The object of this Bill may be briefly stated. Its main principle will be found in Section 4. It is proposed, contrary to the provisions of the Courts of Justice Act of 1924, not to proceed to constitute the Court of the High Court Circuit. That came to me as the recommendation of the Judges who were acting as the Rule-making Committee. The Act of 1924 provided that certain cases which were outside the jurisdiction of the Circuit Courts would be tried by a Judge of the High Court Circuit. There were three classes, mainly, of such cases, treason, piracy, which is a rare offence in this country, and murder. These are the cases that fall beyond the criminal jurisdiction of the Circuit Judge, and it was thought that it would be necessary to set up a special Court of the High Court to deal with cases of this kind. Now, experience has shown that it would be unnecessary, that it would be cumbrous and uneconomical, to have a Judge of the High Court going out on circuit to hear this particular class of cases. Since the Act of 1924 was passed there are altogether, I think, thirty-nine prisoners returned for trial to this Court of the High Court Circuit, and when I mention the distribution of these thirty-nine cases through the country it will be seen that it would be an expensive and a cumbrous process to have one Judge detached from his ordinary High Court work to travel through the country dealing with the widely-scattered cases that are outside the jurisdiction of the Circuit Judge. There are four such cases in Cork, four in Galway, two in Leitrim, two in Donegal, one in Longford, two in Limerick, two in Tipperary, one in Clare, two in Kildare, one in Carlow, eight in County Dublin, three in Offaly, one in Wicklow, one in Leix, and one in Meath.
The Court of the High Court Circuit, if constituted, would be, roughly, analogous to the old Winter Assizes, that is, it would not sit in every county throughout the State, but would probably sit in three or four large centres to hear these cases. I mention that because it is possible, in connection with this Bill, that some Senators may have a hankering after the conception of a local venue, that is, the trial in the county in which the offence actually occurred. I want to make the point that it was not thought wise or necessary to preserve that, even in the original Act of 1924. If the Court of the High Court Circuit were constituted it would sit only in perhaps four or five centres throughout the country and would deal, sitting in each such centre, with the cases of perhaps four or five of the neighbouring counties.
There is one objection to this Bill, an obvious objection, which perhaps I might anticipate. It is that this proposal not to constitute the Court of the High Court Circuit, but to have all the cases that would be tried by such a Court tried in the Central Criminal Court, would impose an undue burden on Dublin jurors. That is a point, a perfectly fair and sound point, that can be made in connection with this Bill, and, to anticipate it, I should mention that a Jurors' Bill is being drafted and will be introduced early next session. In that Bill it is proposed to bring in the outlying townships for jury purposes in connection with the Courts that sit in Dublin. That will, I think, not exactly, but approximately, double the panel, and if that provision meets with the approval of the Dáil and Seanad the result will be that an individual juror within the jury area of Dublin will not be called upon to act more often than once every three or four years. I think it is likely to be nearer four years than three, in fact; the individual juror will only have to serve about once every three and a half years. Having anticipated that objection, which would be a sound and reasonable one, I have little to add in connection with the principle of this Bill. There is simply the one principle, that on the advice of the Judges, as I say, I propose not to proceed to constitute this Court of the High Court Circuit. I am asking that it be considered wise and reasonable that instead of that all such cases shall be tried by the Central Criminal Court, and to meet the additional burden which that would involve on jurors in Dublin we will introduce a Bill extending the jury area.