Union threats will never alter course of law — Mr McLay

Press, 27 February 1981, Page 3

Union threats will never alter course of law — Mr McLay

Wellington reporter The proposition that industrial action would cease only if he stayed the prosecution of the Ravensdown and Auckland Airport picketers was not. and never : could be, an acceptable one, dsaid the Minister of Justice i(Mr McLay) yesterday. Giving his reasons for re- . fusing to stay the prosecutions. he said. “The deci'sion that I have mad: todav . has not been easy. However. I do not intend to allow the office of. or the powers given to. the Attorney-Gen-eral to be used, whether by employers or employees or anyone else, as a convenient .means of avoiding the prosper legal consequences of itheir own actions. “These are criminal proiceedings. There must be no (place to which the criminal I law and its consequences! i cannot reach, whether it be. 'to Parliament, the streets.j • the homes of New Zealand-' iers, the boardroom, or the; I picket line. ; ' “To seek to have the law; 'changed is one thing; to! i break it with impunity, for ■whatever reason. is an-! '• other.” ! Mr McLay said that he .had considered full reports' ;given to him by the police, and the Aviation Security! Sendee and the advice of’ the Solicitor-General (Mr D P. Neazor). “Naturally I have also; listened to the views of the’ Federation of Labour, the Employers’ Federation, my: colleagues and advisers and.' of course, the manv members of the general public ! who have been in touch' <

.with my office. However, the final decision on the imatter has been mine 1 alone.” Mr McLay said that stays lof prosecution could be 'entered only in the interests 'of justice and those interests 'clearly involved something ; more than the mere conveniences of two parties who, for whatever reason, found it more to their preference that the rules of law and the ordinary principles of the legal process should not. apply to them. “In general terms, 1 do not regard seeking to avoid the consequences of the law a satisfactory way of resolving an industrial dispute. If I were to accept the proposition underlying that ap-j proach. the general public might well conclude that: every time the law is broken:

in the name of industrial action or of other protest action those who so act will be able to have their prose- , cutions stayed merely by : threatening or exerting further pressure on the comj munity. "Some public statements .have indicated that industrial action would be withdrawn only if I stayed these prosecutions. I must say that that is not. and never could be. an acceptable proposition. "It was made very clear by the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) after the meeting with the Federation of Labour on Tuesday that anv ■decision by me was entirely separate from the issue of peaceful and legal picketing or any possibility that the ’law relating to this activity, might be changed. In short, the decision that 1 make in; this matter as Attorney-Gen-' eral is not. and never could. ■ be. the subject of a ‘deal'." i Of the specific charges,! Mr McLay said that in the Ravensdown case 33 people had been charged under section 33 of the Police Of-, fences Act, which made it; |an offence to use unlawful .'intimidation or violence with a view to restricting the freedom of another person. The prosecutions were re-' late'' to an allegation that, engineers had been prevented from entering the Ravensdown works to attend tc a sulphuric acid plant, which was said to be potentially dangerous to life and; property. “In this case the request' that I should stay the pro-, ceedings has in fact been'

imade by the Ravensdowr I company itself but it is pu ■ forward not for any reason (associated with the genera interests of justice but rath er bet —' ■'■•’ company has achieved its immediate pur.pose of obtaining access foi ■ it.« employees to the premTses." said Mr McLay. "It has, in fact, made its request to me in terms ol the subsequent settlement bargain entered into with the union. In other words, it now suits the convenience of both company and union that the prosecutions should be stayed. “As I have made clear, the interests of justice go well beyond such considerations. I am also mindful of the fact that even if section 33 of rhe Police Offences Act was not part of our law, such action on the part of pickets could well constitute an offence against the general criminal law. To stay a prosecution in those circumstances would, to my mind, be most inappropriate.” Mr McLay said that the 48 prosecutions arising from the arrests at Auckland Airport were brought under regulation 15 (2) of the Civil Aviation Regulations, which made it an offence to trespass on any part of an aerodrome beyond the areas set aside for public use. "The allegation on which these prosecutions are based, which again must be finally tested in court, is that those arrested were in a place beyond the areas set aside for public use. The charges can therefore be seen to he directly related to the important purposes which the

i regulations are meant to : achieve.” t (As a signatory to the conI ventions of the International ■ Civil Aviation Organisation, ; New Zealand is required to ■ “take all practical measures ■•to prevent unlawful interference with aircraft and facilities.") Mr McLay said it had, ' been suggested to him that those arrested had not hin-. dered norma! airport activities and that alternative measures to remove them from the area had not been used by the authorities. “Neither claim is con- • firmed either by the police and aviation-securitv reports or from my viewing of a lengthy television film of the; events leading up to the- ■ arrests which particularly; (showed, first where they! 'took place and, second.; [made clear the' warnings, [that were given before the action being taken. * : i “Obviously, an incompletej' ■television film would be an I' insufficient basis for any! decision as to innocence or! guilt. However, it is one ofa number of factors which would make it very difficult, I if not impossible, for me to, grant any stay of prosecution because what it. ; shows is directly at variance’ with the claims' made to me, on behalf of the arrested persons. “I am also informed that the arrival of at least one! flight at Mangere Airport was impeded by the actions • of the pickets. “Quite apart from that 1 have information which indicates that at least some I of rhe picketers started out | with the knowledge that they might well be arrested, and that they appeared to be; not unwilling that that should happen. “It is hard to suggest that; to stay prosecutions in such' circumstances would be in; the interests of justice,” Mr; McLay* said.