The history, constitution and character of the judicial committee of the Privy council - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1878 Excerpt: ...the unfitness, not to say incompetence of the Common Law Judges for hearing ecclesiastical appeals, (and of course the same unfitness would attach to any secular Judges) was so manifest, that it was stated by the Commissioners of enquiry into Ecclesiastical Courts, and by Lord Brougham, in proposing his measure for the transfer of the appeals to the King in Council; and made one of the main arguments in favour of the measure, coupled with a dexterous suggestion that the prelates, several of whom were always members of the Privy Council, might there hear the appeals. Yet, after it had actually been made an argument in favour of the measure, that the Common Law Judges knew nothing of ecclesiastical law, and had to take it from ecclesiastical lawyers; then, as a remedy for this, the appeals were virtually transferred to the Common Law Judges, and other secular Judges, without any such assistance at all, or with so little of it, as to have no real influence on the decision. For by the Act of 1833, the prelates were excluded from the Judicial Committee, f and though an Ecclesiastical Judge might be on the Committee, there would be only one such Judge among several secular Judges. And after the transfer of the appeals in ecclesiastical cases to the Judicial Committee, the really ecclesiastical cases were actually heard by a Committee of four, of whom three were secular Judges. Or, if there were a greater number of members, the ecclesiastics or ecclesiastical lawyers were always in a small minority, instead of being as before, the majority;% The two Archbishops always by usage, and generally two or more of the bishops, as the Bishops of London and Winchester. f Vide ante, p. 80. See Escott v. Mastin, 4 Moore's P.C. Reports. J Thus in the Gorham case there were fiv...