Responsible government in the Dominions: Responsible government in the Dominions

Responsible government in the Dominions (Vol. 3)

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Multivolume work

Identifikator:: 1896933912

Document type:: Multivolume work

Author:: Keith, Arthur Berriedale http://d-nb.info/gnd/119086794

Title:: Responsible government in the Dominions

Place of publication:: Oxford

Publisher:: Clarendon Press

Year of publication:: 1912-

Collection:: Economics Books

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Volume

Identifikator:: 1896935311

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-237672

Document type:: Volume

Author:: Keith, Arthur Berriedale http://d-nb.info/gnd/119086794

Title:: Responsible government in the Dominions

Volume count:: Vol. 3

Place of publication:: Oxford

Publisher:: Clarendon Pr.

Year of publication:: 1912

Scope:: XII Seiten, Seiten 1102-1670

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Multivolume work

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Part VI. The judiciary

Collection:: Economics Books

THE JUDICIARY [PART VI principles whenever he was prepared to take up the ques- tion. . . . So the matter rested until about a month ago, when the attention of Parliament was attracted to the proposed release of the bush-ranging prisoners. The dispatches as regards the exercise of the prerogative of pardon were then called for, and Mr. Parkes wrote his Minute of the 30th ultimo, which will be found amongst the published papers. Mr. Parkes’ view as embodied in this paper was simply this : he preferred that the responsibility of deciding upon applica- tions for mitigation of sentences should remain as heretofore, solely with the Governor ; but if a change were insisted on, and the cases of prisoners were to be decided on the advice of ministers, as required by the Secretary of State, he could see no sufficient reason for making a distinction between this class of business and the ordinary business of Govern- ment. In effect, he declined to accept any responsibility for ministers unless they had, not only in form but in substance, a voice in such decisions. I at once felt that it was impossible for me to accept Mr. Parkes’ alternative of allowing matters to remain as they were. Such a settlement would have been opposed to the views of the Secretary of State, and it would have been instantly protested against by Parliament, as inconsistent with the principles of responsible government. The discus- sions which had already taken place in Parliament had shown beyond all question the necessity for some minister being responsible for the pardons granted, as well as for those which might be refused. As instancing the necessity for ministerial responsibility, in even the latter class of cases, I enclose a parliamentary paper which shows how charges of sectarian partiality and official corruption can be based on a refusal to entertain an application for mitigation. It will be obvious from a perusal of this paper how necessary it is that Her Majesty's representative should be relieved from a position which exposes him to such imputations. I accordingly felt no hesitation in closing with Mr. Parkes’ other alternative, and deciding that for the future all applica- tions for mitigation of sentences should be submitted to me through the intervention of a responsible minister, whose opinion and advice, as regards each case, should be specified in writing on the papers. This is simply the mode in which all the ordinary business of Government is conducted, and I could see no sufficient reason for making any distinction in these cases. If the appointment of judges and other preroga-

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