Bill on courts read again

Press, 5 December 1979, Page 6

Bill on courts read again

PA Wellington Legislation described as the first significant step towards restructuring the courts was given a second reading in Parliament last evening. The Courts Amendment Bill establishes district courts.

The Minister of Justice (Mr McLay) said there were three aspects to the jurisdiction of the new courts: civil, family, and criminal. The bill dealt with the civil aspects; family jurisdiction would be the subject of a bill to be introduced soon; and the criminal aspects would be the subject of later legislation. District courts were established under the bill with a substantially enlarged civil jurisdiction. The monetary limits of claims that could be brought had been increased four-fold from $3OOO to $12,000.

Mr F. D. O’Flynn (Lab., Island Bay) said the bill was makeshift legislation endeavouring to make it appear that recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Courts were being carried out. “To carry out these reforms would require some money and none is forthcoming and we are held up as we were over the appointment of the commission in the first place,” he said. Mr D. R. Lange (Lab.. Mangere) said the bill did nothing to relieve the problems the Royal Commission had wrestled with. The bill would do nothing to relieve the plight of those who had long-delayed proceedings, civil or criminal, before the magistrates’ courts.