DISTRICT COURTS ACT.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume III, Issue 175, 20 May 1864, Page 2

DISTRICT COURTS ACT.

The following petition is being umerously signed at New Plymouth : To his Excellency Sir George Grey, Knight, ' Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath Governor and Coininamler-in-eliief in and over her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand, and Vice-Admiral of the same, &c., &c., &c. The bumble Petition of the undersigned inhabitants of the Town ot Now Plymouth, in the Province of Taranaki, in the Colony of New Zealand, Showeth : That by the Piepeal of the “ District Courts Act,” and the increased jurisdiction of the Resident Magistrate's Courts, the administration of justice is entirely left to one person, namely, the Resident Magistrate ; and that no rota now exists (the same having fallen into disuse) to enjoin gentlemen who have been appointed Justices of the Peace, to advise with, assist, or control the Resident Magistrate in the administration of the law; and from these causes great evils have arisen and are daily arising and daily increasing-, That it is a common practice for plaintiffs and defendants to solicit Justices to sit on the Bench in their particular cases, to the great scandal and disrespect of the law. That from these and other causes your Petitioners have no confidence in, nor respect for, the mode in which justice is administered in this place, 'Your Petitioners, therefore, most humbly and earnestly beg and entreat that your Excellency will be pleased forthwith to appoint a Commissioner or Commissioners, learned in the Law, to attend at this place with power to summon and examine witnesses to the end and intent that your Petitioners’ complaint may be remedied. , And your Petitioners will ever pray, &c. (Here follow the signatures).