RULING ON THE APPEAL RIGHTS OF PUBLIC SERVANTS

Grey River Argus, 19 July 1949, Page 7

RULING ON THE APPEAL RIGHTS OF PUBLIC SERVANTS

WELLINGTON, July 18. Mr Justice Gresson gave judgment on an outstanding summonds in which Raymond Clarence Bartlett, of Auckland, sought an order to determine whether the plaintiff could appeal against the regrading of all officers of the Public Service. The second question was to what extent, and in respect of what officers, was the plaintiff’s right of appeal limited. The defendants were George Thomas Bold, Public Se-wice Commissioner, and others. The ruling was that an officer of the Public Service had the right of appeal against his or her grading, and indirectly an appeal in respect of the salary payable. His Honor found that a public servant was not entitled to appeal against the regrading of all other officers of the Public Service. He said salary was dependent on grading ( and the last regrading was set out in the New Zealand Gazette on October 2, 1946. Rights of appeal were given public servants in respect to salary and appointment. It had been contended that plaintiff had the right of appeal, not only against the grading of other officers 4 he clerical division to which he belonged. On this point, his Honor supported the view of the defendants, that to construe the Act in this manner would give rise to a “fantastic and, absurd position” when a member of a division of the Public Service would have the right of appeal against the grading and salaries of any of the many thousands of others. “If it were a case that the language of the section (of the Act) were clear and unequivocal, capable only of one construction,” said His Honor, “that, one construction would have to be put upon it, but I do not think that is so here. The .words are capable ol two constructions, one strained and amounting almost to an absurdity, the other reasonable and consistent with Lichts of appeal given in subsequent sub-sections in each of which, beyond all question the right of appeal is limited to the action of the commission in respect of a particular officer.”