LAW WITHOUT LAWYERS

Hokitika Guardian, 13 April 1923, Page 4

LAW WITHOUT LAWYERS

(I?v (.tv < n Rutter in the ‘■Daily .Mai!.”) Law without lawyers! Is -uch ;i thing possible ? Yes, anyhow in one little lunitT of tlie world. That is British North Borneo, where, in a territory the si/,. of Ireland, only one lawyer exists though the court- are always busy. Obtaining legal redress in Borneo, i- a simple and unexpr-nsive matter. Tahiko. let us .suppose, a dweller in the bills, is owed twenty-live dollars by his neighbour. Pulhuiggo. for a water hulfalo. I’ -r-onal appin .iliuns lor the debt caving liven in vain. Tahiko betakehimself to ibe 1.1 i~t ei<-t (oiirt. lie tells !:i- trouble- to the [lyak -ergeant of police and is advi-ei.l to lay hi- pdmnt v. ith the (. iiiiu se t ourt clerk. If a prinia facie case i- di-elo.-ed. the di-.trier magistrate order- a sumoe.nto lie issued. Tills and the plaint rr-t Tahiko the equivalent ■of 3s (id., to which is added live per tent, of the claim—another (id. On the day appointed for the hearing the parties appear with their witnesses. ’I he district- magistrate tries the case. lie hear- first Tahiko' side, then I’ttllatigga's. By pertinent and patient question- he draws out the evident e for bath pLmitilf and defendant. Even if tils is-e i. long and complicated, even ii it drags on for several days. Tahiko'- costs amount to no more than If he is successful he reeovi r- tin- Iruin Pililnugga ; ii he i- not lie has no lawyer's hill to pay. Or it limy happen that I.induing, mi en-ad bv a fancied grievance and fortified by generous draughts ot coconut toddy, picks a quarrel with 1 1 is old enemy An sail, at a village least. Tia e- i- a scull le. and An sail emerges from it with a bleeding nose and a blackening eye. lie toil, hastens to the ”opis.” as lie tails the d: t rit-t i ourt. and lakes out a ( ;• illlilla 1 summons, which costs him Piliv Is !)■!. As a result I.inditing i.s sentenced to pay a line, a part e.l vomit l ;V the disarm inn of the tourt. is awardmi to Ansau and helps to salve his iniuri -u , . In all ease- that come before him. whether trivial or serious, the presiding magistrate acts as solicitin' -and barrister fur both sides. Tlnil is wliv the unlives prefer to settle their differeues in court rather (ban by head-hunting. a- they were wont to do of old. And the ('hole point is that each side gets as much justice as it would if it were briefing the leading conns:! of the Engli-o