CROWN’S APPEAL DEFERRED

Southland Times, Issue 23852, 24 June 1939, Page 11

CROWN’S APPEAL DEFERRED

Validity Of Import Restrictions

RULING GIVEN BY COURT (United Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 23. When the Court of Appeal sat today the Solicitor-General, Mr- H. H. Cornish, asked for leave to refer to the case of Jackson and Co. versus the Collector of Customs. He said he sought leave to set the appeal down so that a fixture might be made for the hearing of the appeal during the present sittings of the Court of Appeal. The matter had been referred to on the opening day of the present sitting and a provisional fixture had been made, without prejudice to the rights of Jackson and Co. The printing of the case was now completed, security for the appeal had been given, and the Collector of Customs asked for a fixture at the present sitting. Mr G. G. Watson, for Jackson and Co., said he had been instructed to point out that although judgment had been delivered on May 22 at Auckland, no notice of appeal was served on Jackson and Co. until June 9, and then for the sittings beginning on June 12. The Court of Appeal rules were mandatory, and required that notice of appeal be given 14 days before the beginning of any sitting. , , The Chief Justice (Sir. Michael Myers) to Mr Watson: Do you consent or oppose? Mr Watson: I am instructed to oppose the application on that ground. The Chief Justice, to the SolicitorGeneral: Can you press in the face of opposition? The Solicitor-General: No, sir. Technically. I think the respondent can raise tne point, though it is competent for him to waive it.

Sir Michael Myers then said that no order to set down would be made, and that the case would not be heard during the present sittings of the Court The next sittings of the Court of Appeal begin on September 11.

The case is the Crown’s appeal from the decision of Mr Justice Callan, in which he declared the import control restrictions invalid. The judgment ordered the delivery of goods to plaintiffs, which had been held by the Customs Department.