PENINSULA DRIVERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26958, 18 December 1948, Page 8

PENINSULA DRIVERS

COURT OF APPEAL HEARING DISPUTE REFERRED BACK TO ARBITRATION PA WELLINGTON. Dec. 17. The Court of Appeal tto-day remitted a case involving an appeal by the inspector of awards in Dunedin from the judgment of Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M., concerning the awards governing the drivers of the Peninsula Motor Service back to the Arbitration Court. The questions for the Court of Appeal were: First, whether the magistrate was correct in ruling that the service conducted by .the Peninsula Motor Service was not substantially engaged in town ahd suburban transport. Secondly, since the company had ' not pleaded that the point at issue had already been decided when the present case commenced before the magistrate in May, 1946, could it successfully make such a plea when the case went on appeal the Arbitration Court to enable it to of Appeal to-day held that the facts had not been decided adequately by the Arbitraton Court to enable it to answer the questions of law which the Arbitration Court wished answered. Dealing with the length of time which had elapsed since litigation between the parties orginally commenced, Mr Justice Fair said: “,I desire further to add that in all litigation similar to that under consideration it is highly desirable that the claims in question should be the subject of a final decision within a reasonable time It appears that, for various reasons, these claims have been directly or indirectly under consideration since 1944 and that the appeal to the Arbitration Court in respect of which this case is stated was before that court in May 1947. The case was stated to this court only m May of this year. It is apparent that a prolonged delay of some four years in the determination of a person s rights may often result in grave hardship or even injustice and has the tendency to evoke dissatisfaction with and criticism of the rule of law and the administration of justice. I venture to make these observations m the hope that in future all concerned will make every possible effort to ensure that matters in issue are brought before the court for determination as promptly as is possible.”