THE STATUTES OF NEW ZEALAND: BY WILFRID BADGER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7383, 18 July 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE STATUTES OF NEW ZEALAND: BY WILFRID BADGER.

The statutory law of New Zealand ia certainly of formidable proportions. Contained iu some twenty-two volumee, many of which are at the present time out of print, it is often a work of real difficulty for even the trained lawyer to accurately discover the state of the law on those matters which have been more or leas frequently the subject of colonial legislation, while it is well nigh impossible for the ordinary reader to familiarise himsolf with the laws under which we live. Those, therefore, who labour to digest this chaotic mass of legislation, and to resolve some degree of order out of the existing confusion, deserve the encouragement and support of all who have anything to do with tho study or working of our laws, or who desire to obtain some acquaintance with them. Some years ago Mr. W. W. Wilson endeavoured to codify the then existing statute law, and his "Practical Statutes or New Zealand," though in many respects incomplete, were of considerable value. Mr. Barton, of Dunedin, had reoently commenced a more ambitious work, but which did uot, we think, fulfil the expectations which the compiler led his subscriber* to entertain. Nothing further was donein this direction until early this year, when Mr. Wilfrid Badger, of Christchurch, published "The Whole Law of New Zealand"— a work which is now before us. This is certainly a very valuable work, and it will, we are sure, be equally welcome to the practitioner and to the public. It would we think, have improved the work, and rendered it a tar easier task for the reader to acquaint himself with the present state of the statute law on a given subjeot, had the statutes been collected in groups instead of being simply callected in order of date, without reference to subject matter. Thus, for instance, to take the first page of the work, we find the second Act printed is tne Copyright Ordinance of 1842, while the balance of tho New Zealand statute law relating to this subject is found in three other portions of the work, viz., on pages 590, 852, and 1158. And again, the laws regulating county matters are in no sense collected together, but are contained in varioue portions of both volumes, and these remarks apply to tho othor subjects of legisation. In examining the various Acts and amendments much confusion ia likely to be created through this want of arrangement. The abaenoe of side notes to the various sections is another omission, which in future editions the compiler will no doubt rectify. Them; are the apparent defects in the work, and to some extent they detract from its general value, and we point these out because we feel convinced that a fresh edition of the book will shortly be required. The work as a whole is, however, of great excellence, and evidences a vast amount of care and a great expenditure of time in its preparation. The text ot the Statutes is remarkably accurate, and we are unable to discover that any enactment of more than local effect has been omitted. The indices are a most valuable feature, and, to a very great extent, remedy the want of arrangement of the Acts themselves. Mr. Badger has on the whole completed an undertaking of colonial importance, one which ought never to have been left to private industry aud enterprise. We venture to predict that before long "Badger's Statutes" will occupy the eame position in a colonial law library that "Chitty'e Collection of Statutes" does in that of the home practitioner. The low price at which Mr. Badger has published his work brings it within the reach of all who have anything to do with its subject matter, and we fear that the return to the author will be a very poor compensation for the labour and research which he must have bestowed upon it.