Greater Efficacy of the Trial of Civil Cases
| Author | Thomas W. Shelton |
| Published date | 01 March 1928 |
| Date | 01 March 1928 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000271622813600114 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
95
Greater
Efficacy
of
the
Trial
of
Civil
Cases
By
THOMAS
W.
SHELTON
Chairman,
Committee
on
Uniform
Judicial
Procedure,
American
Bar
Association
ONE
cannot
think
of
improvement
except
as
a
relative
term.
It
is
best
measured
by
comparison
and
often
by
contrast.
The
first
locomo-
tive
constructed
would
be
&dquo;improved&dquo;
by
a
visit
to
a
modern
machine
shop,
but
it
still
would
be
wholly
inefficient
for
the
present
demands
of
transporta-
tion.
It
has
not
advanced
with
the
times.
Patching
and
the
approval
of
our
forefathers
would
not
increase
its
efficiency.
So,
it
must
be
postulated
that
any
procedure
and
practice
that
does
not
permit
of
a
prompt
settlement
of
controversies
upon
their
merits
is
inefficient
and
its
antiquity
detracts
from
its
usefulness.
Starting
from
this
unquestionable
premise
one
may
discuss
the
greater
efficacy
of
the
trial
of
civil
cases
through
statutory
experiments
or
patchwork
without
the
risk
of
under-
estimating
the
need
of
a
complete
mod-
ernization
of
the
administration
of
justice,
such
as
the
English
courts
underwent
in
1873,
when
there
was
put
into
effect
a
scientific
system
of
simple
correlated
court-made
rules.
Manifestly
there
has
been
a
measur-
able
improvement
in
the
mechanical
operation
of
the
American
civil
courts
during
the
past
decade.
Otherwise
the
administration
of
justice
would
have
become
well-nigh
impossible,
instead
of
being
expensively
inadequate.
It
is
yet
so
slow
and
technical
as
to
congest
the
dockets,
make
necessary
the
use
of
arbitration
courts,
or
discourage
men
into
surrendering
their
rights.
This
condition
has
created
a
combative
dissatisfaction
amongst
laymen
and
resentment
amongst
laywers
that
is
dangerously
lessening
popular
faith
in
the
courts.
Deeply
conscious
of
this
unnecessary
menace,
the
American
Bar
Association
and
the
several
State
Bar
Associations
have
assiduously
addressed
themselves
to
its
removal.
It
is
the
results
achieved
by
these
agencies
to
which
one
must
look.
TWO
BAR
ASSOCIATION
PROGRAMS
The
Bar
Associations
have
proceeded
in
an
orderly
way,
that
there
might
be
commanded
the
confidence
of
both
statesmen
and
the
public.
Following
a
campaign
of
education,
two
well-
defined
programs
have
been
prose-
cuted,
in
support
of
which
there
has
been
an
unprecedented
unanimity
of
lay
and
professional
opinion.
Only
a
militant
minority
of
the
Congress
seems
to
be
opposed.
The
President
and
the
Chief
Justice
favor
it.
The
ulti-
mate
object
is
to
induce
the
Legislative
Department
of
the
Federal
and
State
Governments,
in
their
own
interest
as
well
as
that
of
efficacy,
to
return
to
the
courts,
which
are
the
agencies
held
responsible
for
the
administration
of
justice,
the
power
to
perfect
the
tools
with
which
they
work;
that
it
may
be
done
scientifically
instead
of
by
slow
and
conflicting
enactment
by
the
Congress
and
Legislatures
in
the
form
of
rigid
sub-
stantive
law
possessing
all
the
sanctity
of
the
law
it
was
designed
to
administer.
This
campaign
has
so
far
advanced
as
to
enjoy
the
support
of
a
large
majority
in
both
Houses
of
Congress.
There
has
been
done
in
the
United
States
by
way
of
engaging
public
confidence
and
interest
in
seventeen
years
what
it
took
England
more
than
a
century
and
a
Dickens
and
a
Bentham
to
achieve.
Efficiency
in
trials
will
in
this
way
eventually
be
had.
In
the
meantime,
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