JUDGE'S LONG TERM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22084, 13 April 1935, Page 17

JUDGE'S LONG TERM

THE CLOSE DRAWS NEAIJ LAST SITTING OF COURT FORMAL FAREWELL IN juLY Nothing con Id have been more I normal than the routine procedure in the Supreme Court yesterday, and yet | for those who were aware of the cirj cuinstances the occasion was a memor- | able one and charged with a deep signij ficance. Almost certainly Mr. Justice I Herdman was for the last time conducting a sitting of the court over ! which lie has presided almost daily for | the last 14 years. His term of service as judge—a period of 18 years—does not officially end until the end of July, , but his period of three months' leave will begin at the end of the present i month; and with the near approach of • the Easter legal vaca.tion it is not at j all probable that he will be presiding j again. | A large group of solicitors and a | few spectators were present when His 1 Honor took his seat at 10 a.m. Sentence ; was passed on five prisoners who had i admitted guilt, then bankruptcy apj plications were dealt with, and the ■ court became more and more empty. 1 A decree nisi was made absolute, and then " In Chambers " matters of mortj gagoi'B relief came up for determina- | tion. Soon there remained but one : solicitor, a pressman and two court | officials. Still in Chambers, the solicitor placed ! before the judge, with some care, an | application for an order confirming the ! reduction of the capital of a company j and sanctioning a compromise and then | another application for an injunction. I With the skill of long practice His Honor absorbed the essential facts and reached his decision. The deputy regis- | trar had no further business to anj nounce. He closed his book of records. J and the crier moved as usual toward i His Honor's exit door, i " The court is adjourned," the crier j said, and the little group left in ; court rose to their feet as His Honor i passed through the familiar door. ! Whatever thoughts may have been passing through his mind or the minds of any of the others present, there was no hint given that this exit differed in any respect from, the hundreds that have preceded it. The formal leave-taking of the legal profession from His Honor will take place near the close of his official term on July 31.