COURT UNSYMPATHETIC

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1935, Page 7

COURT UNSYMPATHETIC

PROTESTS BY SOLICITOR MOTOR VEHICLES ACT BREACHES. MR. BAYLEY VISITS WELLINGTON. HAWERA MOTORIST’S DIFFICULTY. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. Strong protests against the lack of provision for evidence to be taken on commission for alleged breaches of the Motor Vehicles Act or local by-laws were made by a solicitor, Mr. G. J. Bayley, Hawera, in the Magistrate’s Court today when a resident of Hawera was charged with failing to give a signal of intention to prill out from the kerb, “There have been several cases before various’ courts recently showing that ,an injustice has been done to motorists through lack of provision for evidence to be taken on coinmission,” Mr. Bayley said. “Every lawyer can name, instances where motorists have entered pleas of guilty to charges of breaches of by-laws or of the Motor Vehicles Act or Regulations rather than face the expense of attending in person and taking witnesses to a foreign court to defend charges; “In civil actions arid under the Destitute Persons Act evidence can be taken ton commission, but there is no such machinery .for charges under the Motor Vehicles Act or for breaches of by-laws. If the law. were amended my client could have had his evidence taken at Hawera at a trivial, expense. As it is he is forced to enter a plea of guilty rather than incur the expense and inconvenience of travelling to Wellington to defend the C3 “lt ’is a basic principle of British justice that a man is innocent until he is proved guilty, and yet the law makes a motorist travel to a foreign court at his own expense, and if he is not able to do that he must plead guilty, even if he considers he is innocent.” “If counsel wishes to have pie law altered there is a proper constitutional way of doing it,” said the magistrate, who imposed a fine of 10s. “You cannot use me for that purpose.”