Appeal with the Mahommedan members of the native Court of Appeal. This proposal, which I left in the hands of Mr. McIlwraith, my able successor, was accepted, thanks to his advocacy, but it has not yet become law on account of the opposition of the Legislative Council, which may lead to the fusion of the religious with the ordinary tribunals. Such a fusion would be most welcome in the country. It would be the forerunner of a still more important amalgamation. It was the ambition of Nubar Pacha, it was my ambition, it was the ambition of every lover of Egypt, to steadily improve the native courts until they could fairly claim to administer every form of justice to every class of suitor, and to every nationality. It will take time. They are not yet ready. you agree with me that they are on the way.

But I hope

"Justice": Its Realisation.-Now I have told my story, I trust without wearying my readers. I propose to conclude my lecture with the final words I spoke at the leave-taking with my friends in Egypt last May: "I came to Egypt first in 1872 as a perfect stranger. I was welcomed on all sides as a friend, and from that day to this I have received nothing but kindness from all who dwell in Egypt. It is a satisfaction for me to feel that I have done some little good in the country which has treated me so kindly and which I love so well. Sir Edward Malet, in a valedictory speech in 1883, declared his great wish for the country was 'Justice, Justice, Justice.' I am proud to think I have had a part in the realisation of this grand desire. I found in 1890 a set of native tribunals that were struggling for existence. I leave behind me a set of national tribunals which will, I trust, be the backbone of the country for all time."

P.S.—I am glad to be able to report a steady development of the judicial system since I left the country in May 1898. English professors are now added to the teaching staff of the School of Law, and English is one of the languages now in use there. This is a necessary preliminary to the introduction of English as a judicial language in the courts, which will come in due time. The tendency on the part of the mixed courts to overstep the proper limit of their jurisdiction has received a salutary check at the hands of the European powers interested in them. Reform in the religious courts met with unexpected opposition, which had its source in anti-English, pro-Turkish intrigue. The proposed improvements are under examination at the hands of a commission. But the Grand Mufti, who was essentially one of the old school, has been replaced by a Mahommedan lawyer of great learning and honesty, who fully recognises the necessity of reform. Another change of persons effected in the last year will also have a most salutary effect. Mr. Bond, a sound lawyer, knowing both the English and French systems, and an excellent Arabic scholar, has been appointed Vice-President of the Court of Appeal.

COMPARATIVE LUNACY LAW.

[Contributed by A. WOOD RENTON, ESQ.]

DURING recent years the comparative law of lunacy has acquired considerable importance. Questions have been raised not only in this country, but on the Continent and in America as to the adequacy of the existing machinery for securing the committal of persons of unsound mind to receptacles for the insane; and problems of considerable delicacy have presented themselves to the legal tribunals for solution with regard to the weight to be assigned to ex-territorial declarations of lunacy and to applications by curators or committees appointed in pursuance of such declarations for the delivery over of property within the jurisdiction belonging to the lunatics for whom they act.

Under these circumstances, an examination of a number of typical systems of lunacy administration may not be inopportune. It may suggest practical reforms in lunacy legislation; it may also throw light on the question-which is always one of the critical issues in applications for the transfer of property to committees or foreign curators-how far there is in some of the cases analysed a vesting of the lunatic's property in the representative assigned to him by the law.

I.-ENGLAND AND WALES.

[Note that "1890 " means the Lunacy Act, 1890; "1891" the Lunacy Act, 1891.] Reception of Lunatics into Asylums, etc.-1. Reception orders on petition. Subject to the exceptions of urgency cases and criminal lunatics, a person, not being a pauper or a lunatic so found by inquisition, cannot be received and detained as a lunatic in an institution for lunatics, or as a single patient, unless under a reception order made by "the judicial authority." The detention of a lunatic is justifiable at common law if necessary for his safety or that of others (Brookshaw v. Hopkins [1773] Lofft. 235-240; Anderson v. Burrows [1830] 4 C. & P. 210; Scott v. Wakem [1862] 3 F. & F. 328; Symm v. Fraser [1862]; ibid., 859). The order is obtained on a private application by petition, accompanied by a statement of particulars and by two

1

"The judicial authority" is a justice of the peace specially appointed by the justices of every county and quarter sessions borough annually, or a county court judge or magistrate-the two last of whom may decline, however, to act if their doing so would interfere with the proper discharge of their ordinary jurisdiction (1890, ss. 9, 10, and 11; 1891, ss. 24 and 25).

