SECOND ARBITRATION COURT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 19 November 1937, Page 6

SECOND ARBITRATION COURT

SELECTION OF JUDGE i 1 OFFER TO MR W. .J. HUNTER I Itv THokmiili —I’roHH Afunn:tnllon] WELLINGTON. Hltii November. The decision of the Government to • jii.sk Mr W. .1. Hunter, LL.B., a wcllj known Christchurch ban ister and | solicitor who hits specialised in industrial cases, whether he will accept office J as President of the second Arbitration j Court, set up under the amending legislation just passed by Parliament, was announced by the Minister of .lusLicc (the Hon. 11. G. R. Mason) last evening. The Government is now awaiting Mr Hunter's reply to the invitation. The legislation passed last week provided for the appointment of a second Arbitration Court Judge from the ranks of the Supreme Court Judges, and, if necessary, for the temporary appointment of an additional Supreme j Court Judge. The course now being! followed involves an alteration in this procedure. 'J’hc change is based partly on the uncertainty felt a.s to the adequacy of an arrangement made for one year only and partly on a recognition of the fact that the work of the Court of Arbitration is of a specialised character. It is held to bo desirable that a Judge of the Court of Arbitration : should have the same status as a j Judge of the Supreme Court, but, by j reason of the different nature of the ] work, it" is not regarded as expedient j in general that Judges should be trails- : ferred from one Court to the other. If ; Mr Hunter accepts the appointment | offered to him it is understood that his i work will lie definitely in the Court of Arbitration. It has long been doubted whether one Judge could cope with all the work of the Court of Arbitration, but, when- the existing pressure of work in industrial cases has been overcome, it is expected that one of other of the Judges of the Court of Arbitration may be able to assist in work of such judicial or semi-judicial nature ns the hearing of appeals in respect of pensions and the like.

WELL QUALIFIED , Mr Hunter is described in Parlia- , montary circles as a man particularly j well qualified to preside over the ■ second Court of Arbitration, ns lie has [ had extensive experience in industrial 1 cases. i When Mr Hunter’s appointment is confirmed, it is more than probable ; that a minor amendment will have to be made to the Act providing for the establishment of a second court. This will arise from the fact that the Government has decided to go outside the ranks of the present Supreme Court Judges in making its selection for the office. Two lay members of the second court have also to be appointed by the Minister of Labour (the Hon. 11. T. Armstrong). who intimated last week that he would ask organisations of workers and employers for their recommendations. These appointments arc to be made as soon a.s possible, so that the second court will be able to function without undue delay. Mr William John Hunter, LL.B., is senior partner in the legal firm of Hunter and Honaldson, which was established at Christchurch in 1882, and is chairman of the City No. 1 Mortgage Adjustment Commission appointed this year. He is also New Zealand Commissioner for Affidavits in the High Court of Australia and the Australian States. The second son of Mr Thomas Hunter, Elic, Fifeshire, Scotland, who arrived in New Zealand in the early seventies, Mr Hunter entered at an early age upon a five years’ course of j training for the teaching profession under the North Canterbury Education Board. Before entering the legal profession he was assistant master of the Hasting District High School and headmaster of the Mangapapa School, Gisborne. He qualified for the irjil profession, and practised for a short time at Levin. He was common law assistant to the firm of Kippenberger and Franks at Christchurch in 1907, and six years later was admitted a partner on the retirement of Mr Franks. In 1915 he became senior partner and admitted into partnership Mr Eric Lyon, who was killed in action in France- Mr R. L. Ronaldson was admitted io the firm a.s partner in 1924, and the firm has since been known by the name of Hunter and Ronaldson. Mr Hunter was Macmillan Brown prize-winner at the New Zealand University, and was a law lecturer at Canterbury University College in 1922. In 1930 and 1931 he was examiner in law contracts for the New Zealand University. He is a former president of the , Canterbury District Law Society, and was secretary of the first New Zealand , legal conference in 1928.