“Could Occur Again”

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30739, 1 May 1965, Page 1

“Could Occur Again”

The case in which a young man was held in custody on remand for three months and a half before being discharged without trial might be “exceptional,” as termed by the Minister of Justice (Mr Hanan) but it occurred in a perfectly normal manner, said a Christchurch lawyer (Mr G. S. Brockett) last evening.

“It might be exceptional, but it could occur again under the present system operating in Christchurch courts. The way in which it happened was normal,” Mr Brockett said. He said that the period, from February 4 to March 10, when the man was on remand, was because the Court was unable to give an earlier fixture than March 10 for depositions to be heard. “There was too much work to allow the case to be heard sooner. The Court could not give an earlier date because of other cases which had already been allocated fixtures.

The Court, at present, norm ally takes depositions on one day a week. “If this situation is to be overcome, more experienced Court staff, additional magistrates to handle the volume of work existing in Christchurch, more efficient buildings and facilities than now exist will have to be provided. “In this particular case, it would appear that the Justices of the Peace should not have committed the man for trial. Still, no injustice was done. But the result was that he was further remanded on bail with a surety, which he could not obtain, and accordingly was held in custody. “This, perhaps, makes out a case for Justices of the Peace not acting in this jurisdiction (the taking of depositions) and the only way to

do this is to appoint more magistrates so that they can cope with the taking of depositions in addition to all the other work they now do.” “It was several months before another resident magistrate had been appointed to take the place of Mr A. P. Blair, S.M., now Judge Blair,” Mr Brockett said. Resident magistrates in Christchurch were frequently on circuit, although they had been given assistance of a limited nature by visiting magistrates. "Therefore, the taking of depositions falls largely on Justices of the Peace, and unless there are special circumstances, lawyers are reluctant to apply to magistrates to take depositions because they know how overworked the magistrates are,” Mr Brockett concluded.