Dam plans ‘not eroding power’

Press, 16 June 1982, Page 10

Dam plans ‘not eroding power’

Moves by the Government to pass legislation to enable it to build the Clyde High Dam are not considered as eroding the power of the judiciary, according to a former High Court Judge. Mr Peter Mahon. "The Government is in a position where it has committed itself to an objection procedure without realising it can take 10 years before objections are heard and the decision made." said Mr Mahon. "If the Government thinks it is in the national interest to put a stop to the objection procedure then I do not believe it could be considered an attack on the power of the judiciary." he said. Mr Mahon was addressing the annual meeting of the Canterbury branch of the Council for Civil Liberties, on the topic “Who guards the guardians." Mr Mahon said that even though the proceedings of two Royal Commissions — into the Erebus crash and the Thomas case — had been questioned, he did not see any breakdown in the freedom of the judiciary. "Nothing will raise New Zealanders out of their apathy quicker than if they think the courts are. influenced by the executive in decision-making. “It is a good thing that the Council for Civil Liberties acts as monitors of what is going on.” he said. Mr Mahon sees the independence of High Court judges as another safeguard

against any erosion of the powers of the judiciary. g "People who have success at the bar become confident and independent, attributes that can be observed in most High Court judges," he said. “This particular fact must tell against any move by the Government to influence the way judges do their work."