ARBITRATION COURT

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 69, 22 March 1920, Page 8

ARBITRATION COURT

A NEW PROPOSAL.

A new idea ia connection with the working of the Arbitration.Court was put before a Post reporter by a. gentleman who has been intimately connected with the working of the Act since its coming into operation in the early .'9o's. "To my mind," he said, "the time has come wheiv there is no longer any need for a Judge of the Supreme Court to be President of the Arbitration Court. What is/wanted for that highly-responsible position is a clear and wide-minded business man—one who would take a reasonable' and conunonsense view of the disputes which came before him and the assessors, and whose practical knowledge of business affaire would be of quite equal value to that possessed by a Judge of the Supreme Court. i

"I am not," he said, "reflecting in. the slightest degree on the work that has been done in the past by the Supreme Court Judges who have filled the onerous position of President of the Arbitration Court. They have done their work honestlv'and faithfully, and their interpretations of the-many knotty problems submittfed to the Court are on record for, all time.

"But that phase of the Court's' work has for years been reaching the vanishing point—and the vanishing. point has now been reached. The only nuestione at issue now are and hours, both of which are more related to Business and Labour than to Law. The fact that a Judge of the Supreme Court is President o£ the Arbitration Court (although, it must be admitted, it gives an added dignity to the latter) by no means presupposes that either Business or Labour has. had a squarer deal than it would have obtained had the hearings been presided over by a man whose whole experience had been gained along business lines. In any' case, he would. be associated in the hearing with assessors from both parties to the dispute. . ... "As to the legal aspect of the Act, that only now applies to the operation of the Workers' Compensation for Accidents Act, whioh is very much a question: of interpretation, and could quite reasonably be submitted to the Supreme Court Bench. In England such cases are dealt with by the County Courts, whoso juris-, diction is somewhat similar to that of tho New Zealand Supreme Court, and there no difficulty is experienced. 1 "Such a measure of reform as I suggest would reliovo a Judge from duties which, in the nature of his appointment, are frequently extra-legal, and enable ■him to carry out to the fullest extent those duties which were contemplated in his appointment to the Supreme Court Bench. .

, "I suggest, also, that the appointment of a, new president be made (if it can possibly be arranged) as the result of a conference, between tho' leaders of the Government, Liberal and Labour Parties. My idea is that awards should be based on two things—'Commonsense' and 'Put yourself ia hi* place.' ".