NEW STATUTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 306, 27 December 1928, Page 5

NEW STATUTES.

OPERATE IN NEW YEAR.

ONLY THREE OUTSTANDING

CARE OF THE MENTALLY SICK.

The majority of the Acts placed on I lie Statute Book in the third and final !»f.-?ion of the twenty-second Parliament "f J<ew Zealand, which closed early in October, come into operation as from January 1. It was a more or less dreary •ind unimaginative session, and the legislation, with the exception of three Acts which provoked a fair measure of interest, was not of a . far-reaching character. The bulk of the 1928 Statute Book is made up largely of eonsolidai ions and amendments," including the following: l'ost and Telegraph, Public Works, Education Reserves, Orchard and Harden Diseases, Magistrate's Courts, Inspection of Machinery, and the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Acts. All of i hese operate as from New Year's Dav.

The Music Teachers Registration Act, introduced by Sir John Luke; the < 'ptieians Act, which makes provision Cor the regulation and control of the practice of optometry; and Acts relating i'» the registration of surveyors and the government of the Surveyors' Institute, also take effect next Tuesday.

Mental Defectives Act. The three outstanding Acts were the Mental Defectives, Cinematograph Films, and the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Uisks) Insurance Acts. The firstmentioned was the most provocative item on the legislative programme of the .-cssion, and was responsible for one of ihe most protracted sittings of the House in recent years. It was before the House during the committee stage for about 24 hourij without a break. The Art creates a separate Department of State, known as the Mental Hospitals Department, with a director-general as ihe chief administrative officer. Persons who suffer from mental deficiency, associated with anti-social conduct, and who by reason of that deficiency and conduct require supervision for their own protection or in the public interest, are to be placed under the care of this department. Approved social welfare societies will co-operate with the Department in the care of this class and of all those who are mentally defective.

As originally drafted, the Act made provision for the compilation of a register, in which the names of retardate i-hildren should be entered, but .-uch was i he opposition 111 the country and in the House that this proposal was dropped. Another provision, making for the sterilisation of tlio mentally unfit, and the prohibition of the marriage of mentally deficient persons, was also relegated to the limbo of abandoned ideas. I'he Act, as passed, provides that a register is to be kept by a Registration T.oard, all the mentally unfit being liable for inclusion. Appeals may be made to the Supreme Court for the removal of any name when the mental state of a person is considered to be such as to render his or her inclusion in the register unwarranted. Registered persons are protected in many ways, and must not l>e supplied with liquor. What action the United Government "will take in regard to the Act has not yet been revealed, and the Minister in charge of the Mental Hospital Department has declined to make any statement for thepresent. Pedestrian Protection. Of general interest to motorists is the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Risks) Insurance Act, which was enacted with the idea of protecting pedestrians on ihe highways from loss or damage by motorists. When the measure was under discussion in the House it was shown that there are many motorists without sufficient financial means to meet a claim for damages, and cases have already occurred in New Zealand where people have been crippled for life by motorists who cscape their obligations in the matter of compensation by filing a petition in bankruptcy. When licenses are renewed next May applicants will be required to nominate an insurance company with whom they desire to place their third party risks. Before a license is issued the motorist must pay to the registrar the premium for the policy. This premium is most reasonable, and the New Zealand motorist will be covered from liability much more cheaply than would have been the case had the Act not been passed.

The idea underlying the Cinematograph Films Act is to encourage the manufacture of films by British companies. As the Act standi! at present, its provisions are not obligatory, but the industry has given an undertaking that the spirit of the measure will be observed.