ADVOCATE Training rights and duties of, E. W. Cox, 26. General Order as to blanks in, Nov. 15, 1859 (Law), 7. Paper by Daniel, Q.C., on Recent Reforms in Court of On Real Property Act (22 & 23 Vict., c. 35), 6, 14, 23, On Report of Incorporated Society of the Attorneys and On Robert Holmes (obituary), 17. On Mr. Justice Crowder (obituary), 18. On effect of Garnishee Order on Money ordered to be On Training, Practice, Rights and Duties of Advocate, On case of Dr. Smethurst, 28. On Succession Duty Act (16 & 17 Vict., c. 57), 30, 42. The prisoner's last word, 47. Solicitor and Client, right to compensation for loss by Bequest of Personalty to be invested in land, effect of On Court of Criminal Appeal, 66. On law of Auctions and false representation, 71. On Liability of separate estate of Married Women for On punishment by transportation for obliteration of On Law and Equity Bill (England), 91, 111. On the fusion of legal and equitable rights in Courts of ORDERS (GENERAL), As to actions on negotiable instruments, 15th November, Blanks in affidavits, 15th November, 1859, 7. As to direction for report of Committee of Lunatics, 11th As to affidavit of of perfection of power of attorney in co- As to fees to counsel on taxation, 24th September, 1860, Of Landed Estates Court as to Landed Property Improve- PERSONALTY, Direction to invest in land by will, effect of, 51. Reply for, 47. REAL PROPERTY Act (22 & 23 VICT., c. 35), 2 SEPARATE ESTATE, See Married Woman. To consolidate and amend law of landlord and tenant in SMETHURST, To amend Railways Act, Ireland, 1851, 137. To extend provisions of Acts to facilitate improvement of Case of, 38. SOLICITOR AND CLIENT, Right of Client to compensation, 50. WORKMEN, Letter of Lord St. Leonards on, 24. The Irish Jurist. DUBLIN, DECEMBER 1, 1859. MR. PONSONBY begs to inform the members of the legal professions, that he has purchased from Mr. E. J. Milliken, late of College-green, his interest in "THE IRISH JURIST;" that he is determined to conduct that journal in such a manner, as will render it a proper representative of the wants and opinions of those professions, and every exertion will be used on the part of the Publisher to render this journal the representative of their interests; that he has made arrangements which he trusts will enable him to furnish at the usual periods of publication, rapid and accurate reports of the proceedings in the several courts of law and equity in Ireland, the orders of court, the Bills brought before the Legislature affecting Irish interests, and the Acts of Parliament relating to Ireland, and that all matters affecting the interests of the professions shall be brought to their notice. In conclusion, Mr. Ponsonby begs to say that the recent delays in the publication of this journal, arose from circumstances over which the Publisher had no control, and the re-occurrence of which, the arrangements now made will effectually prevent. THE very practical and useful suggestions contained in the following paper, read before the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, by Mr. Daniel, Q.C., "On the recent Reforms in the Court of Chancery," have induced us to give it a prominent position in the IRISH JURIST, for the purpose, as we hope, of directing the attention of those persons who in Ireland have the power, and of whom it is the duty, to adopt those reforms in practice which the Court of Chancery in Ireland so much requires. That much of that evil which the old system of procedure, by its ruinous delays and expenses, cast upon the suitors in the Court of Chancery, has been, by recent legislation, swept away, must be admitted; but we do feel that in this country, still more thau in the Court of Chancery in England, there remains a large space for reform, and we think that the subjects, so ably and vigorously discussed in the paper referred to, may, with much benefit, be submitted to consideration, and found fitting to be engrafted on the procedure by cause petition in Ireland. Though we think that the retention of the proceeding by Bill and Answer would have been the safest and most easy substratum on which the intended reform could have been established; and that rather too hasty an overturning of the established procedure has in this country been carried into effect in the courts of law, as well as in the courts of equity; and that the course adopted in England in both branches of our jurisprudence-that of carefully pruning away the off-shoots and unnecessary excresences which had grown upon the old tree-was by far the most practical and successful means of carrying out the same object. What is done cannot be undone; and undoubtedly, under the system of procedure pointed out by the Court of Chancery (Ireland) Regulation Act, 1850, some very practical and useful reforms have been made in the Court of Chancery. The proceeding by cause petition being adopted, we do not advocate its abolition, and we would gladly aid in advocating such reforms in the new procedure as would tend to make it perfect; and with this view we set before our readers the paper in question, with the intention of, from time to time, discussing the reforms therein proposed. In England, the statutes 15 & 16 Vict. c. 80, and 15 & 16 Vict. c. 86, were founded upon a report of commissioners appointed to inquire into the subject, made in 1852. The procedure by cause petition, as is well known, was introduced into this country in 1850, upon whose advice or what consideration we are igno rant. The means of reform adopted in England by the provisions of the statutes referred to, were to abolish that which was considered unnecessary, and to enact in detail the substituted proceeding. In Ireland, the statute seems rather to abolish all that existed, and, by a large power of making orders, to leave everything relating to the details of the procedure to be settled in future. The result has been much difficulty as to the practical steps necessary to be taken in the conduct of a suit by cause petition; but the consequence has been beneficial to the suitor getting rid of the great delay, by facilitating the hearing of causes, lessening the expense, and by doing away with much of that useless detail which formerly incumbered a suit in equity. We have not in this country, so far as we can discover, any official returns of the working of this branch of our judicature, but experience shows that the transfer of an extensive