Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

Sir Guy Powles honoured by special ‘Law Review’ issue

PA Wellington A special issue of the "Law Review” has been published in honour of Sir Guy Powles — a rare honour, according to the New Zealand section of the International Commission of Jurists. Contributors to the special issue include the Minister of Justice, Mr Palmer, a former Ombudsman, Sir George taking, and the director of the New Zealand Law Commission, Alison Quen-tin-Baxtor. That a number of eminent New Zealanders contributed to the review is a mark of the affection and respect earned by Sir Guy in his several careers of lawyer, soldier, diplomat and founder Ombudsman, the commission says. After a 12-year stint as

a barrister in Wellington, with some lecturing in practice and procedure on the side, Sir Guy joined the Army Staff College, emerging five years later a colonel. His Army career included three years active service in the Pacific. “There is reference in some contemporary New Zealand papers to the part played by Colonel Powles on behalf of New Zealand in the negotiations leading up the surrender of the Japanese at the end of World War 11, although some who were present were not surprised to find that General MacArthur insisted on grabbing most of the limelight,” said the Law Commission president, Sir Owen Woodhouse. During his time with

the Foreign Service, Sir Guy was counsellor with the New Zealand Legation in Washington, before being appointed High Commissioner to the newly established trust territory of Western Samoa. In 1960, he became High Commissioner to India, and Ambassador to neighbouring Nepal. In 1962, Sir Guy became the country’s first Ombudsman, a post he held till 1977. Mr Palmer’s paper on the legislative machine points out that “the first requirement of a bill is to pass through Parliament.” The dance of legislation is intricate, Mr Palmer says, with each bill a different dance and with each dance having many steps.

“The dance requires perseverance, stamina and a large degree of esoteric knowledge. The process should act not as. an obstacle course, but as a way of providing checks and balances”.

His paper gives a detailed account of how laws are made, and discussed the next big step to be considered — the plain drafting of legislation.

“The Ombudsman in Transition,” by a former Chief Ombudsman, Sir George Laking, assesses the role of the first Ombudsman and looks at the effect of new and enlarged responsibilities entrusted to the office. The Ombudsman’s responsibility for monitoring the Official Information Act has led to a marked

increase in the flow of official information to the public, Sir George says.

The fear of "a series of confrontations with Ministers and frequent resort to the court by Government agencies” because of this responsibility, has not been borne put.

But new corporations set up by the Government do not welcome a prospect of involvement with the Ombudsman’s office, according to Sir George, so the Ombudsman will for a while be in an environment “even less receptive than existed in the Public Service in 1962.”

Other essays in the review cover open government, Western Samoa and India — all topics close to Sir Guy.

This article text was automatically generated and may include errors. View the full page to see article in its original form.
Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19880127.2.148

Bibliographic details

Press, 27 January 1988, Page 40

Word Count
525

Sir Guy Powles honoured by special ‘Law Review’ issue Press, 27 January 1988, Page 40

Sir Guy Powles honoured by special ‘Law Review’ issue Press, 27 January 1988, Page 40