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by the saving of judicial time at the Assizes; for on the establishment of such a system, it would follow as a necessary corollary that the jurisdiction of Quarter Sessions in criminal matters would be largely extended.

Let us work out the expense in this way. There are in England and Wales sixty-nine courts of County Quarter Sessions. In the case of fifteen of these, the Chairmen are:-1 Law Lord; 4 County Court Judges; 2 King's Counsel (not including two of the latter rank who act as assistant chairmen in Devonshire), and 8 Barristers.

Assuming that all these fifteen qualified persons were willing to continue to act, and deal with the increased work consequent upon an extension of their jurisdiction without salary, we have then fifty-four courts to provide for. In estimating the expense, it is clear that to induce men in the position of Recorders to accept such an appointment, they should be fairly compensated for the practice they would have to give up. I am not putting the figure too low when I estimate that for fifteen guineas per diem the services of the best of these men might be secured. Take an average of one day per court per quarter. This works out at two hundred and sixteen days, which at fifteen guineas, gives a total of £3,402 to be provided.

There are in England and Wales, fifty-three counties (not including Middlesex and Surrey, whose Chairmen are salaried) so that, assuming each county to contribute an equal amount, the yearly burden upon the rates of each would be about £64, not a very alarming sum, and from the point of view of the public interest, absolutely insignificant. If the whole sixty-nine courts had to be provided for, the total amount would be a little over £4,000, and the amount to be raised by the rates in each county would average about £80 per county. I hardly think that the most nervous ratepayer would object to this on economical grounds,

It will be observed that the number of courts of Quarter Sessions to be provided with professional Chairmen is much less than the number of Recorders available. That being so, it would be possible to select the pick of the Recorders for these appointments, and they might be called "Recorders for the county" preferably to the old title of Chairmen of Quarter Sessions.

It is not unimportant to bear in mind that in assigning to each Court of Quarter Sessions a professional Chairman, the jurisdiction of the magistrates is not in any way interfered with. They remain in precisely the same position as before, only being presided over by a judge for the purpose of trying criminal cases. There would be no loss of dignity on their part, and probably such an eminently sensible body of men as our county magistrates would readily acquiesce in the change if once convinced of its desirability.

Then might the jurisdiction of Quarter Sessions be extended widely and with perfect safety; then might there be such a saving of judicial time that the reformers of our legal system might cease for the time from reforming, and we might see in the Criminal Courts throughout the country the proceedings carried on under the superintendence of those who have given the best years of their life to learning and understanding the principles and practice of the Criminal Law.

JOHN de GREY.

396

HETHER or not the numerous references to and

WHE

laudatory remarks concerning M. Fustel de Coulanges, in Sir H. S. Maine's Early Law and Custom, justify M. Darestè's observation1 that the latter had accepted all the conclusions of the former, the Cité Antique is one of the very few notable French contributions to the History of Law, which appear in a catalogue of modern Educational works (like Blackwells, of Oxford, for instance). Even this particular French savant is generally known to us merely as an authority on ancestor worship, his researches with reference to Benefices and early French Institutions being to most Englishmen sealed books. It is true that his conclusions have been regarded as doubtful in his own country, at all events since the appearance in 1890 of M. Glasson's Les Communaux et le Domaine Rural à l'Epoque Franque, but they are nevertheless universally known on the Continent, if not accepted as always accurate. From which it would appear to be a fair inference, that, as manifold German Law Books get into English students' hands, the results of contemporary French research in the History of Law have been a good deal disregarded, or else are not surely believed among us. That this is a misfortune as regards not only the History of Law but also in the case of Roman Law as well, it is one of the objects of this paper to point out.

Without comparing in detail the curriculum, for instance, of Toulouse, the most important after Paris of French law schools, with say that of Trinity College, Dublin, or the examination for a similar grade law degree at London and Paris, either of which would be a complex task, it is easy to see what text books are in common use with us and in

2

1 Journal des Savants (Jan.) 1889, p. 55.

Histoire des Institutions politiques de l'ancienne France; Recherches sur quelques problemes d'histoire; Nouvelles Récherches sur quelques problemes d'histoire; Questions Historiques.

France, where Roman Law naturally takes a more prominent place than in Great Britain, appearing as it does under but a slight disguise in the French Civil Code.1 In the five years, 1886-1890, there was an output of about 450 law books in France, of which some 25 were on Roman Law,while 18 would seem to have dealt with the History of Law alone." During the following quinquennial period, i.e., up to the end of the year 1895, fifteen hundred or SO saw the light, this being the number of new legal works or new editions or translations appearing in the Journal Général de la Librairie. Of these 43 are on Roman Law, while the subject matter of 32 is, speaking approximately, the Evolution Furidique that has culminated in the Code Napoleon, and concerning which French genius is no longer satisfied with general explanations. During the next four years, 1896-1899 inclusive, the most recent period respecting which full particulars are available, out of 2,120 freshlycatalogued law books, some 25 and 36 appear to be upon Roman Law and the History of Law respectively. Earlier legal text-books are not now much in fashion among French students, unless re-edited and brought up to date, nor is this class of reader wont to make use of translations of foreign works, except from German sources. About 18 text books of Roman Law, including four editions of the Corpus Juris Civilis figure in the Bibliographie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence for 1900, together with 19 commentaries on Roman Law generally, 41 on the Institutes and II on the Pandects, while there are no less than 75 on the History of Roman Law and special subjects connected with the same department of legal education. These include translations of some of the works of Von Ihering, de Keller and Savigny. Upon the History of French Law

Maine's Early Law and Custom, p. 165.

2 Cat. Gen. de la Librairie Fr. (Jordell) Tome XIII. (1895), pp. 117 et seq. Early Law and Custom, p. 292.

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the titles of 46 works are given in the same catalogue, among which figures a translation of Maine's Ancient Law. On English Law there are 23 books, as against three on French Law in Stevens and Sons' list. Among these are a translation of a work by Mr. Dicey, and that of Mittermaier on English Criminal Procedure, as well as the great book in 6 vols. of Glasson upon the History of Law and Institutions, political, civil, and judicial, of England, the date of which is 1881-1883. The number of English Law Books in the catalogue of an ordinary bookseller at Oxford and Cambridge is about 180, all told, including those concerning Constitutional and Indian Law. The duration of the course in Roman Law for the Licence en droit, which corresponds to the average law degree, is a year and a half alike at all French Universities. Being the minimum qualification of the Magistrat and Avocat, though not necessarily of the Avoué, it practically aims at a knowledge of the four books of Justinian's Institutes, and is preceded by some form of historical introduction.1 The scope of such introduction depends upon the Professor, but always includes the history of the various Roman tribunals, and of the organization of the different public authorities in ancient Rome. The exegetic method and the explanation of the Institutes, paragraph by paragraph, is now in disfavour, and indeed has almost fallen into desuetude, constant reference to German reviews and monographs being the order of the day, and the Historical Evolution of Institutions forming the subject-matter of University lectures. The two volumes of M. Accarias, Conseiller à la Cour de Cassation, are still for the Doctorat, the text-book most in use. This

1Although for the London LL.B. Examination, the history of Roman Law to the time of Justinian is one of the subjects, Roman Law is not taken up of necessity by English Solicitors, as it is by the better class (about half in numbe Avoués of French.

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