Mr. Justice Christian appears to have hit a blot in
the Irish Judicature Bill. In a letter to the Times he points out that the sixth clause of the Bill excludes the Bankruptcy Judges from the High Court, while the thirty-fourth clause includes them in one of its principal divisions. Lord Cairns will, no doubt, be glad to rectify this error in committee. The Irish Bankruptcy Judges are rather of the status of County Court Judges, than of the rank from which Chancellors and Masters of the Rolls are ordinarily chosen. But by far the most suggestive and telling section of Judge Christian's letter is his comparison of the work done by the Irish and English Judges. In putting the proportion of causes at one-fifth, while the number of judges and the cost of the establishment is as two to three, we seem to have rather under- stated the case last week. Comparing the Chancery Cause Lista of the two countries this term, Judge Christian finds that before the three Irish Judges there are just 60 causes, while before the four English Judges there are already 369, likely to be largely supplemented when the lists for sittings after term shall appear. When the magnitude of the business is also taken into account, it is, in truth, no exaggeration to say that an English Equity Judge does twice as much work, term for term, as all the Irish Equity Judges taken together. The House of Commons will, we hope, see to this, by the carrying of Lord Cairns' proposed re- duction somewhat further.
Previous page
