Judge soon to retire

Press, 2 June 1979, Page 6

Judge soon to retire

The man who made legal history in 1960 when he had a unanimous decision of the reconstituted permanent New Zealand Court of Appeal overthrown by the Privy Council in London, strongly believes that the Privy Council should be retained as the ultimate appeal authority for New Zealand legal cases.

He is the Honourable Sir Clifford Perry, who sat for the last time in the Christchurch Supreme Court yesterday. He is stationed in Auckland and is soon to retire from the Bench.

The historic case argued b” Mr Perry in 1960 concerned Lee and Lees Aerial Farming, Ltd, and arose from the death of a topdiessing pilot who was working for his own company. Worker’s compensation was refused his wife on the ground that he was self-employed as he was the majority shareholder in the company. That decision was upheld in a unanimous judgment of the Court of Appeal. Mr Perry took the matter to the Privy Council where he argued his case without the assistance of an English barrister, the usual practice, and was successful. The Privy Council decision reaffirmed beyond doubt the

pnnciple of separate corporate personality, or that the shareholders and a company were separate legal entities in law.

Sir Clifford regards that case as the highlight of his career while he was in practice. About that time he took out an analysis of cases which came before the Privy Council and he found that about a third were successful. He said he had no reason to doubt that if a similar survey were made today the result would be the same. ”• nat was a strong argument in favour of retaining the Privy Council as the ultimate appeal authority for New Zealand. Sir Clifford said that he took a very serious view of the upsurge in crime as the result of drugs. He believed that penalties should be imposed which were in proportion to the disastrous effects brough" about by drugs which at times resulted in persons who would not normally offend against the criminal law appearing before the courts. When he went to Auckland in 1962 there were four judges stationed in Auckland. There were now 11 and still a heavy backlog of work. Asked his views on the appointment of judges. Sir

Clifford said that he believed that lawyers with an all round experience of general practice, at least in their earlier years, were better suited than those with academic qualifications or who had practised only in specialised fields of law. Born in Oamaru in 1907, Sir Clifford was educated at the Hornby Primary School and Christ’s College to which he had gained an entrance scholarship. After graduating in law from Canterbury University College he had to wait until he was 21 before being admitted to the bar.

In 1950 he was president or the Canterbury District Law Society and a member o, the council of the New Zealand society for two ysars. He served two long terms on the Council of Legal Education. For more than 20 years Sir Clifford was the Danish Consul in Christchurch and was awarded the Chevalier Order of Dannebrog.

In 1959 he was chairman of the court of inquiry into the fire aboard the m.v. Holmburn in Lyttelton Harbour in which two seamen lost their lives. The following year he chaired the inquiry into the loss of the m.v. Holmglen which sank with 'all hands off Timaru.

When appointed to the Bench in 1962 Sir Clifford was a senior partner in the firm of Wilding, Perry and Acland, Since then he has delivered many judgments on a wide range of cases including the appeal on a rulin-- from the Indecent Publications Tribunal decision on “Under the Plum Trees” and more recently found on the question of liability only for the Robbins and Devon Holdings, Ltd, in its claim for $3.5M against the Devonport Borough Council, arising from the Ngataringa development scheme. He was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 1976. In 1943 Sir Clifford married Barbara Jean Head; they have two sons,' Brian Richard, an architect in London, and Denis George, who is working for an insurance firm in Melbourne. Their daughter, Adrienne Mary, who has been living in England since 1973, is to marry Mr David Hill, a senior official in the British Steel Corporation (Overseas Services), Ltd, in London in September.

Mr and Mrs Perry intend to spend their retirement in Auckland but plan to make frequent visits to the cottage they own at. Arthur’s Pass.