ADMINISTERING JUSTICE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 215, 7 September 1912, Page 9

ADMINISTERING JUSTICE.

DEFENCE or POOR PRXSOKBR WOBK AND PAY OF CORON"ERS. TEADfXXG OF MAGISTRATES. (By Telegrapn.—Parllamentary Seporter. \VEL'LIXGtON, TWday.

TJic coimparative merite of tih-c re^iective systems of having magisterial- coroirera and gentlemen especially appointexl to conduct colonial inquiries were discuesetl when the Justice estimates were going through the Houisc this evening. hi repiy to the member for Christchurah North, the Minister for Justice pointed- out that in Christehureh. Weij lirrjrton, and other places th« conduct of I inquests devolved upon nia™Lstra.tea beI cause their magisterial duties did not ■ m-iuwpol their time as it did in Auckland; For instance, about £100 per anmmi was paid to the ma-gist-rat** in Oho'isrMiuroh for performing the. duty of t'o-rotrer, and in Wellington aixmt the Kanve -ibntount was paid. in Auckland tire C-oroner wa» especially appointed to aot as euch. but 'toe only nsoeiv-pd so miirh per inqiiest, wbi-ch really canw to yon - much t'h-e same thing. I -Mr. Witty (Ricearton) expr«a««d the opinion t/lvat the Auckland system was tine better system. He did- not think. a magistraie should be asked to do the. work of a coroner. Tlve Minister remarked that it was! proposed to give comrid«ra.bi'on to t'ho, whole que<?tioii rela.tantf to the magisterial bench, and next sesei<»n legislation •would probably be introduced with tlK* view- of putting majrietra-tee on a definite and proper footing. I TO INTERPRET THE LAW. This provoked sonic opinions as to tint legal status of magistrates. Th« member for Lyctelton took exception to the. lay.ing down of the principle that magistrates should be all lawyers. K< (Mr. La.ureneon) knew magistrates, and some of the best men that had served in that rapacity were not lawyer* at all. He had every reepwt for men, but he tthought log*! t.raining sometimes resulted in disorganising a man for presiding on the bench. This remark produced a chorus nl da«senfc from the legal minds in the House.

It was absolutely neceeeary far .1 magi,=trate to know the law," declared Mr. Bell; for, if a nran navins; jurisdiction of the la.w had no in it, tfoc-re would be ptinh conflict in decisions as -would threaten tb«i wrrSderice of fehe

people .in the magisterial bench, and be ■productive of endless trouble. It was not .•wfifciejTt to select merely commoji-.sense people, without TiefeTienoe to tl*n kiKrwledge of the law for our magi-jterial bcndi.

.Mir. tLanan contended that it was in t.he internes of t>h<> people, and the poorer classes especially,. that tho** who sat on the irisiffieterial ben«h ehould hfl nxe-n of the 'highest tTamiiiifj and well versed in la-w.

The Minister, -jvwertiujr to- tin; work 6f eoroneirs. expreesrml hhe opinion, that wherever possible tihnt work should be ■p« : *<M , b-y ,-v- A coroner hield an exoftexfjnfrly nsponsihlc poeaiioTi, having i» ascefnta-in and divide upon the Saiiee of death, which,-in .lomo wasps, reuwsrt jTrßve attending- coTT»^tieTi<>ew. Mr. l«ntt: Ougiht i/e. not to hire a fixed salary for the duty? Mr. Herd-man: Ido rir>t think t.hit. ma-ttrxs v?.ry murh. Th.° system of fpeii appears to work very weli in WV.I--linstmi. a.nd I daresay, it works well in Chen »tohii r«?h. In reference to th>3 appeintmpnt of ma{ristir*t«s; th* Minister expressed t:he opinion that, whirr-ever -posnible:. it ■ivas desirable to appoint men of legal trainill to tire -lTen-rb. Ciaiwe -w<eTP mom complex nowaday*. Tile ffii«tion of majriptrabTß , &alari»> d*T>prved seriou* oonsidfrration. Many magiftrAtfs were no". ad«|«a.t-e]y ■rpmun , eTa-t< , d. My. A. E. Glover urpprl teh Minipter of Justice to appoint Crown defenders in the courts.

