resolution after a lengthy discussion were put to the meeting and duly carried.
It was afterwards pointed out that Mr. Brown's amendment as it stood was ambiguous, and Mr. BROWN asked that the word "unim- portant" be struck out.
The CHAIRMAN-Impossible; the amendment has been passed.
Mr. LEIGH Then we may get $10 or no- thing for important civil cases?
The reply being in the affirmative, Mr. Leigh proposed that in u.portant civil cases the fee should be $75 per jury man per day, with a minimum of $50.
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[May 11, 1901. right of us to bring into the question anything about pay. We are all of us ready take our places in the jury box when it is necessary to have us in court, and I am quite sure every man will go there and de his duty (Applause). In England, I believe, special jurymen are selected from the leisure classes -classes which have plenty of time ito spend in these matters, and I don't think any business man in London is called away from his business to adjudicate in minor issues of law. Certainly my own idea in bringing forward was
to
remove a grievance-not to earn money. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Wilcox-I think we ought not to pass this resolution of Mr. Leigh's. I don't think it would have a good effect on the Government, and at any rate it would not look well. Furthermore, I don't think any of us would object for a moment to serve in a jury case; it is our privilege, so to speak. The object of this meeting is simply to record our objections to be called to serve in trivial cases. I quite agree with the re- marks that have been made on that question, and I also think we should serve for a reasonable fee, and do our duty as citizens. (Hear, heàr.)
Mr. LEIGH withdrew his amendment, but expressed his dissatisfaction with the one that had been passed. According to its wording, it would rest with the judge whether they received $50 or nothing.
The CHAIRMAN-I think we are making much ado about nothing. I really believe the Government will ask us to wait for the New Code.
Mr. LEIGH-Perhaps a resolution with re- ference to jurymen serving in turn might go along with these other resolutions. I can re member its being distinctly arranged that every juryman was to serve in turn, and here we are back again with the same jurymen coming out of the ballot box time after time, and certain jurors never serving at all. I beg to propose "That a special juryman having served once should not be called upon to serve again until all the others have served their turn.”
Mr. SAUNDERS seconded.
The CHAIRMAN said that was a matter he mentioned in his opening remarks. He was about to ask that it be consolidated with the original resolution and sent in with a letter to the Governor. He believed there
was a rule in existence to the effect that the names of jurymen who had already served should be taken out of the list, and he thought they might ask His Excellency to give instruc- tions to have that rale pr perly carried out. Would that meet Mr. Leigh's wishes? ⠀
Mr. LEIGH Yes, that meets my wishes. The CHAIRMAN then asked that nominations be made for the committee to draw up the letter to the Government forwarding these resolutions.
Mr. DANBY proposed that the Chairman and Messrs. Poate, Osborne, and Brown be elected.
Mr. HAUPT secorded and the proposal was agreed to unanimously.
Captain ANDERSON said the thanks of the special jurors were due to Mr. Calorne for the very public-spirited lead he had taken in the matter. Their thanks were also due to Sir John Carrington, who had given them his sympathy, The CHAIRMAN-The reply to that is that his position preventing him doing more at the we don't go there to make money.
outset, though they hoped for more from his Mr. LEIGH was aware of that fact, bat point-m-tare experience when the matter came to be ed out that when they did go they lost money. He said a minimum of $50 because, if a man's services were required, they ought to be paid for. Fifty dollars a day was £1,500 per annum- a sum far below what a business man generally could earn by being allowed to look after his business. A man should be paid for jury service proportionately to his income. In that morning's newspaper he had read that in Aus tralia they paid a juryman two guineas a day,
The HAIRM N-That isn't $75 a day. Mr. OBANGE seconded Mr. Leigh's amend. ment. The only difference, he said, was that Mr. Osborne objected to being called on a jury in a small case, while he (Mr. Orange) similarly objected to being called on a jury on a big case, (Laughter).
Mr. OSBORNE—I think we should stultify ourselves if we support Mr. Leigh's motion. This question arose not in connection with res- pective rates of pay—(hear, hear)—but in "con- nection with the unnecessary calling together of juries. I don't think it would be altogether
ussed in high quarters. There was no doubt as to the hardship entailed on bankers, merchants and other busy men in important onses. It was their duty and they did not complain, but when such men were asked to waste their time to the detriment of their own intersts, and that of others, by sitting on disputes over the label of a tin of condensed milk, then he said it was a great injustice on the brain-workers of the Colony.
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Mr. PLAYPAIE said that, as the special jurors. were in most cases Justices of the Peace he though the Chairman, as representing the wishes of the meeting, should request their repres tive on the Legislative Council to repre their views to His Excellency the Governor in or out of Council if necessary.
The Chairman-If that is your wish I shall be glad to do so.
Agreed.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed by Mr. OSBORNE, brought the meeting to close.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.