medical certificates on separate sheets of paper (1890, s. 4 [2]). The petition is to be presented if possible by the husband or wife or a relative of the alleged lunatic. If not so presented, it must contain an explanation of the fact, and of the connection of the petitioner with the alleged lunatic, and the circumstances under which he presents the petition (1890, s. 5 [1]). As to the policy of these provisions see Thirty-Third Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy, at p. 129. The wilful mis-statement of any material fact in a petition is a misdemeanour (1890, s. 317 [1]). No person is competent to present a petition unless he is at least twenty-one years of age, and has within fourteen days before the presentation of the petition personally seen the alleged lunatic (1890, s. 5 [2]). On the presentation of the petition, the judicial authority considers the allegation in the petition, the statement of particulars, and the certificates. If he is satisfied, he may make an order forthwith; if not, he appoints a time not more than seven days after the presentation of the petition for the consideration, and may make any further enquiries that he thinks proper in the meantime. Notice of the time and place fixed for hearing the petition is given to the petitioner. The hearing is private. No one but the alleged lunatic (unless the judicial authority otherwise order), the petitioner, one person appointed by the alleged lunatic for that purpose, and the persons signing the medical certificates accompanying the petition, is, without the leave of the judicial authority, allowed to be present (1890, s. 6 [3]). At the consideration, the judicial authority may make an order, or dismiss the petition, or again adjourn the case for not more than fourteen days for further evidence or information. If a reception order is made, the lunatic may be received into any institution for lunatics-the order, if in proper form and accompanied by the requisite medical certificates, being a sufficient authority for the reception.

2. Urgency orders.—In cases of urgency, or where, and only where (In re Cathcart [1893] 1 Ch. 475), it is expedient for the welfare of a person (not a pauper) alleged to be a lunatic, or for the public safety, detention for not more than seven days or, if a petition for a reception order is pending, till it is finally disposed of (1890, s. 11 [6]), may be effected under an urgency order-analogous to and borrowed from the Scotch emergency certificate-made, if possible, by the husband or wife, or by a relative of the alleged lunatic, and accompanied by one medical certificate (1890, s. 11 [1]).

3. Reception after inquisition.—This may be effected under an order signed by the committee of the person, or, if none has been appointed, by the Master in Lunacy (1890, s. 12).

4. Summary reception orders.-These are orders for the reception of lunatics made by justices otherwise than upon petition (1890, s. 19). There are four classes of cases in which such orders are made :

(1) Lunatics (not paupers, and not wandering at large) who are not under proper care and control, or are cruelly treated or neglected.

(2) Resident pauper lunatics.

(3) Lunatics (whether pauper or not) wandering at large.

(4) Lunatics in workhouses.

(5) Reception under Commissioners' order.

Minute and complicated provisions are contained in ss. 28-33 of the Lunacy Act of 1890 for securing the explicitness and disinterestedness of certificates, etc. A reception order expires at the end of one year from its date, unless extended by the Commissioners (1890, s. 38 [2], [4]) or the patient is re-certified (1891, s. 7). The detention of a lunatic after the expiry of the reception order is a misdemeanour (1890, s. 38 [7]).

Care and Treatment of Lunatics in Asylums.-The main features deserving consideration under this head are these:

:

1. Mechanical restraint.-This is not to be applied to any lunatic unless the restraint is necessary for purposes of surgical or medical treatment, or to prevent the lunatic from injuring himself and others (1890, s. 40 [1]). In many asylums, both in England and in the United States, mechanical restraint is unknown. An interesting discussion of the whole subject by English and American experts will be found in the New York Medico-Legal Society's Papers, vol. iii., p. 35. By the Model Regulations made under the Inebriates Act, 1898, mechanical restraint in certified inebriate reformatories is limited to the strait-jacket.

2. The privacy of correspondence between patients and the Lord Chancellor. 3. Access of friends and relations to patients.

4. The employment of males in the personal custody of females, except on occasions of urgency, is prohibited under a maximum penalty of £20 (1890, s. 53). Considerable abuses seem to have resulted in former times, both in this country and abroad, from the employment of male attendants in the custody of female patients (cf. Parly. Debates, 1816, vol. xxxiv., p. 1127-speech by Lord R. Seymour; and History of York Lunatic Asylum, by Jonathan Gray, p. 6).

5. The boarding out of pauper lunatics confined in such asylum with relatives or friends. The most extended application of the principle of boarding out is that made in the Gheel Colony. 'Boarding out" is, however, a regular part of asylum

administration in Scotland.

6. A report as to the mental and bodily condition of the patient is to be sent to the Commissioners in Lunacy at the expiration of a month. Special visits may also be paid, and the Commissioners may make orders of discharge (1890, s. 39).