Mr. G. W. Russell dou.hted if thi» system of combining the office of coroner ■with that of stipendiary majjistrate would work well in the cities, beouise the magistrates were overworked. He hoped the way would bp mad* , easy for clerks of court to qualify by legal training for the Bpnoh.

Tn Hip opinion of }!>. Stathnin (Dnnedin Central), there was great, room for reform in the salaries of magistrates. They were, ho said, much too small to attract m«n who enjoyed a lucrative legal practice. THE J.P. HUXGER.. Mr. Wm. C. Buchanan . objected to appointment-- of justices in "large centres at long intervals. Sir Joseph Ward mentioned that long before his time, it was customary to a.ppoint members of Parliament. justices lof thp peace.. Up had ascertained that I several members had not been appointed. The Minister of Justice replied that the hunper for justifies of the peace all over New Zealand was • absolute.l amazing , . He hid received letters day after day containing long lists of persons ; nominated an justiops. He had appointed 120. ?nd if he called for nominations from members, he would ©robnblv get 300 at once. There w&s no need to wait for an annual occasion for appointments. They could b.-» made more frequently. A.? soon a* the session waa over he would go through an- : other list now prepared, and make a fair 1 distribution. .Justices would in future be appointed when IX-oti a row. He ' agreed that members of Parliament should be created justice*, and that chairmen of county .councils should be placed on the same fooling a* mayor*, who were justices by virtue of their j office. • • • NEED FOR CROWN DEFENDERS. Mr. Laureiisoti urged that th» time was ripe f*r the consideration of the appointment of .public, defenders. The member for L.vtteltnn.. illustrated his contention by relating a recent' ease that had come under his own ncitipejjn which .a man earning between C 3 alid £-1 a week had to tj.efe.Bd-.his character in the Supreme Court. Th? Judge declared that there was not a stain on his char- 1 acter as the result of the trial, and he left the Court with, a legal bill of £347 to pay for establishing his innocence. Such a state of things was monstrous, and proved the necessity of providing •some means by which a poor man could establish his innocence without bring ruined by extortionate legal expenses. Mr. Lee (Oamanil, referring to the case mentioned by Mr. La.".J7P.nson, stated that thp man undoubtedly deserved compel).-a tior:. This individual tola- the speaker t.h,at the bill was not heary in proportion to the legal services rendered,, for "which he was very grateful. There was a long trial in two court*, and the legal gentlemen reduced the bill to £230 because of their client* " poor circiunstanoee.

WITHOUT FEE OR QUESTION.

Mi; VV. H: D. Bell (Wellington Suburbs) pointed out tH*t there was provision that judges could appoint' counsftl to defend men charged with serioue ofTene«s, and it was a tradition , of the bar tha-t anyone so appointed would act without question 1 and without fee. Mr. Russell moved n £1 reduction in the Justice Departments vote, as an indication that next session the Government should introduce legislation appointing Crown defenders in the Supreme Court. The merer suggested thut before men were called upon to pl>*jd in thp Supreme Court they should have the opportunity of consulting a trained legal adviser.

Mr. Wilford: If you did. you would never get a mah to'plead guilty. Mr. Russell retorted: "I don't, want to back-pedal the argument"—a reference to Mr. Wilford's political attitude which stirred the House to «reat laughter.

A MINISTERIAL PROPOSITION. The appointment of a public defender could only be justified on the ground that .people were sometimes denied justice when being tried, said the Minister, who contended that there was no necessity for the appointment of 11 public defender on and] grounds at present. Such an appointment would be exieedin<;lv costly. Under the Poor Prisoner.-*' Defence Act of linglund. when a man went before a justice in the Lower Court the jut»ti:-e might, if he thought it desirable, recommend that th: , man should have legal assistance when he reached the Supreme Court. Tluit w:is ', a very different proposal, and he was very seriously thinking of a.-lvNing: Cabinet to adopt a similar measure, and to advise the liouse to put it, on the Statute Book next session. To suggest, however, thft every crimin<il whn jjnes before the Court .should have the srr vices of a public defender was ridiculous.

I Jlr. Russell said lip accepted with pl?a sure the offer that had been made by the Minister that he would introduce a bill on the line, of the British Aft. It would then, ho added, be for the Houso .next session, when that bill came dow|, to consider whether its provisions should be enlarged.