A CURIOUS POSITION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8073, 25 August 1905, Page 4

A CURIOUS POSITION.

A rather curious phase oE the law was exemplified at the local Magistrate's Court yesterday, and is a further instance of the anomalies that exist. It appears that bankruptcy business brought before the District Court may be adjud;cated upon by the Clerk of the Court if the District Judge does not happen to be available. A case does not often occur when the business is of such a pressing nature that it cannot stand over till the Judge's return, but one came along yesterday. A petition was presented, praying that a man be adjudicated a bankrupt, and as a Judge was not available, it was considered before the Clerk of the Court... A knotty legal point was raised, with the result that the temporary judge found himself in an awkward position. Earlier in the day a single inebriate was brought up by the police, and a wait of some duration was necessary while a J.P. was being hunted up to inflict; the usual fine of ss. On the face of it, it does seem ridiculous that an official who is not considered by the law to be capable of imposing a small fine for a-- minor offenue such as drunkenness, is given the power to. deliver a judgment on which so important a matter as that of a man's bankruptcy may depend.