LEGAL OPPOSITION

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 218, 10 June 1933, Page 12

LEGAL OPPOSITION

Justices of the Peace PLAN NOT FAVOURED Wider Use on the Bench NEED FOR EXPERIENCE Legal circles in Wellington do not view with favour the proposal to make more use of Justices of the •• Peace in the Magistrate’s Court. A prominent city barrister said yesterday he thought that Justices of the Peace were generally incompetent tc dispense justice. “Amateur judges, I think, ’ he said, “form a real danger in the administration of the law. It is impossible for anyone without training to perform judicial duties such as are required ou the benches of the Magistrates Courts, and Justices of the Peace, in my opinion, should only be resorted to in emer"encies. “In my own experience I have seeil many cases, particularly by-law and criminal cases, where Justices of the Peace are unable to accept any tion submitted to them by the defendant, but implicitly accept everything that the police or their witnesses say. As a result, injustice is done. “So far as penalties are concerned, there is no unanimity through lack of sufficient experience, and as a result, penalties are in many cases greatly m excess of what they should be. . Another well-known solicitor said lie considered that further use of justices would detract from the dignity oi the bench. He was opposed to the proposal because only a man properly trained in the law was able to decide differences between parties. The Justice Department only chose as magistrates men who had special ability to deal with the wide range of criminal and civil matters that came daily before the courts, and it was manifestly impossible for anyone not cognisant with the canons of law to attempt to dispense justice in a manner comparable with that of trained magistrates. EXPENSE OF APPEALS Greater Cost to Country VIEWPOINT IN DUNEDIN Dominion Special Service. Dunedin, June 0. The fuller use of Justices of the Peace in the administration of law, as suggested by the Minister of Justice, the Hon. J. G. Cobbe, is not favoured 'by several leading solicitors, who were asked to-day to express opinions on the proposal. The general opinion was that such a practice would result in greater expense to the country and to litigants owing to the increasing number of appeals that would be lodged through persons with limited or no legal knowledge trying cases. “Admittedly Justices of the Peace are usually men of solid common sense," said one leading barrister and solicitor, “but common sense in itself is not enough for the administration of the intricate system of law in British countries. No person other than a man with extensive legal training is competent to undertake the administration of justice, excepting in the most trivial cases. This applies with greater force ■in modern times than it did in the past, owing to the much wider ’jurisdiction which has been conferred on the inferior courts. If justices were engaged in the courts to any considerable degree the number of appeals from inferior courts to the Supreme Court—now comparatively small —must ' increase enormously, with consequent cost to the country and to litigants.” AUCKLAND OPINIONS ■‘Work Would be Complicated” By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, June 9. The proposal of the Minister of Justice to reorganise the Magistrates’ Courts is viewed with considerable apprehension and freely criticised in Auckland. . i A former magistrate said that if the scope of the work of Justices of the ■Peace were widened there would undoubtedly be a stream of appeals against their decisions and thus the work of the courts would be complicated instead of assisted. , - A prominent lawyer described the ■Minister’s scheme as a foolish proposition. “It shows the danger,” he said, "of allowing the administration of the Justice Department to pass from the hands of experienced legal practitioners to inexperienced laymen, as the present Minister is.” He added that Justices of the Peace appointments were usually in the nature of a political reward without regard for aptitude. There had been some good justices in ithe courts, but they were the exception rather than the rule.