THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 1877.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 31, 20 June 1877, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 1877.

Some few days ago we bad occasion to refer to what appeared to us a striking incongruity in the existing Colonial judicial system. This was in reference to the committal to the Supreme Court, Nelson, by the Kesident Magistrate here, of a recent case of larceny. The sum involved was, we think, some £7; thet'aets of the case appeared simple enough, being mainly emergent from a drunken brawl at Antonio'.s. Owing, however, to the present; peculiar aspect of tho law as touching the question of jurisdiction, instead of the cause being relegated by the magistrate for deters mi nation by the nearest District Court, it had to be passed on for hearing to the Supremo Court at Nelson. Now, to ordinary lay minds tVe fact of committing a prisoner upon a charge of this magnitude for trial to a Court situated more than a hundred miles distan', with tbe attendant cost and consequence of dragging a large num* ber of witnesses from their homes, and this, tat it be remembered, in tbe face of the presumption, not to say possibility, which the law allows in relation to the accused's innocence, must appear as an absurdity scarcely less than monstrous in ifs degree. We are conscious in reverting to this matter that we are treading upon no new ground, for we are aware that at various times the same subject has been frequently referred to by the Press in differents parts of the Colony, but here the matter has something of a special feature. There is no sitting of tbe Supreme Court in thia district, its nearest habitat being Nelson, and thei • tbe sittings of the Court are only held at intervals of six months, thus, possibly, involving an accused person in a long term of committment —or it even may be, of confinement. This, of course, strikes at the root of the question of extended jurisdiction for the District Courts. It may be recollected that at the last sitting of the Supreme Court at Kelson, the Chief Justice referred somewhat pointedly to this matter. The only criminal case set down for hearing at the session referred to was one of very minor degree, but this nevertheless necessitated the presence of some twenty or thirty Grand Jurors and half aa many more petty jurors. His Honor, recognising the anomaly involved in this, took occasion to refer to the present limited powers of the District Courts, characterising their jurisdiction as sometiling " unreasonable," At the same sitting, the Grmml Jury lr.ade a presentment to his Honor recommending the extension of that jurisdiction, aud as that recommendation has, no doubt, by thia time found its way into the

hands of tho Minister of Justice, it is , very pos«iblo that we shall hear more of the subject during tho coming sea- j sion of Parliament. There can be no two opinions that there ia very great and pressing need for reform, not alone I in this particular matter, but also throughout the whole range of the Colonial judicature. Aa the law now | stands, we have magistrates exercising a civil jurisdiction in cases involving a | sum up to £100, appeals from that tribunal being to the Supreme Court, j On the other hand, and in this lies the great singularity, vre have Wardens exercising a practically illimitable jurisdiction, appeals from whose decisions are to the District .Courts simply. Could a more striking example of the incongruity, if not to say defectiteness, of the present system be conceived than this? Why the distinction in relation to .the decisions of tbo two Courts — the Magistrates' and Wardens' — should be so drawn will seem, to lay minda at all events, unfathomable. The two Courts are usually presided over by the same per* son, and why the District Courts should be clothed with an appellate jarisdiction from one Court and not from the other must therefore remain, as it has always appeared, a profound mystery. Whether there are any really solid reasons or grounds judicial, why this odd state of affairs should be allowed to continue, we do not profess to know, but we do know that in its outward aspect, the arrangement is a source of incalculable public inconvenience, loss, and annoyance. What is the history of the ordinary run of cases in the Kesident Magistrate's Courts ? Simply that the majority of unsuccessful suitora, no matter how strongly im* pressed or advised as to the justice of their case, or certainty of winning it upon appeal, rather forego their cause than venture upon the maze of an appeal to the Supreme Court, with the consequent " law's de'ay." A«ain, how many instances could be cited where the form of appeal is merely gone through as a pure sham to defeat judgments? By i be present system of forcing appeals fr >m Magistrates' decisions to the Supreme Court, the District Courts are stripped of half their usefulness, and the public, particularly on the West Coast, by the arrangement is left in much the same position as if decisions of the Magistrates Court were final. Thus it will be seen that not only upon the criminal but also upon the civil aide is an extension of the jurisdiction of the District Courts equally necessary. Sittings of the District Courts are now held quarterly— frequently at shorter intervals — in all the chief mining centres of the West Coast, and are at no great cost accessible to suitors, and by vesting the Eiatrict Courts with an'appellafe jurisdiction from both the inferior Courts, the interests of parties and the ends of justice would, we venturo to think, be infinitely better servpd than under the existing regime. Under tli3 Act of 1858, District Courts were empowered to deal with civil cases *' exceeding twenty pounds and not exceeding one hundred pounds " but in 1866 the civil jurisdiction was extended to cases involving a sum of £200, and in 1870, the Governor was empowered to extend the criminal jurisdiction in any district, by proclamation to all felonies andjndictable misdemeanours, with certain exceptions. An attempt was made in 1873 to still further extend the civil jurisdiction to £500, and on the criminal side to ofionces involving a possible punishment for any term less than fourteen years. It was also sought at the same time to give the Courts a jurisdiction in equity. The Bill was introduced by Mr Bathgate, then Minister of Justice, but after passing through the Assembly, it was cast out by the Upper House; and since then no further attempt in the same direction has been made. We are aware that against the extension of the criminal jurisdiction of the District Courts certain objections are raised in favor of cases " involving points of law," and again that that extension would in a great way dispense with the supposed necessity for Grand Jurors, aa well as render the position of tho Supreme Court Judges sinecures. Into the first of these objections we baye no desire at present to enter, but as to dispensing with the services of Grand Jurors,, that of itself is what has long been contended for, and would, in our opinion* be one of the advantages to flow from the suggested alteration. Aa to the ob" jection in relation to a curtailment of the duties of the Supreme Court Judges, that appears to us aa a matter of yery small moment, and one not likely to weigh in the smallest degree where public interest is so largely at stake. So it seems after all that the objections thus set forth are rather fanciful than real, and so long as the public retains confidence in the gentlemen occupying the judgeships of the District Courts, these accsssory safeguards will be willingly relinquished. So much, then, for the proposed extension of the criminal jurisdiction, and rererting briefly to the civil side, the arguments will be found altogether in favor of increasing the power of tho Courts. Although tho District Courts at the present time hare jurisdiction only up to £200, how frequently we nee the Judges occupied with appeal cases from the Wardens' Courts where the ntnounts at stake may bo counted in thousands and even tens of thousands of pounds. If, then, the Court!* can dcul with specific rimes of this magnitude, what valid argument can bo

applied against an extension of the jurisdiction in genera! cises ? Tho Li/ttclhn Times of tho Stli ult. contains a long and carefully written article on tho whole question, mid to this source we are indebted for some of the facts herein stated,, and it is quite evident that this subject ig attracting leading attention throughout tho Colony, and we can only hope thai tho Minister of Justice during the coming session of Parliament will see the necessity of bringing in a Eill to remedy some of the glaring deficiencies of tho present system.