ANOTHER JUDGE

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11583, 28 July 1923, Page 5

ANOTHER JUDGE

LAW SOCIETY’S REQUEST

REPRESENTATIVE DEPUTATION TO MINISTER FOR JUSTICE ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S REPLY. The- need for the appointment of an additional iuaato to the Court Bench waa urged upon the Attorney-General (Sir Francis Bell) and the Minister for Justice (Mr C. J. Pair) yesterday morning, by an influential deputation representing the New Zealand Law Society. Sir Francis Bell intimated that lie was unable to give th© deputation' a direct reply* but he would bring the matter before Cabinet at an early date. AVHOLE DOMINION REPRESENTED. Mr C. P. Skerrett, K.C., president of the New Zealand Law Society, said that the deputation represented the whole of the legal profession of the Dominion, and they wished to impress upon tlie Government the imperative necessity of appointing another Judge of the Supreme Court as soon as. possible. It was the unanimous opinion right through the country that another appointment was needed, and their request was an insistent one. There had been congestion of work for some time past in every judicial district except Otago, and they felt it was in the interests of tho profession and the public, as well as of the judges themselves, that a further judge should be created. There were 10 judicial districts in New Zealand, containing 19 towns, and the number of appointed sittings per year in the whole Dominion was 67. The work of the present judges was therefore not only very heavy, but widely distributed over a number of cities and towns. Some of the judges -found the strain of work very severe. They wished to record tlieir emphatic dissent from the opinion recently, expressed iby the judges themselves to the Attorney-General. Sir Francis Bell: “I am quite sure the majority of the .1 fidget dissent from you.” lie knew that half of them opposed the idea. Mr Skerrett read letters from Auckland and Hamilton Law Societies, which were not personally represented, stressing tlie need for another judge. He said that the society had recognised the position for some time, hut it had postponed the representations it had intended making to' the Government until now. It was not a new matter so far as the society was concerned. FROM CHRISTCHURCH. On behalf of the Christchurch so ciety, Mr W. J.- Hunter pointed out that the court revenue in that town had increased from £2572 in 1914, to £6952 in 1922. The number of judges in th© South Island was two, the same as it was forty years ago, and the population and amount of legal business had increased very considerably since then. •Mr Justice Adams was kept so busy that he was obliged to overwork in order to deal with his work,, and he was now in ill-health as a re* suit. It was quits impossible fur one judge to cope with all the work in Christchurch. Mr A. Gray, K.C., pointed out that while Wellington had four resident judges, it was often left without any. as they were obliged to go to circuit towns in the country districts where business was often prolonged. Ho would not like to suggest a diminution in the number of towns at which they were obliged to ait Several other speakers supported the object of the deputation on behalf of other districts.