150
The Green Bag
The doctrine of insubstantial error has been developed, and the statutes that may be adopted to express the desires of the Board of Statutory Consolidation, will not, by forbidding reversals on mere technicalities, have the same significance which the adoption of the American Bar Association measures might have elsewhere. It is rather on the side of expedition and simplicity that the New York practice is in need of reform, and the example of the United States Supreme Court and of the State of New Jersey, in their recent reforms of equity and common law practice, is likely to have its influence in New York. The Council of the National Munici pal League has decided by a vote of its members, that the most vital sub ject before the country today is the efficiency of the system of administering justice. Congress is the power which at present can accomplish immeasurably more than any other agency for the remedy of the law's delays. By adopting what Mr. Thomas W. Shelton's com mittee recommends, and bringing about the reform of common law procedure in the federal courts, it can realize the end toward which the American Bar Association has been striving, and with a model procedure in the federal courts, the several states will one by one fall into line and bring the procedural system of the entire country up to a high level. The movement for recall of judges and judicial decisions has furnished no development during the month so sig nificant as the distinctly encouraging ex pression of right sentiment from New York State. A constitutional amend ment permitting the recall of judicial de cisions has been defeated in the Massa chusetts legislature just as we go to press. In Michigan, a somewhat in genious method of tempering the extravagance of the recall is provided for,
in the bill lately introduced by Repre sentative Glassner. Judges are to hold office for two years with entire immunity from recall, and are chosen for life on non-partisan ballots. After a judge has been exonerated by popular vote, recall proceedings cannot be started against him again for four years.
Simplification of New York Code 'Practice The Board of Statutory Consolidation, composed of Judge Adolph J. Rodenbeck, William B. Hornblower, John G. Milburn, Adelbert Moot, and Charles A. Collin, has reported a plan for "the classification, consolidation, and simpli fication of the civil practice" in New York State, as a result of the investiga tion which the Board was ordered to make by chapter 393, Laws of 1912. Governor Sulzer in transmitting the report to the legislature, accompanied it with a special message expressing his complete approval of the report, which proposes that the present Code of Civil Procedure be abandoned and makes the following general recom mendations: — "There should be prepared a short practice act which would preserve in statutory form the fundamental and jurisdictional matters of procedure in the Code of Civil Procedure, with such changes as may be deemed necessary to adapt those provisions to present condi tions, the substantive law and special practice in the code being distributed in appropriate consolidated laws or if necessary in new statutes. "There should be prepared rules of court which would preserve and regu late the important details of practice now in the Code of Civil Procedure and in the present court rules, the unim portant minute details of practice being
