POINT OF LAW

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 141, 16 May 1941, Page 6

POINT OF LAW

Cll li IST lAN PA CI FISTS CONCERNED. (Press Assn.) WELLINGTON, Mily 16. A request by the- Solicitor-General that His Honour should state a case lor the Court of Appeal in regard to ihc sentencing of five meml>ers> of the Christian Pacifist Society, each of whom had been found guilty during the present criminal sessions 'of a breach of the public safety regulations, was conveyed to the Chief Justice in the Supreme Court to-day by the Crown Prosecutor (Mr "Weston. K.C.). The question was whether the prisoners who were sentenced to three mouths' imprisonment last month in Hie Magistrate's Court for wilfully obstructing the police could, or should, receive additional sentences lor other breaches of the regulations in respect of the same prohibited meetings. Sir Michael Myers, who had previously directed Mr "Weston to have the question argued before him. agreed that in the public interest the point should be determined by a Court consisting of more than one Judge.- He said lie would refuse to add to the sentences unless he was satisfied that it would be in accordance with both t|-«? letter and the spirit of the law. The application was a perfectly proper one he said, and lie would draft a case for the Court of Appeal.