JUDICIAL BENCH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21982, 13 December 1934, Page 13

JUDICIAL BENCH

COURT OF APPEAL * APPOINTMENT UNDER BILL CHIEF JUSTICE'S PROTEST POLITICAL INTERFERENCE By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received December 12, 6.20«f>,m.) LONDON, Dec. 11 A sensation was caused in the Houso of Lords to-day when Lord Hewart, Lord Chief Justice of England, intervening in the second reading debate of the bill dealing with King's Bench Division and Appeal Court Judges, complained that he had not been consulted either about the commission appointed to inquire into the working of the Courts or the provisions of the present bill. Referring to the proviso limiting the numbers of Judges who might bo appointed to the King's Bench Division, he said this would put the composition of the Bench in the hands of the Government Whip, which would be an intolerable situation. The Present Procedure

Referring to the clause providing for the appointment of the vice-president of the Court of Appeal, he said Lord Justice Greer now presided over the second Appeal Court. If he was ill, absent, or resigned, the next senior, who in ordinary circumstances would preside, was Lord Justice Slesser. " We at the Law Courts have nothing to do with political opinion," said Lord Hewart. " Lord Justice Slesser holds some opinions with which I profoundly disagree, but he is a Judge, scholar and lawyer in whom I have complete confidence. If Lord Justice Slesser did not preside over Court No. 2, it would vary the practice of the last 60 years. Under the bill, the Lord Chancellor - could appoint whom he liked to the second Appeal Court. " Lord Justice Slesser came to me in a state of agitation and sought my advice. He told me he was informed by the Master of the Rolls that he was not to preside over the Appeal Court No. 2. I told him if I personally faced such a menace, I would decline to sit. Fighting the Proposals " I wonder if members of this House think it desirable when a general election takes place that there should be flaming posters on the walls, 'rigging the Judicial Bench in order to affront an ex-Labour Minister.' " When the Committee stage is reached, if the features to which I have protested are not removed, I will adjourn my Court daily and come here to fight the obnoxious parts line by line and word by word." The debate was adjourned on the suggestion of Viscount Hailsham, Minister of War.

Lord Justice Slesser has been a Lord Justice of Appeal since 1929. He represented South-East Leeds in the Labour interests from 1924 to 1929. He was Solicitor-General in the Labour Government of 1924. DISPUTED CLAUSE LORD CHANCELLOR EXPLAINS AVOIDING EMBARRASSMENT (Received December 12, 8.10 p.m.) LONDON. Dei. 12 The Supreme Court Judicature Amendment Bill, on which Lord Hewart spoke, provides for the appointment of the vice-president of the Court of Appeal from the existing Lord Justices without regard to seniority. ' This is defended by the Lord Chancellor, Viscount Sankev, on the ground .that it might be embarrassing to a Judge to take cases concerning which ho had no experience. He gave an instance of a Judge who recently protested when he was asked to take a case in a commercial Court. The Morning Post describes Lord Hewart's speech as one of the most astonishing heard in the House of Lords for many years. It has long been known, states the paper, that he suffered a sense of injustice at the manner in which recent legal reforms have been devised and carried out. There is no precedent for so public a dispute between the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice. It is expected that the Lord Chancellor will raise the question at a meeting of the Cabinet to-day. INTEREST IN POSITION JUDGE'S POLITICAL VIEWS NEVER EXPRESSED IN COURT (Received December 12, 6.25 p.m.) LONDON. Dec. 11 Lord Hewart's speech monopolised conversation all the evening. A high legal authority, in an interview, expressed the opinion that it was dreadful that the Lord Chief Justice had not been consulted in reference either to the commission or the provisions of the bill. He did not think it had ever been suggested that Lord .Justice Slesser has displayed political views in the Appeal Court, of which he was a safe and sound member, and where ho dispensed justice well. The Daily Mail describes Viscount Sankey, the Lord Chancellor, who moved the second reading, and Lord Hewart, two of the greatest judges in the land, facing each other as probably the strangest historical drama which has ever occurred in the House of Lords.