No interest in S.M. vacancies

Press, 31 May 1978, Page 1

No interest in S.M. vacancies

By

JENNIFER HAMILTON

No immediate prospect ’ seen of filling two vacant magisterial positions in Christchurch, according to Mr F. G. Paterson, the citv’s Senior Magistrate. This means that the burden will continue to fall on the six sitting magistrates. They have been sharing the Court’s work for seven months, with some assistance from magistrates from other centres, including a retired magistrate, Mr J. D. Kinder, of Timaru.

The inability of the Justice Department to fill the vacancies means that Christchurch rill have to continue in the meantime to rely on relieving magistrates from the North Island and those who have retired.

The North Island also has vacancies at Wellington and Hastings. Already Christchurch magistrates appear tired and strained at some sittings. Mr Paterson said he was concerned about their work-load and would ensure that they took their leave when it was due.

Although the Justice Department has for three months been seeking suitable persons to fill the Christchurch vacancies, no-one seems interested. “Christchurch does not have a very big resource area to draw on and there is resistance against persons coming south,” said Mr Paterson. Cook Strait and a colder climate were among fac-

tors which dissuaded suitable persons from coming to Christchurch. Housing problems and the en-

t-enching nature of legal work compounded the difficulties. Magistrates’ work is demanding, especially if they have to spend most of their working hours adjudicating cases. “It is public decisionmaking without support, involving complete concentration and responsibility, minute by minute,” said M Paterson.

It is vital that magistrates keep up with the many changes in the law but because they spend so much time in court they often have to take their paper work home with them.

Mr Paterson said that the pressures of the job cot'ld be judged partly by the number of magistrates who had died in office or had had to retire incapacitiated.

The selection procedure has its own demands: “The community wants a certain type of judge or magistrate and we prefer persons in the 45-to-50 age-group,” said Mr Paterson.

However, all these factors a'-e probably overshadowed bv the substan-

tial drop in income that barristers face if they accept appointment as a magistrate. The Government seems to have recognised the proolem and has established a Higher Salaries Commission to investigate the matter. It is an independent body which is assessing the “job value” of magistrates for the first time. At the moment, magistrates’ salaries are tagged to Public Service scales. Until the Government can produce realistic incentives to outweigh geographical discomforts and job pressures, the public can expect a continued back-log of court work in areas such as Christchurch.