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some eminent in the law, there is a greater probability of justice 
being done by trial before a judge alone than by trial before a 
judge and a common jury. On the other hand, a good special 
jury leaves but little to be desired. 
Of the reforms needed in our Criminal Procedure, it may be 
that if a prisoner was allowed to give evidence upon his own behalf, 
a Court of Appeal would be less necessary ; or again, if jurymen 
came from a more educated class, a Court of Appeal would be 
less pressing. Nevertheless, in my opinion, there should be a 
Court of Appeal, even though it should prove a considerable cost 
to the country. . 
I have endeavoured to point out that miscarriage of justice may 
arise from various causes frequently associated in the course of our 
criminal procedure. In the first instance, the original steps taken 
privately are not under the control of a legally educated or experi- 
enced person; in the second place, the poor circumstances of a 
prisoner may lead to his absolute powerlessness to throw off 
charges brought against him ; in the third place, in grave charges, 
I have questioned whether our common juries have sufficient 
intelligence to grasp intricate points argued before them. There 
is one point more; now that equity and law have been fused, our 
criminal judges are chosen indifferently from the Chancery, and 
the Common Law Bar; hence it may well happen that the 
first time an eminent barrister makes acquaintance with a criminal 
court, may be when sitting as judge to try for his life the first 
criminal whom he has ever seen; and thus it happens that many 
of the judges when first appointed, are by no means experienced 
persons as far as acquaintance with criminal law goes. Is this 
not another strong reason in favour of the establishment of a 
Court of Criminal Appeal? 
It is impossible to make any judge infallible. He is simply a 
barrister who has been successful in his profession, and may or 
may not possess the special quality essential to a good judge; he 
may not have a judicial mind, and if so, no amount of experience 
will give it to him. Of the judges in the present day, some have 
and some have not judicial minds ; it is not difficult to distinguish. 
