LAW AND THE COURTS 239

Judge must be satisfied that, since the order to pay was
made, the debtor has had the means to pay and refused to
do so.

CORONERS* COURTS.

Of the lesser Courts, there remains one whose function is to
discover facts rather than administer law. A coroner, who is a
doctor or lawyer appointed by the County or Borough Council,
and removable from his office only by the Lord Chancellor, has
to hold inquests when death has occurred without obvious
natural cause. He may sit with or without a jury, and when a
jury is employed it can give its verdict by a majority vote. The
rules of procedure are lax, and, when a witness is under suspicion,
the inquest may degenerate into an irregular trial without any
of the usual safeguards about evidence. A verdict of murder
against a particular person will always be. followed by arrest
and criminal proceedings, in the course of which the prisoner
may find his case seriously prejudiced. Criticism of this, and
other, defects in the Coroners* Courts has grown in,recent years,
and considerable alteration oif the law is now proposed.

THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE.

The centre of the whole judicial system is the Supreme
Court of Judicature, possessing both civil and criminal juris-
diction. It was established by an Act of 1873, and is composed
of the High Court of Justice, and the Court of Appeal; the rule/
of procedure in these courts are determined by the Supreme
Court as a whole under the presidency of the Lord Chancellor.
The High Court contains three divisions, (i) The King's Bench
Division, to which belong the Lord Chief Justice, and nineteen
puisne1 judges, (ii) Chancery Division, presided over by the

1 The name given to Judges not Presidents of a Division: they are
appointed on the Lord Chancellor's recommendation, while the Prime
Minister recommends to the King for appointments to the superior
positions.