The Arbitration Court

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26122, 26 May 1950, Page 6

The Arbitration Court

A timely affirmation of the inde- • pendence of the Arbitration Court made by the Judge of the Court (Mr Justice Tyndall) deserves wide notice. “Of recent years ”, his Honour said, “ there have been “signs of a tendency to identify “ this Court with the Government ”. Mr Justice Tyndall quoted two statements, one recent, which could be read to imply that the Arbitration Court is a department of State carrying out Ministerial policy. With a view to removing “ any possible misapprehension in the “ minds of the public ”, his Honour affirmed with “ all the force and “ vigour ” at his command that in carrying out its functions and exercising its powers under the statutes

of the Dominion, the Arbitration Court is unfettered. * A Judge of the Court accepts no direction from any person or group of persons, except such as are contained in the statutes. Of course, if the Arbitration Court went beyond ' the limits of the jurisdiction assigned to it by statute or misinterpreted or exceeded its authority, it would be subject to the overriding authority of the Supreme Court. But that question does not arise. Some con- I fusion about the independence of the Arbitration Court may be ascribed to two things. First, its wage-fixing functions necessarily have some bearing on political issues of the day, even though they are not exercised according to any | political theory or for any political | purpose. Second, the Government: has from time to time amended regulations, and so varied the laws

under which the Court has been required to work. But neither of these things has meant Government interference with the functions of the Court itself; and it is satisfactory, but no more than to be expected, to have Mr Justice Tyndall’s assurance that on no occasion has there been the slightest attempt by any Minister of the Crown to interfere with, or influence, him in any way. The independence of the Courts, which is the guarantee of their impartiality—it is, in fact, the only foundation on which they can be impartial—is a paramount safeguard for the citizen in a democracy. The safeguard applies in the sphere of arbitration as well as in other divisions of the law.