GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 278, 21 August 1944, Page 4

GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE

The Opposition member for Remuera, Mr. Algie, devoted a considerable part of his speech in the Financial Debate in Parliament to the question of encroachments upon the rights and liberties of. the people. With many of his illustrations the public has become familiar through personal experiences as well as from public discussions on the subject of delegated bureaucratic legislation. There is one aspect in particular, however, that deserves special notice for the sake of the re-emphasis it calls for, namely, the changed position of the citizen in regard to his right of recourse to the Courts in defence of his interests. Originally his position in this respect was sacrosanct. As long as he had free and unchallenged access to the Courts of Law he could consider himself safeguarded against injustice or persecution. Today, in a variety of directions, this protection has been taken away. 1 here is, for example, the assumption by Ministers of arbitrary powers of decision against which there can be no appeal to an independent judicial tribunal such as a Court of Law. The objection to this, frequently stressed when the legislation conferring these powers was before Parliament, was that it constituted an encroachment upon the sphere of the judiciary which deprived the citizen of his right of access to the Courts. Moreover, it opens the door to a dictatorial exercise of Ministerial authority. This undermining of the citizen’s personal security, as Mr.. Algie pointed out, has been a gradual process the implications of which do not even yet appear to have been adequately grasped. As further illustrating the retrograde trend is the reversal in certain cases of the traditional procedure in the administration of justice in British communities which stipulates that the prosecution must prove its case; that an accused person must be held innocent unless and until proved guilty by his accusers. For this departure from established practice reasons have been submitted, chiefly that the object is to facilitate the conviction of alleged offenders where evidence is difficult to procure. By this expedient surrender of an established principle in order that a particular class of offence might be more easily attacked, the door has been left ajar for further encroachment upon the citizen’s inherited right of being deemed innocent until proved guilty. By and large, the pervading ramifications of State activities and regulations affecting the lives of the citizens has placed them to an increasing extent in a position of dependence upon the Government and administrative officials for things they need. As Mr. Algie observed, there is being created in New Zealand an ever-increasing number of people who are dependent upon the State for homes,, for jobs, (or permits to do this, that, or something else. Flere again, the door is open to the granting of favours to those with a political ‘ pull, who have the advantage of being of “the right colour.” Ihe Government, in short, is too much with us, and it would be infinitely better for the peace of mind and the liberty of the subject were it considerably more remotp-