Courts commission hearings extended

Press, 2 March 1977, Page 7

Courts commission hearings extended

The closing date for sub-! missions to the Royal Com-: mission of Inquiry on the! Courts, has been extended by I one month to April 1. The commission was set up I last year to investigate the! (structure and operation of! New Zealand’s judicial sys-1 item. Comprising five persons,, headed by Mr Justice Beattie,! it will consider submissions! relating to the Court of Ap-! 1 peal, Supreme Court. Magis-i trate’s Court and Children! land Young Persons Court. ! The commission began yes- I terday morning when the Law Society put its case. The I Royal Federation of New Zea-I ; land Justices will make sub-1 missions a day or so later,! and the Transport Depart-j ment is expected to appear at the end of the week. The Secretary of Justice! (Mr Gordon Orr). and the' Solicitor-General (Mr R. C. I iSavage, Q.C.), have already'

made preliminary submis- ! sions. Submissions were being ! accepted for the additional • month, because Christmas had i caused a delay, according to fa Justice Department spokes- • inan. Because law firms i closed during the holidays • some solicitors had been held jup in preparing briefs, he | said. More than 40 submissions have already been received, land up to 100 more are exIpected. This week the most I significant will be heard, except those of the Justice Department, which will be prejsented later in the year, ! The commission will sit ! every second week, in Auckland! Wellington. Hamilton, Christchurch, or Dunedin. It I is expected to complete hearings by August, and will sub‘mit a report to the Govern-; Intent before the end of the, •year. j