BESIDENT MAGISTRATES COURT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9436, 6 August 1889, Page 6

BESIDENT MAGISTRATES COURT.

The following correspondence may interest j§ the Auckland Justices of the Peace, who have been subjected to similar inconveniences to that referred to in Sir William Fox's letter to the Minister of Justice :— Department of Justice, Wellington. July , 188& To Sir William Fox. R.C.M.G., .V., Auckland. Sir, —I have the honour to riform you that it has been reported to the Minister of Justice, in accordance with the provisions of the Justices of the Peace Act, that you have been absent on two successive occasions when required to attend the Resident Magistrate's Court, at Auckland—viz., on May 10, and June 28. The Minister will be glad if you will state the reason of your absence on the second occasion, in order that the same may be submitted to His Excellency the Governor, as required by the abovementioned Act. —I am, &c., C. J. A. Hasklt>eh, Under-Secretary. Auckland, July 15, 1889.— beg to acknowledge the receipt of a letter from your department, dated the Bth current, informing me that it has been reported to you tb/it I have been absent on two successive occasions when required to attend at the Resident Magistrate's Court, in this city, on the 10th May and June 28th, and you request me to state the reason for my absence on the second of those occasions. When the Clerk of the Court reported the above fact he ought, in courtesy at all events, to have stated the reason for my absence, which I gave to him personally the day previous to the second date. It was simply that the acoustic properties of the Resident Magistrate's Court are so utterly defective that it is not only extremely unpleasant for all persons concerned in any case before it—justices of the peace, lawyers, witnesses, police, and the accused —necessitating a great amount of vociferation, repetition of questions and answers, misunderstandings, and other inconveniences, but it renders it very difficult to maintain the equanimity of temper and judicial dignity which ought to distinguish those engaged in the ministration of justice. The defect of the Courtroom in this particular has, I understand, * been repeatedly brought under the notice of the Government, and I am informed that quite recently one of the Ministry personally visited the Court, and was satisfied that alterations in its construction were absolutely necessary, towards effecting which, however, no steps appear to have been taken. Whenever the necessary alterations shall have been ma.de I shall be quite prepared to attend on all occasions when 1 may be required. In conclusion, I may perhaps be allowed to call attention to the numerous instances in which similar defects have existed in judicial and other buildings erected by the Government. The Supreme Courthouses in Wellington and Wanganui are notorious instances which have repeatedly evoked the complaints of judges and counsel, while the House of Representatives presents an example of " how not to do it" in a Chamber whose good acoustic construction ought to have been an essential condition. After a very large experience of public halls and platforms, both in the old country and in this, I have arrived at the conclusion that the general cause of defect in this particular is the too great height of the ceilings, and that if they were kept at about half the usual elevation (which with proper ( ventilation would create no inconvenience],' the evil would in most cases be remedied. The ambition of the architects and the desire for imposing architectural effects are probably the primary causes of the frequency ot the defect in a very large number of public halls and churches.— am, &c, William Fox, J.P. Department of Justice, Wellington, New Zealand, 31st July, 1889. To Sir William Fox, K.C.M.G., J.P., Auckland. Sir,— have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the- loth instant, number and date quoted in the margin ; and in reply, am i directed by the Minister of Justice to inform you that His Excellency the Governor is satisfied that your absence when required to attend at the Resident Magistrates Court, at Auckland, on the 28th June last, resulted from a reasonable cause. lam also to inform you that plans have been prepared and will be carried out as soon as possible, for remedying the acoustic defects of the Conrt-room.— lam, &C, C. J. A. HASBLDEif, Uud<y> ,' Secretary.