INTERFERENCE WITH MAGISTRATES.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13879, 2 November 1910, Page 8

INTERFERENCE WITH MAGISTRATES.

c Tho Minister for Justice has naturally p lost no time in expressing his a astonishment at Mr H. W. Northcroft's c statements regarding .political interfer- J1 cnco with the magistracy, and his inability to understand them Considering that persons occasionally j Avrito to judges and attempt to' ■ influonco tiieir attitude towards r , prisoners appearing before them, it "s D not surprising that Dr. Findlay should f ( now and then receive communications j n from individuals interested in cases : .i ' o: tho Magistrate's Court. But no ono j assumed that the Minister was in the | x ' habit of dictating to magistrates did ; ** course they should pursue in regard to' such cases. The "political interference ' ! i to which Mr Northcroft alluded was j v, not necessarily Ministerial inter-! rt ference: it might havo come fro-ft j in quite ordinary members of Parliament, I Si or from organisations exercising a : Fi certain amount of influence in politics. < f° Dr. Findlay is no doubt as anxious i-, < T " preserve the purity of owr court* *° as anyone in New Zealand. but ° l in saving that he has been " careful * Vl . " to sco taat no outside influence, y. " political or otherwise, is alhrwed to m "interfere with our judicial system," br ho claimed rather too much, sa

lie may have tried to prevent magistrates being subjected to pressure, but it would b_ impossible for him to do jo with entire success, for, exeent in tho few instances to which be referred, the J.ttempfc would not be made through him. We have seen recently in a .small way what ca.ii happen when a member of Parliament exerts himself on behalf of a friend, and who is to say that magistrates have not had to listen to overtures to the same purpose? If that were so, it would quite justify Mr Northcroft's remarks, and the possibility of such a thing happening is a strong argument in favour of his contention that the magistrates in New Zealand should bo made as independent as the Supreme Court Judges. There is no reason to assume, from Mr Northcroft's statements, that the magistrates permit themselves to be influenced by the pressure which is put upon them, but it is not right that they should be in a position in which such attempts are possible. Until the pay is made good enough to attract our best men to tne stipendiary Bench, and tho occupants are raised beyond the bare suspicion oi being affected by outside influences, the magistrates will always be liable to be suspected of submitting to interference, political and otherwise. And tho mere suspicion that it is possible to module with tho administration of justice is a bad thing for any community.