MAGISTRATES’ COURTS

Grey River Argus, 10 June 1933, Page 8

MAGISTRATES’ COURTS

AUCKLAND’S OPPOSITION. (P' r Press Association). AUCKLAND, June 9. The Minister of Justice’s proposal to reorganise Magistrates’ Courts is viewed ■with considerable apprehension, ami is freely criticised in Auckland. 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, ho 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. lie added that Justices of the Peace appointments were usually in the nature of a political reward without regard for their aptitude. There had been some good Justices in the courts, but they were the exception, rather than the rule.