judge of the Court of King's Bench, Master of the Rolls, Vice-Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice or judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Lord Chief Baron or Baron of the Court of Exchequer, judge of the Prerogative Court of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, judge of the High Court of Admiralty, and chief judge of the Court in Bankruptcy, and also all persons, members of the council, who shall have been President thereof, or held the office of Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, or shall have held any of the other offices before mentioned, shall form a committee, and shall be styled "The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council," with power for the king to appoint any two other privy councillors members of the committee.

All appeals or applications in prize suits and from Vice-admiralty Courts abroad (19), are to be made to the king in council, and not, as heretofore, to the High Court of Admiralty.

All appeals from the sentence of any judge are to be heard by the Judicial Committee, consisting of at least four members, who are to report thereon to the king in council for decision; the nature of such report or recommendation being always stated in open court, and agreed upon by a majority of the Committee who heard the case.

The king may require the attendance of any judge, being a privy councillor, at the Committee, and witnesses may be examined vivá voce, or upon written depositions, and as to such facts as the Committee may

(19) The practice of these courts is regulated, and their jurisdiction given, by 2 Will. IV. c. 51.

think fit; and new evidence may also be admitted, which before was not allowed; and causes may be remitted for rehearing, either generally or upon points only, as the Committee may order, and upon such rehearing take additional evidence, though before rejected, or may reject evidence before admitted.

The Council may direct a feigned issue to be tried in any court, abroad or at home, to try any fact, and order what evidence may be read at the trial, in the same manner as is adopted upon the trial of an issue from the Court of Chancery.

The Committee may also direct new trials of issues. The powers of the statute 13 Geo. III. c. 62, and also of the 1 Will. IV. c. 22 (20), as relate to the examination of witnesses, are vested in the Committee; and for contempt of the order of the President requiring their attendance, they are liable to the same penalties as are inflicted by the Court of King's Bench for contempt of a subpœna.

The king may appoint a registrar, and the Committee may refer matters to him, in the same manner as matters are, by the Court of Chancery, referred to a master.

The time for appeals to be made is also regulated by the latter statute, which at present does not interfere with the standing order of the House of Lords of the 24th March, 1725, directing all appeals to be presented within five years from the time of signing and enrolling the decree; but the Council may alter the usage at its pleasure.

A decree of the King in Council, on any appeal

(20) Supra, p. 162.

from that of any court abroad, is to be carried into effect as the King in Council shall direct.

The King in Council may direct the East India Company and other persons to bring on appeals from the Sudder Dewanny Adawlut Courts, in the East Indies, to a hearing, and may appoint agents and counsel in all cases where no proceedings have been taken on either side for two years subsequent to the admission of the appeal by the Sudder Dewanny Adawlut Courts; and the order upon any such appeal is to be effectual notwithstanding the death of either party.

The King in Council may also make orders for regulating the mode, form, and time of such appeals, or of those from any other court in India, or elsewhere, to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, to prevent delay in the hearing of them.

The Committee are invested with the same powers (21) of punishing contempts, compelling appearances, and of enforcing decrees, as are possessed by the Court of Chancery or Court of King's Bench, or the ecclesiastical courts, and both in personam and in rem: heretofore the privy council could not decree in personam in England, unless in certain criminal matters (22).

Power is also given to the king to appoint any two of the council, who have been judges abroad, to attend the Committee, with a salary of 400l. a year each.

The latter statute does not abridge the powers, jurisdiction, or authority of the council, as heretofore exer

(21) 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 93.

(22) See Penn v. Baltimore, 1 Ves. 444.

cised; nor does it alter the constitution or duties of the council, save as thereby expressly altered; nor does it prevent the king's acceding to treaties with foreign powers, by which any other person may be appointed to hear, and finally adjudicate, appeals from the Admiralty in prize causes.

By the statute 6 Ann. c. 7, the privy council continues for six months after the demise of the crown, unless sooner determined by the successor.

CHAPTER XII.

Of Criminal Justice.

154 WE are now to treat of an article, which, though it does not in England, and indeed should not in any state, make part of the powers which are properly constitutional, that is, of the reciprocal rights by means of which the powers that concur to form the government constantly balance each other, yet essentially interests the security of individuals, and, in the issue, the constitution itself; I mean to speak of criminal justice. But, previous to an exposition of the laws of England on this head, it is necessary to desire the reader's attention to certain considerations.

When a nation entrusts the power of the state to a certain number of persons, or to one, it is with a view to two points: the one, to repel more effectually foreign attacks; the other, to maintain domestic tranquillity.

To accomplish the former point, each individual surrenders a share of his property, and sometimes, to a certain degree, even of his liberty. But though the power of those who are the heads of the state may thereby be rendered very considerable, yet it cannot be said that liberty is, after all, in any high degree, endangered; because, should ever the executive power turn against the nation a strength which ought to be employed solely for its defence, this nation, if it were