Lawyers Protest To Minister

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31089, 18 June 1966, Page 16

Lawyers Protest To Minister

(New Zealand Press Association? AUCKLAND, June 17. Nineteen Auckland lawyers today said they were surprised that the Crimes Amendment Bill introduced in Parliament on Wednesday had not been discussed with those practising in the criminal courts.

They have sent a telegram to the Attorney-General (Mr Hanan) expressing concern. Two of the lawyers are former Crown prosecutors. As recently as April 30 Mr Hanan had said the bill would deal with minor aspects of the Crimes Act, but introduction would allow discussion on other possible amendments to the act, the lawyers said. "The Attorney-General has apparently at short notice changed his mind. So far as we are aware the only proposal referred to the Auckland District Law Society was that dealing with the right of the Crown to appeal to the Court of Appeal against sentence,” they said. “There appears to be no urgency for the current .legislation and in the absence of haste we would have expected the AttorneyGeneral to have taken the legal profession into his confidence.

“In particular the proposed amendment that ‘judges are to have a discretion to comment adversely on the failure of an accused to give evidence or to call a spouse’ seems to us to be contrary to the established New Zealand principle fundamental to our criminal courts where an accused is presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty on the evidence.” A judge would have no way of knowing the reasons which prompted an accused’s

decision not to give evidence, said the lawyers. The reasons—in their experience —were varied and could not be taken as indicative of guilt. “The Minister will have his reasons, no doubt, for introducing the new proposals,” they said. “We feel that they should be publicly stated now so they can be considered by those who have experience in criminal trials and so that the Statute Revision Committee can be properly armed to hear all views.”