THE ARBITRATION ACT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15025, 21 June 1912, Page 8

THE ARBITRATION ACT.

A NONSENSICAL CLAUSE. I CARELESS LAW DRAFTING. Pi JUDGE SIM'S SEVERE COMMENTS. [ ' ' v - '■'! fT fBY TELEGRAPH. CORRESPONDENT.] L a I Gisbwine, Thursday. n( Some remarks regarding the careless draft- la ing of Acts of Parliament were made yes- M terday by Mr. Justice Sim. An application pi was made by the Gisborno watereido to workers and the Gisborno Sheepfarmers* as Company and others to have an industrial agreement they had entered into declared 41 an award under Section 3 of tho .1911 Act. That section His Honor declared . to be a remarkable production. Tho words ' were prima facie nonsense. Continuing, ' His Honor said, "The power given by . the section is to declare an industrial agreement to bo an award, What the w legal consequences of such a declaration &] are to be the Legislature has not condes- j r cended to say. Is the agreement to cease y to bo an agreement, and to become c{ thenceforth an award? If it is to be an award, on whom is it to be binding? Is n: it to be binding on £.11 employers then en- t( gaged iti tho particular industry, whether f £ they are parties to the agreement or not? s , Is it to extend to future employers p throughout the industrial district, or only v to future employers in the particular a locality?- Ib it to operate as if it were t an award made by the Court, or as that a remarkable kind of award specified in p Section 7 (12) of the same Act, viz., an award duly executed - and filed by ' the parties? These are all questions that a competent draughtsman would have anti- J cipated and answered when he framed Section 3. They have been left unanswered however, and to make any order under that section, as it now stands, would load only to confusion and diflicidties. It may be said that the Court ought to make an order under the section leaving the parties to find out afterwards if they can what the legal consequences are of the order. If these legal consequences had to be Fettled by some other tribunal. it might be desirable to adopt that course, for such tribunal might be vouchsafed light that has been denied to the Arbitra- ■; tion Court, but the duty of determining the effect of any such order devolves in the 1 last resort on this Court, and we prefer a not to make an order under the section, i when, owing to the imperfect way in < which the Legislature has expressed its f intention,,it is impossible to say what" the legal consequences of such an order' will' be. The present application, therefore, 1 is refused, and until the section has been * brought into an intelligible shape it is 1 useless for any further "application to bo j made under it. Before the power given ] by section 3 can be exercised, it must be . proved that the agreement is binding oh employers who employ a majority of the ' workers in the industry to which it re- 1 lates in the industrial district in which l it was made; that is to say, in the whole , of the Northern district. ' Mr. Cederwall: Does it mean, Your 1 Honor, the whole of the Northern district, 1 including Auckland? ! His Honor: Yes; it includes Auckland. ] . ' ' "V ] THE ATTITUDE OP FARMERS. ; . < ■' /' V : i SUFFERERS BY COURT'S AWARDS, j The working of the Arbitration Act was J referred to by several speakers at tha £ meeting of the executive of the Auckland ( Farmers' Union yesterday. . ; , It was pointed out that- the Act as at , present constituted was causing trouble to . every section of the community, and it was thought that steps should be • taken ] to amend- the measure. ' Tho opinion was also expressed that the ( Arbitration Act should be abolished, and employers should have freedom,in. tho mat- - ter of employing labour, while another j speaker said the Act would have to be j mended or ended. ( It was decided that as farmers were the t worst sufferers by the awards applying to f carpenters, painters, plumbers, etc. the J tiino had arrived when farmers should { take steps to be represented at the Arbi- ( tration Court when awards were being | considered. , „ ; 1 9 1