NEW LAW COURTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 97, 25 April 1910, Page 2

NEW LAW COURTS.

JDEEEISIS OV ffib * ARRANGEMENT. A EKfiSK PBOPOSAX* Some tia» soon—it ■will probably Ibe within the next ten years or thereabouts —there "drill be new law •courts erected in Auckland. It Has occurred to sever*! people who are intimately connected with the courts and legal wdrk generally that the Government are on the way to inakr ing a rery serious mistake; in. Supplying the undoubted need.in a moat imperfect aiid altogefher iiiisatistacfcOty vrAy, and it is just possible that there #ill be some movement set on foot to prevent the inadvisable or VriStetUl • expenditure 6t much money on a sfefneture that will, ■when iaerely perpetuate the I existing inconveniences. For tflefe are indonrenience? at eeifc. iSrerj' legal practitioner in the town, ac ivell as not a few of the others occasionally mdre or less concerned, haaf had ample opportunity oi discovering them. The lower courts are held in a dingy building in a state of greater or" less disrepair, vn a narrow sunless lane' called jocularly by a humorist long ago by the name of "High-street," and the Supreme Courts in a very desirable local-1 ity for a college or museum, or seme such resort meant for people not under the necessity of hurrying there and hur- -, Tying back in the middle of the press of work of a busy day. Only one of the courts has a library of any account,'and that, of course, is the Supreme Court; and as a legal practitioner's work frequently makes it necessary for him to consult authorities, he must go to the Supreme Court, which, as already mentioned, may be found at the end of a dreary climb, which is never less dreary on a sultry day. The inconvenience is sufficiently obvious to need no enlargement. In Wellington and Dunedin hotfc courts are held undeT the one roof in v building reached easily by "car-ride from any part of the city, and in Ohristehurch the courts, though in separate buildings, are so close together aa to secure practically as great convenience to those using them as if they were actually under the same roof. What tie Government propose to do in Auckland is merely W erect a new building to take tue place of the dilapidated premises now doing; duty as Magistrate's cottrt and offices, at or hear the same site. This,.will be an improvement, no doubt, on the present unsatisfactory condition of things, bat it will not get over one of the greatest of all aiffieulties-=-the distance between the two sets of offices.

In most of the English and larger colonial cities the law courts form one of the architectural show places for visitors, and are usually, in. fact, among the finest buildings to be seen. Auckland has progressed a long way beyond the limit when her claims to be called a city of importance are any longer dubious, and it is certain tnat the city will .become, in a relatively short period of years, very much bigger and more important. This disposes ot what would appear to toe tie only valid objection to the proposal to -be put bef ore the Government that any new bailding which may be erected to serve a& a law court shall be large enough to house all the courts, all the court offices, aha t&e court libraries and recor<&3. If, as is at present intended, a new building be erected near the present site, it will, ac the advocates of the other proposal point out, be of'necessity a ibuilding without much architectural beauty, and in any case it will-ie in eueii a confined area that its ibeauty. must bts lost to the city. There can be id &v& and ail , to speak of ■round it, aid it will Ire in the midst of the smoke and grime Of the downtown portion of fche city. The to the grftsent Supreme Court are not quite so strong. Arohitecturally, it is fifte ol tnc finest fouM--ings in tie city, but inside there are (lipginess and dark. There are, b*dly--lit corridors, the roornsi are inconveniently arranged; there are 'waste spaces, and the acoaatie properties of the courtrooms are bad. And, also, it is a long way away, which increases the work.of practitioner, and, it may be preeuined, increases the cost of their work to litigants.

What is necessary is a court building large enough to house everything pertaining to every co'nft, situate within easy access to the eity> near tlie police barracks, and not too far &6m the gaoi. The site which has been suggested is at the corner of CRorke-street and Princgsstreet, opposite the police station., and facing the Albert Pafk. it may be easily reached by a penny car-ride ■ from the city, and it is near the police station, and as near the gaol as practicable. The old site for the lower c6ttfte might, it is claimed, easily be disposed of ac a cite for a store or a "wareliouse, for wkiea, purpose it ■would b% va-ltaable. The Supreme Court site might likewise 'be wtilised , for a site fbi a college, or the building might he utilised as * museum.

Such is a brief outline of the conten-. tions of tie active participants in the 1 agitation to have Auckland served with the esme conveniences as the rest of tie New Zealand cities in respect to its law 1 courts. Nothing -very definite has Iteen done, ftnt it is reported t&at a conference b? representatives of the Law Society,, the City Council ana the Oiantber of Commerce is to be arranged.