Canterbury association needs younger justices

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33370, 31 October 1973, Page 18

Canterbury association needs younger justices

I By

H. S. LINDSAY)

The Canterbury Justices of the Peace Association will hold its fifty-sixth annual meeting this evening in the National Party rooms in Christchurch. To prove that the association has no political bias the guest speaker will be the Labour May or of Christchurch (Mr N. G. Pickering).

: A former chief inspector of police. Mi- C. H. Reardon, will be elected president. He is the first former policeman to hold that office, and will succeed Mrs H. E. Radley, the first woman president.

The association is in fine fettle with 444 members — about 90 per cent of the justices in Canterbury (between | the Rangitata River and KaiIkoura). It will soon have 30 ; new members appointed I under the Labour GovernIment.

i After a decade of National I Government, the Labour i Government has been appointing a considerable number of new justices. There is no dearth of candidates. Names are put forward to [members of Parliament and handed to the Minister of | Justice. After confidential I inquiries by the Justice | D .partment, the upright ! citizens are appointed justices by the Governori General. A Labour member of Parliament in Christchurch has (nominated four men as justices in the last year .and has had them accepted. Under the last National Government he had one of three nominations accepted. However, the justices are under oath to perform (their duties “without fear or favour,” and i there is no suggestion that

politics play any part after, their appointment. The Canterbury association is in sore need of younger justices. Successive Ministers of Justice have adopted the policy of appointing justices aged between 30 and 68. But only a handful of Canterbury justices are under 40. The average age would be about 55. The 60 justices who sit on the Bench in Christchurch have an average age of about 60. The Canterbury association in recent years has ruled that no justice aged over 68 (the retiring age for magistrates) may preside at Court sittings. Justices in Christchurch must take a year’s instruction course before they sit on the Bench. Lectures are given by magistrates, registrars, and experienced justices. In Auckland and Hamilton, justices preside over special courts for the hearing of minor traffic offences (justices have no jurisdiction under the Transport Act, 1962, for offences carrying the liability of imprisonment). Relief of burden In view of the tremendous number of traffic offences piling up in the present traffic blitz in Christchurch, the chief Magistrate (Mr E. S. J. Crutchley) may well decide to call on justices "to relieve magistrates of the burden of hearing minor offences. | The council of the Canteribury association is confident that there are sufficient qualified justices to undertake this work and also to preside over Court hearings during the Commonwealth Games when the magistrates will not be holding regular sittings. The first J.P. in New Zealand was appointed in 1814 by Governor Macquarie of [New South Wales. The i Canterbury Justices Association is the oldest in New [Zealand. It was formed in ; 1918, several years before (the founding of the Royal i Federation of New Zealand (Justices’ Associations. The jurisdiction of justices has not been widened for [many years, and in Canter- ' bury over the last five years ihas been, in practice, consid(erably restricted. : The appointment of more (magistrates, district (coroners, the better transport facilities for the police

Croquet.—Results from the President's invitation junior; croquet tournament tliii’d round: in Wellington: Mrs J. W. Galvin; (Thames Valley) 26. Mrs Grofs-i key (Franklin) 3: G. Roberts (Otago) 26, R. J. Hoysted (Auckland) 4; C. L. Johnston (Nelson) 26, Mrs N. A. Smith (Canterbury) 12; Miss J. Clark (Hawke's Bay) 26, Mrs F. M. Williams (Hawke's Bay) 12. Fourth round: Miss Clark 26, Roberts 24; Johnston 26, Mrs Galvin 10; Mrs Williams 26, Hoysted 23; Mrs Grofskey 26, Mrs Smith 23. Fifth round: Mrs Galvin 26, Mrs Smith 13: Mrs Williams 26. Roberts 24; Johnston 26, Mrs Grofskey 0; Miss Clark 26, Hoysted 13.

i have all meant fewer calls on justices in Court work. The jurisdiction of justices is mainly in the Police Offences Act, 1927, four sections of the Transport Act, and the Coroners Act.

124 sittings Justices in Christchurch in 1971 presided over 81 Court sittings and last year presided at 124 sittings. The sittings were divided between the hearing of depositions on indictable charges during week-days and Court sittings on Saturdays. In the Saturday hearings it is common for either the police prosecutor or defence counsel to ask for an adjournment or a remand. Therefore, justices nowadays seldom make decisions and impose penalties. They can, of course, grant bail and their work on Saturdays is invaluable in that those charged may be brought before the Court as soon as possible and their freedom restored if granted bail. Justices of the peace are not paid for their Court work nor for their taking of oaths and declarations and witnessing of documents. The only fee they may earn is that for overseeing the counting of votes during elections. The appointment of justices is carrying on in New Zealand a long-established practice in England and the involvement of lay persons in the administration of justice is an invaluable facet. The code of ethics for New Zealand justices emphasises that they should not use the office to advertise, publicise, or in any way promote their business. The most common grounds on which justices lose their office is upon conviction of an offence liable to be punished by imprisonment. and bankruptcy.