Discharge of Lunatics.-The law provides for the discharge of lunatics (a) on recovery (1890, s. 83); (b) by habeas corpus; (c) by the authority liable for the maintenance of paupers in hospitals or licensed houses (ibid., s. 73), unless the medical officer or medical attendant certify against it, in which case the written consent of the Commissioners is required (ibid., s. 74); and, further, for the discharge by visitors of lunatics in licensed houses and of patients in asylums (ibid., ss. 77 and 78), of paupers by relatives or friends (ibid., s. 79); and for the discharge from workhouses by the guardians (ibid., s. 81; see also 1890, s. 49, as to discharge by Commissioners on certificate by two medical men; and cf. Reg. v. Commissioners in Lunacy [1897] 1 Q.B. 630). There is a salutary rule that any person who considers himself to have been unjustly detained is entitled, on his discharge, to obtain from the secretary to the Lunacy Commissioners, free of expense, a copy of the documents under which he was confined (1890, s. 82). Provision is made for (i) inquests in cases of suspicious death, etc. (ibid., s. 84); (ii) and for post mortems, whether inquests are held or not.

Classification of Receptacles for the Insane.-The classification of receptacles for the insane in England may be conveniently noticed here :—

1. INSTITUTIONS FOR LUNATICS, including (see 1890, s. 341) asylums, licensed houses, and registered hospitals.

The asylums are provided by counties or boroughs, or by unions of counties and boroughs (ibid., s. 341). As to the modes in which asylums are provided, see 1890, ss. 242, et seq.

Licensed houses are houses licensed "within the immediate jurisdiction" of the Commissioners in Lunacy by the Commissioners and elsewhere by the justices for every county and quarter sessions' borough.

Registered hospitals, 1890, ss. 207 and 231.

2. WORKHOUSES.

3. Houses in which pauper lunatics are boarded out with relatives or friends.

4. PRIVATE HOUSES (unlicensed), in each of which not more than one single patient may be detained (1890, s. 315 [3]), unless the Commissioners in Lunacy assent (1890, s. 46). No lunatic or alleged lunatic may be detained in an unlicensed house for payment (ibid., s. 315 [1]).

Visitation of Receptacles for the Insane.-The ordinary duties of visitation are divided between

(1) The Commissioners in Lunacy.

(2) The Chancery visitors.

(3) Various other visitors and visiting committees.

Methods of Dealing with the Property of Lunatics.-The jurisdiction in lunacy. Under the unrepealed Statute De Praerogativá Regis (17 Edw. II., cc. 9 and 10), the care and custody of lunatics belong to the Crown. The Crown has, however, at least from the sixteenth century, exercised this control by delegates, and principally through the Lord Chancellor as keeper of the conscience of the Sovereign. The term "Judge in Lunacy" (1890, s. 108 [1]) means either the Lord Chancellor for the time being intrusted under the Royal Sign-manual with the care and commitment of the custody of the persons and estates of lunatics, acting alone or jointly with any one or more of such judges of the Supreme Court as may for the time being be so intrusted, or by one or more of such judges. In practice, lunacy jurisdiction is at present exercised by (1) The Lords Justices in Lunacy and any other judge of the Supreme Court (e.g., the present Master of the Rolls, to whom, virtute officii, no lunacy jurisdiction belongs), intrusted under the sign-manual; (2) County Court Judges; (3) Masters in Lunacy.

Modes in which the Jurisdiction in Lunacy is Exercised.—These may be grouped under five headings:

I. Inquisitions.

2. Summary proceedings (i) under s. 116 of the Act of 1890; (ii) in small cases. 3. Proceedings consequential on inquisitions, etc.

4. Traverse.

5. Supersedeas.

The two first can only be touched on here.

1. Inquisitions.—An inquisition is ordered by the Judge in Lunacy (not a Master) on the petition generally of a near relative of the alleged lunatic, supported by affidavits of medical men. The order specifies whether the inquisition is to be held with or without a jury. The inquisition is with a jury (1) if the alleged lunatic being within the jurisdiction demands it (1890, s. 90 [2]), unless the judge is satisfied that the alleged lunatic is not competent to form and express a wish in that behalf (ibid., s. 91), and even in such cases the masters have power to direct an inquisition before a jury on consideration of the evidence (ibid., s. 93); (2) if the alleged lunatic is out of the jurisdiction (ibid., s. 96); (3) where the Judge in Lunacy directs it, although the alleged lunatic being within the jurisdiction has not demanded it (1890, s. 92). An inquisition may be held in the case of an alien (In re Bariatinski [1845] 1 Ph. 375) (a) resident within the jurisdiction, either temporarily or permanently, and possessing property there; (b) resident abroad, but possessing property within the jurisdiction; (c) resident within the jurisdiction without possessing property there (In re Houstoun [1826] 1 Russ. 312); and also against a subject under similar conditions. The only special points in connection with inquisitions that require to be noted are these: In practice, a jury of thirty-four is summoned; twelve must concur in the verdict; counsel in proceedings against an alleged lunatic ought to act in the