Judge Defends N.Z. System Of Tribunals

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31378, 25 May 1967, Page 3

Judge Defends N.Z. System Of Tribunals

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, May 24. Judge K. G. Archer today defended the New Zealand system of administrative justice against criticism which, he said, had been made of it in legal circles in recent years.

He said to the conference of the Australia and New Zealand Association of Law Students that in spite of the shortcomings and frustrations he had encountered in his long experience on administrative tribunals he had found most of them worked well and apparently gave satisfaction.

“I have accordingly been somewhat disturbed, in recent years, to hear criticism in legal circles of administrative justice in this' country,” he said. “By some critics it

appears to have been suggested that the system is so unsatisfactory as to amount almost to a public scandal. “I suspect that these criti-

cisms have come from men with theoretical rather than practical experience of administrative tribunals and with little appreciation of their origins, purposes or operation. Only my judicial position had deterred me from entering the lists in their defence.” Studying Appeals Judge Archer said the question of appeals from administrative tribunals was being studied by a committee on public administrative law reform set up by the Minister of Justice. “That no report had been made by the committee in 12 months was indicative of the difficulty it was having in deciding whether changes were needed in the present system,” he said. An earlier report of the Law Society had, somewhat hesitantly, acknowledged that administrative tribunals were a valuable and, indeed, essential part of the constitutional machinery but suggested general dissatisfaction with them when it said, “We do not know of anyone who is satisfied with the present state of administrative law in New Zealand." Judge Archer said he was unable to find any factual information in the committee’s report to support this rather extravagant statement. Summary Of Views

Judge Archer said his views on the administrative tribunal system were, in summary: “They constitute a valuable and necessary part of our constitutional machinery. “Their variety is too great to

permit their being constituted and controlled under a single statute. “Unsatisfactory features in relation to particular tribunals should be corrected by amendment to their governing statutes. This may be particularly desirable in cases where tribunals have been set up in haste and without adequate consideration of their proper functions and procedure. “The status of members and particularly of chairmen and authorities sitting alone should be raised in order to maintain and restore public confidence. “All tribunals should, as most already do, take meticulous care that their procedure complies strictly with the requirements of natural justice as understood and applied in course of law.”