class of suits to the offices of the Masters, thereby virtually converted those experienced officers, in fact, though not by name, into judges of the court, exercising a jurisdiction which previously be longed to the Lord Chancellor, has largely increased the number of suits in this court since the abolition of the proceeding by Bill and Answer, and created, in this country a procedure, in those suits in which the statute has given jurisdiction to the Masters, analogous to that now followed by the Vice-Chancellors in the English Court of Chancery. The time which has elapsed since the formation of this procedure has enabled the Masters and the holders of the higher judicial appointments in the court to make orders for the regulation of this new procedure, many of which are borrowed from the sections of the English statutes referred to, and the effect of the well working of this system is being felt, and its wants developed. As these wants seem to us very similar to those in England, we shall now give the observations of the author referred to, and afterwards discuss in detail the subjects to which they lead us:— of Parliament for the abolition of the Masters, (15 & 16 Vict. c. 80), and the improvement of the jurisdiction of equity, (15 & 16 Vict. c. 86), came into operation— that is, the 1st November, 1852. These, as you are aware, are the Acts which were introduced to carry into effect such of the recommendations of the Chancery Commissioners, contained in the Report just referred to, as it was deemed by Parliament expedient at that time to adopt. Sufficient time has now elapsed, since the changes effected by these Acts were introduced, to enable some judgment to be formed of their character from actual experience of their working. These changes have necessarily subjected the judges to increased labour and responsibility, and practitioners to the inconvenience of novel procedure and the risk of diminished income, but judice of the changes. It is but mere justice to observe none of these considerations have operated to the prethat the judicature and the profession, in all its branches, have co-operated cordially and zealously to promote their efficiency and secure their success. [Mr. Daniel here referred to a paper containing the The subject of the present paper is the consideration judicial statistics of 1858, showing the amount of buof the effect of the recent reforms in the Court of Chan-siness done in the Court of Chancery in England in cery, first, with reference to the transaction of business in the judges' chambers; secondly, the mode of taking evidence before the hearing; thirdly, the mode of trying disputed questions of fact by the court. that year, the extent of which, in the language of the speaker, is really "astonishing." As it does not, however, affect the subject we propose to consider, it is omitted.] Speaking in the interests of the profession and the public, I think it would have been more satisfactory if the returns had shewn something more than the quantity of business done. In my judgment, it would be very desirable to know how the business has been distributed between the chief clerk and the judge; how many contested orders have been made and adjudicated upon; and how many by the judge personally, after hearing the parties and the evidence; and how many by the chief clerk personally, without the interference of the judge; in how many cases evidence has been taken, and whether by affidavits or oral examination of witnesses, and whether before the judge or the chief clerk; and what has been the procedure by which the true question to be tried has been ascertained. The Court of Chancery has long borne a very bad name-has, by former misdeeds, acquired a most unenviable notoriety. Very bad things have been said of it. This court has been denounced in high places as little better than a public evil, and so incurably bad, that no sane man would think of adding to its jurisdiction; nihil tetigit quod non destruxit. Its ruinous and heart-rending delays and expense, the immense preponderance of evil over good which is inflicted on its snitors, the many attempts to amend it, all proving abortive—these have been relied upon as irrefragable evidence that it was incorrigible. Delenda est Carthago" was the public cry raised against it. Far be it from me to say that the court, in its unreformed state, did not deserve all the obloquy heaped upon it--had not provoked the extinction which seemed to threaten it. But as, when all other remedies have failed, the apparently dying man is sometimes restored to health The proper decision of the grave and important quesand vigour by the unsparing use of the knife, cutting tion adverted to by the Chancery Commissioners in out the deadly cancer, so, by the bold course of excising their Report, of blending our courts of common law and the old masters and their decrepid procedure and juris Chancery into one court of universal jurisdiction in diction, the Court of Chancery would appear to have re-ivil cases, or, as generally understood, the fusion of vived. When Jonah was thrown overboard, the raging sea grew calm, and the ship righted. The observations I am about to address to you have reference to the Court of Chancery as it is, not as it was. Although I would neither overlook nor undervalue the extent or importance of the several reforms which preceded the Report of the Chancery Commissioners of January, 1852, especially those effected during the Chancellorships of Lord Lyndhurst in 1828, and Lord Cottenham in 1845, nor the excellent provisions of Sir G. Turner's Act of 1850, yet I venture to date the commencement of an effective radical reform in the Court of Chancery from the time when the several Acts law and equity, may, as it seems to me, be importantly affected by the experience derived and to be derived from the mode of transacting business in the chambers of the Chancery judges. But the public requires moie information upon the details of these proceedings than it is yet in possession of before any positive judgment can be formed. If, however, the simplicity of the procedure adopted in chambers can be made effectual for the proper and satisfactory decision of the many important and complicated questions which may and do arise, then, if also it may be assumed that the quantity of business already done has been done to the satisfaction of the suitor, it may be thought that we have made |