IMPEDIMENTS TO JUSTICE.

Marlborough Express, Volume V, Issue 244, 13 August 1870, Page 5

IMPEDIMENTS TO JUSTICE.

gWflo Jl ;oa«i7p-i'i f.ilt-rri lla-vf-mun h> no<j(■» The following - srtemarks’ •> whibh' h app’e&red t in the Nelson. Evqnmg^fail^o^l 6th July, written on the. saine shews how disadvhtttageous9dhe>pTeseht« considered there- AvHetoi IflTeS Sittings were « i„... MaiivJbn ni vhohaii fir y^^r^nt^kch' oS’i l earS- i; froni l! all sides ther^djQinrnnHffljrrat”so; shprfrrr notice ‘oi ‘Gdart; 1 ’ whereby -a is caused, 1 as'well as , a' , c6'ns.rde‘rablfe'*arain pn•'fche , public purse, for there are witnesses from the' West Coast 'ail'd the neighboring-Province of Marlborough whose expenses will have to be

paid during their stay in Nelson ; and it will soon be found that; the guffi of; j£.BQj} placed on the Estimates for Supreme Court witnesses, will have to be doubled or trbbled forithia one session only. In the first place, seems/ to have been an act of thoughtlessness .on the part of the General Gpvernmgnt to appoint a day,for .the opening of the Court 1 in ! Nelson so "close to that fixed for the‘Court of Appeal in Wellington, as, hy a little excercise of ordinary foresight, it would have been seen that the chances,,were greatly in favor of the sittings of the latter Court lasting beyond the fortnight,, .that was,,.to/ intervene between its opening tliat of tlic Nelson sittings blit,even: afteblthis error had !behn committed, it was not altogether too late to remedy,it. for ..it must have, been.known,a week ago whether there wad any probability of the Judge being ’able to ! 'leave 1 Wellington in time to keep his -‘ appointment in Nelson j and if there was any likelihood of his being detained beyond ( that date, it surely was the duty of the proper authorities to make it known to,the Registrar, in order that he might acquaint 1 the witnesses, counsel, and other parties concerned, that their attendance would not be required for-a fortnightafter the date for ’which they were summoned. As it is, the expense entailed upon the Province "will be enormous, and money that would otherwise have been devoted to useful purposes will have -to be completely thrown away,', simply because those whose duty it was to make the necessary arrangements have been guilty ; of. culpable neglect. If there is one institution which should above all others be characterised by regularity in its proceedings, it is the Supreme Court, by which the movements of so! many persons are regulated that some little attention should be paid • to’.their convenience ;'and they should not be liable to be informed, on their arrival here from a distance, that their services will not he required for some days, when their heedless journey could have been prevented by a little forethought. In, the present instance the convenience of private individuals, and the interests of the public purse, appear to have been. inbsV ignbred, and we cannot wonder at the feeling of j dissatisfaction that is openly expressed on all sides.'• 1 ■