A suggestion for the removal of taxes on litigation in Ireland as a condition of the reduction of the judicial establishment
Citation:
Samuels, Arthur W. 'A suggestion for the removal of taxes on litigation in Ireland as a condition of the reduction of the judicial establishment'. - Dublin: Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland,Vol. X Part LXXVI, 1895/1896, pp135-143Download Item:
Abstract:
The rumour that the Treasury officials have determined to promote
a Bill for the reduction of the judicial staff in Ireland has been
gaining consistency. A general claque of approbation of the proposal
has been raised by the English Press, and the Government is
urged to auspicate its proceedings by depriving this country of an expenditure of #20,000 a year for the benefit of the Imperial Exchequer.
I do not in this paper propose to argue the question of the expediency
of the proposed reduction, nor to consider whether it is
an opportune time for statesmen, apart from Treasury officials, to
choose for the purpose of further curtailing the numbers of the
Judiciary which was established, after prolonged debate and consideration
in Parliament, in the year 1877. During the eighteen
years since the Judicature Act, Ireland has experienced a social
revolution, a deep commercial depression, and an agrarian war.
Whether time ought to be given for confidence to revive, and
business to recover, before her legal establishment is further docked,
is not, however, a matter which I intend to now discuss. My object
in writing this paper is to urge that, if the proposed reduction in
the judicial staff is made, in obedience to the Little Ireland class
of politicians, the Irish public should insist that what is called a
legal reform by the Treasury shall be a legal reform in reality, and
that if the Treasury demands that the administration of the law
shall be cheapened, the public should demand that the law to be
administered shall also be cheapened. I contend that if expenditure
in Ireland is to be reduced by cutting down the number of
the judges, taxation in Ireland shall also be reduced by cutting
down the suitors' fees; and that if Irish litigants are to be exposed
to delay on acount of the diminution of the staff to hear their
causes, they shall be compensated for it by the abolition of the
Crown duties levied on those causes.
Description:
Read Friday, 7th February, 1896
Author: Samuels, Arthur W.
Publisher:
Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of IrelandType of material:
Journal articleCollections
Series/Report no:
Journal of The Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of IrelandVol. X Part LXXVI 1895/1896
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Full text availableKeywords:
Judicial system, Taxation, JudiciaryISSN:
00814776Metadata
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