DECISIONS OF J.P.S

Evening Star, Issue 25895, 12 September 1946, Page 4

DECISIONS OF J.P.S

GENERAL right of appeal given •(Special.) WELLINGTON , Sept. 12. A general right of appeal from a decision of a Justice of the Peace without having to resort to the aitmcial device in some cases at present of asking'for the fine to'be increased if it does not exceed £5, or the term of imprisonment increased if it does not exceed one month, is the principal provision of the Justices ot the Peace Amendment Bill considered by the House last night. Members of the Opposition welcomed the Bill, stating that it was a step in the right direction, although one of their number Mr Oram (Manawatu) suggested that the measure could have gone further and simplified the procedure on appeal. The Acting Minister of Justice, Mr Tones said that from time to time, when ’a person was fined, for eample £9 or a week in gaol, he asked for the penalty to be increased to give right of appeal. Magistrates, generally, were

prepared to do that, but it meant that if the sentence were Increased to more than four weeks to give right of appeal for an offence that only warranted one week, and the appeal to the Supreme Court failed, the increased sentence had to be served. Similarly, as the law stood, if a fine were increased and the appeal failed the increased fine had to be paid. The object of the Bill was to give right of appeal to everybody, irrespective of the penalty imposed.-