JUSTICES' JUSTICE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1155, 17 January 1874, Page 1

JUSTICES' JUSTICE.

There are certain of our public men who, if they only had their way, would provide that those cases, civil and criminal, which are now adjudi« cated upon in our raiuor courts, should be dealt with by the" great unpaid." Year after year, when the Estimates are before the House of Representatives, do these gentlemen endeavour to reduce the number of Resident Magistrates, with the view of carrying out their hobby ; but we are thankful to say that as yetthegood senseofthe Legislature has rebelled against the proposal. The idea, we are aware, prevails that because at home a good deal of the kind of work that is overtaken by Resident Magistrates here is dealt with by Justices of the Peace, our paid Magistrates should therefore be dispensed with, and Justices' justice be administered throughout the land. There is a vast difference, however, between the men who are on the Commission of the Peace in Great Britain and those who have had a similar honour conferred upon them in this Colony. At home, the average Justice of the Peace who is seen on the Bench, is a man of intelligence and education ; and although in saying so it may at once occur to some that we have thus indicated characteristics which distinguish the English from the New Zealand Justice, we shall content ourselves by pointing out that an important diffei'ence between the two lies in the fact that the former is as a rule a man of leisure, while the latter is not. The magistrate who is called upon from time to time in England to attend Quarter Sessions, or in Scotland to sit in the Justices of the Peace Court, has, no doubt, a tolerable acquaintance with the law, and knows something about the forms of the Court in which he sits. In fact, he has had time to acquaint himself with a good deal of what is necessary to enable him to perform. h,ie roagisterial duties in, a credit*

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able manner. In the Colony, it is the exception to find a Justice of the Peace who is competent to deal with cases other than the ordinary " Police charges." An illustration of what we say was afforded last week in the Resident Magistrate's Court, where two estimable citizens, whose names appear on the Commission of the Peace, were endeavouring to the best of their ability to administer justice in place of Mr Strode, who had been called upon to "take part in the enquiry respecting the wreck of the Surat. The defendant, in a case which was called upon, was charged with having obstructed a" highway by erecting a fence across it. Evidence was taken on behalf of the plaintiff, at the conclusion of whose case the Magistrates intimated their intention of delivering judgment. Counsel for the defendant, however, made the happy suggestion that the defendant's case should be heard before any decision should be arrived at. The hint was taken, and an apology was tendered by one of the magistrates for the contemplatedirregularifcyofprocedureonthe part of the Bench, with an explanation to the effect that the Bench had not been accustomed to deal with cases of that kind. It would be impossible not to sympathise with the Magistrates on account of the position of embarrassment in which they found themselves placed. Probably it was through no desire of their own that they found themselves on the Bench on Thursday last, and it would be unfair, therefore, to impute blame to them if they failed to manifest that acquaintance < with the forms of Court which is _ so conducive to the administration of justice. We object, however, to any system by which cases affecting property rights or any other cases which should | be dealt with by experienced Magistrates are adjudicated upon by a tribunal so constituted. It may be urged that it rarely happens that Justices are called upon to hear cases which they are incompetent to deal with, and no great object can therefore be attained by directing public attention to the proceedings in the case of Parker v. Booth, which came before the K. M. Court last Thursday. We are thankful to say that the " great unpaid " have not as yet been afforded many opportunities of playing ducks and drakes with the rights and interests of their fellow-citizens, and we merely notice the proceedings in the case referred to as an instance of what might not imfrequently happen were our StipendiaryMagistrates done away with.