DOMESTIC PROCEEDINGS

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 November 1939, Page 5

DOMESTIC PROCEEDINGS

NEW ACT IN OPERATION

[peh press association.]

WELLINGTON, November 1

The Domestic Proceedings Act, 1939. which makes provision for the appointment of conciliators between husbands and wives before the institution of separation proceedings in Court, came into operation to-day. In an interview this evening the Minister of Justice (Mr. Mason) said arrangements were in train to give practical effect to the measure.

The Minister said that the Act mentioned certain types of person, such as probation officers, child welfare officers, and maintenance officers, from whoni conciliators might be appointed; but in making appointments magistrates were not limited to these.. The hope that the great majority of easel/ would be referred to conciliators was expressed by the Minister. The Act provided that magistrates might make exceptions where they thought ir proper; but one would expect them, 'in all ordinary circumstances, to refer the question to ti conciliator in the first instance. The institution of conciliation was not, in the strict sense, the establishment of another Court, said Mr. Mason. It was merely the introduction of different procedure into the same Court. In another sense it might be called a. different Court in that the Act directed that domestic cases, when coming before the Court, were to be held at a different time from other cases as far as practicable. That, however, was a practice very generally adopted by magistrates long before the passing of this Act, so there was really nothing novel in the idea,, although now it had legislative sanction. The feature of the legislation did not reside in any special formality of procedure, and the essential element from which results were expected or hoped for, was a proceeding which .was without formality of any description, namely the efforts of conciliators. To enable parties to tell their story freely to a conciliator, without fear of any . statement being used against them, it was expressly indicated that no statement made to a conciliator by either party might be given in evidence in Court proceedings. Further, a conciliator was forbidden, under penalty, to disclose any such statement.

The Act depended utterly for its success on the personality’ of the conciliators the Minister said. They were required to be persons of much understanding and experience, and he believed the authorities would manage to find such persons.

CONFIDENTIAL STATEMENTS The New Zealand Act. had some resemblance to the English Act. On the other hand, there were some differences. For example. the provision of the New Zealand Act making confidential all statements made by the parties to a conciliator was unlike the I English Act. The English Act had been | in operation long enough to form a basis of a report on its working in England.- As one would expect, there had been both successes and failures. English experience had confirmed the. fact that to be lasting the work must lie based on an attempt to secure an understanding, and must not bo based on pressure of any sort. “Among other social problems on which this work bears, is the problem of juvonilo delinquency.” said Mr. Mason. “No one. can handle the question of delinquency of juveniles and young persons without being struck by the frequency of cases having their origin in a broken home. 1 do not know whether any exact figures have ever been compiled in this country: but f have noticed a recent statement in England that 5S per cent, of juvenile delinquents come from unhappy homes.”