JUDGE RETIRES

Grey River Argus, 1 August 1935, Page 5

JUDGE RETIRES

SIR A, L. D. HERDMAN FARE WELLED. (Per Press Association; AUCKLAND, Ju y 31. One of the largest gatherings m the history of the Auckland Bar wa> seen at the Supreme Court, when Al r Justice Herdman took leave ot the Bench. The President of the Law Society Mr G. P. Finlay, expressed the profound regret felt by practitioners ot lhe district that Justice Herdman had found it necessary and desirable to relinquish the position. He traced Judge Herdman’s distinguished career in politics, including service as Minister of Justice and At'torneyG eneral, in the tumult of ‘the Great War. As a Judge, he had been known and respected for his wide experience and his profound learning. The Judge, in rep'y, said that he would look back wi-t’h pride and satisfaction to his long association with members of the Auckland Bar Nothing in his life had so interested him as (lie law, the Courts, and lawyers, and it was with a feeling of sadness he bade them goodbye, for reasons which he knew tb be sound, but which would interest no one. He had decided to step back into the ranks of 'the pri vate citizen.

He added there may be a, grave doubt about our rights to be proud oi some things but about our British law British courts, and about our system of administering justice, there can. be no manner of doubt about our right to cherish feelings of pride. The judicia institutions of the British people stand alone in the world. Steeped in wisdom and eminently fair, they are to-day the splendid monuments of the exercise ot human wisdom throughout many years. Some public institutions have m recent years so degenerated as 'to- be regarded with feelings of impatience and con tempt, but that cannot be said of the judiciary and the Bar of British people. I am glad t'o be able to reflect that the bench of Great Britain and Her possessions is one pub ic institution left which still commands the respect and confidence of all classes. And why ithis? In the main it is due 'to it q complete independence. A Judge need fear no man and any attempts on the part of the executive to whittle away the independence of the judiciary would mean the beginning of the end of it’s strength, its dignity and its unselfishness. Remembering an era when ’it-tTe seems to be sacrosan't, the appeal to you is 'to watch to- see nothing is permitted to shake the foundation upon which the institution rests ”