Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology | Page 4

guinea for making a post-mortem examination and report (in the metropolitan area these fees are doubled). The coroner must sign the order authorizing the payment, and should an inquest be adjourned to a later day, no further fee is payable. If the deceased died in a hospital, infirmary, or lunatic asylum, the medical witness is not paid any fee. Should a medical witness neglect to make the post-mortem examination after receiving the order to do so, he is liable to a fine of ￡5.
In Scotland the Procurator Fiscal fulfils many of the duties of the coroner, but he cannot hold a public inquiry. He interrogates the witnesses privately, and these questions with the answers form the precognition. More serious cases are dealt with by the Sheriff of each county, and capital charges must be dealt with by the High Court of Justiciary. In Scotland the verdicts of the jury may be 'guilty,' 'not guilty,' or 'not proven.'
2. =The Magistrate's Court or Petty Sessions= is also a court of preliminary inquiry. The prisoner may be dealt with summarily, as, for example, in minor assault cases, or, if the case is of sufficient gravity, and the evidence justifies such a course, may be committed for trial. The fee for a medical witness who resides within three miles of the court is ten shillings and sixpence; if at a greater distance, one guinea.
In the Metropolis the prisoner in the first instance is brought before a magistrate, technically known as the 'beak,' who, in addition to being a person of great acumen, is a stipendiary, and thus occupies a superior position to the ordinary 'J.P.,' who is one of the great unpaid. In the City of London is the Mansion House Justice-Room, presided over by the Lord Mayor or one of the Aldermen. The prisoner may ultimately be sent for trial to the Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, or elsewhere.
3. =Quarter Sessions.=--These are held every quarter by Justices of the Peace. All cases can be tried before the sessions except felonies or cases which involve difficult legal questions. In London this court is known as the Central Criminal Court, and it also acts as the Assize Court. In Borough Sessions a barrister known as the Recorder is appointed as sole judge.
4. =The Assizes= deal with both criminal and civil cases. There is the Crown Court, where criminal cases are tried, and there is the Civil Court, where civil cases are heard. Before a case sent up by a lower court can be tried by the judge and petty jury, it is investigated by the grand jury, which is composed of superior individuals. If they find a 'true bill,' the case goes on; but if they 'throw it out,' the accused is at liberty to take his departure. At the Court of Assize the prisoner is tried by a jury of twelve. In bringing in the verdict the jury must be unanimous. If they cannot agree, the case must be retried before a new jury. At the Assize Court the medical witness gets a guinea a day, with two shillings extra to pay for his bed and board for every night he is away from home, with his second-class railway fare, if there is a second class on the railway by which he travels. If there is no railway, and he has to walk, he is entitled to threepence a mile for refreshments both ways.
5. =Court of Criminal Appeal.=--This was established in 1908, and consists of three judges. A right of appeal may be based (1) solely on a question of law; (2) on certificate from the judge who tried the prisoner; (3) on mitigation of sentence.
Speaking generally, in the Superior Courts the fees which may be claimed by medical men called on to give evidence are a guinea a day if resident in the town in which the case is tried, and from two to three guineas a day if resident at a distance from the place of trial, this to include everything except travelling expenses. The medical witness also receives a reasonable allowance for hotel and travelling expenses.
If a witness is summoned to appear before two courts at the same time, he must obey the summons of the higher court. Criminal cases take precedence of civil.
A medical man has no right to claim privilege as an excuse for not divulging professional secrets in a court of law, and the less he talks about professional etiquette the better. Still, in a civil case, if he were to make an emphatic protest, the matter in all probability would not be pressed. In a criminal case he would promptly be reminded of the nature of his oath.
A medical man may be required to furnish a formal written report. It may be the history