JURORS INCONVENIENCED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23721, 30 July 1940, Page 6

JURORS INCONVENIENCED

LAST-MINUTE SETTLEMENT jr : CHIEF JUSTICE'S COMMENT [by telegraph—owx correspondent] WELLINGTON, Monday Another reference to the last-minute settling of cases, as a result of which jurors were needlessly called to Court, was made in the Supreme Court to-day by the Chief Justice, Sir Michael Myers, when it was announced that a settlement had been' reached in a case set down for. hearing. Sir Michael said that if he had the settling of the fixture list for the next session he would'see to it that no cases were set down for. hearing by juries unless they were to come to trial. If that did not get over the difficulty he would take further steps. He might even approach the Minister of Justice with a view to introducing the system introduced in England for the -Vwar period of doing without juries in certain cases and Judges alone hearing them. He .wished it to be understood that such a system would be for the war period only, as he was not an advocate of doing away with juries. His Honor said it was wrong that 40, 50 or 60 men should be brought to Court at inconvenience to themselves and their employers and pecuniary loss to some of them. A certain, amount of delay had been avoided to-day, inasmuch as a jury of four required for to-morrow would be empanelled to-day with the consent of the parties.