Admission of press to inquiries recommended

Press, 13 July 1985, Page 26

Admission of press to inquiries recommended

The implementation of panels of judicial committee chairmen in each racing district and the admission of the press to raceday inquiries are two notable recommendations made by the Committee of Inquiry Into Racing’s Judicial System. The committee was set up earlier this year by the New Zealand Racing Conference to consider and, if it thought fit, to recommend changes to the current system of judicial inquiries and appeals. The committee’s report was released to members of the New Zealand Racing Conference at its annual meeting in Wellington yesterday. Members of the committee were Messrs Lloyd Brown Q.C. (chairman), John Austin and Bill Mackie and they received a large number of representative submissions from throughout the country, with sittings of the committee in Auckland (March 14), Wellington (March 18) and Christchurch (April 11).

On the subject of judicial committees, the report recommends that "each district committee should set up a panel of persons from whom a chairman of each judicial committee in that district can be selected for every raceday. “Obviously the needs of one district will vary compared to those of another, particularly as to the size of the panel. “The needs of various districts in terms of the number of available chairmen required will vary in the proportion to the number of racedays in the particular district. "The numbers on any panel should be a matter for decision of that district committee and we do not C resume to specify the numer of persons required. “We do, however, suggest that regard be given to the demands upon the time of those willing to assist, a commitment which would extend not merely to time on a raceday but the travelling inevitably involved.”

The committee arrived at this recommendation after much concern had been expressed at the variation in quality and strength which exists between judicial committees of various clubs, a concern it says which extends into the demonstration of an inconsistency of approach, especially in the area of penalties. “It was continually stated to us that the quality of a judicial committee depended to a large extent on the calibre of its chairman. “There is no doubt in our minds that the ability, experience and judgment of judicial chairmen is very important for more consistent and improved raceday judicial decisions.” Regarding the admission of the press to raceday inquiries and appeals, the report says that such a rule change has been a vexed question for many years, with racing administrators tending to be apprehensive that the press coverage of inquiries would concentrate on emotive issues to the

detriment of objective re- ;■ porting. On the other hand, members of the press have been suspicious and critical because they felt they received inadequate information concerning decisions. 7' The report suggests that the time has arrived for a,, fresh approach which can* be achieved with co-opera- g tion between racing administrators and the media. £ “There can be no doubt 5 that the image of racing j depends significantly on its presentation to the public s? and that must be enhanced if the press can report on ? the basis of more comprehensive information. ? “The confidence in any system of justice is eroded in the public eye if there ? appears to be concealment or non-disclosure. 7 “We recommend there- 4 fore that the press be ad- v mitted in a sensibly regulated way to the proceed- 9 ings of judicial committees and any subsequent 4 appeals.”