SUPREME COURT.

Wairarapa Age, 18 May 1932, Page 5

SUPREME COURT.

SUSPENSION OF LOCAL SITTINGS. LETTER FROM THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE. At its meeting yesterday, the Masterton Chamber of Commerce received a further communication from the Minister of Justice (the Hon. J. G. Cobbe) regarding its protest against the suspension of the Supreme Court sittings in Masterton. After acknowledging receipt of the Chamber’s second letter on the subject —a letter pointing out that the Minister had made only a bare acknowledgment of an earlier communication and asking what he intended to do in the matter—the Minister wrote as follows: In reply, I beg to point out that the resolution passed by the Masterton Chamber of Commerce states that the Chamber feels that the decision to suspend the sittings is based on a complete and intolerable disregard of the interests of the district and demands that the decision be reversed. ’ The hon. secretary of the Wairarapa Law Practitioners .had been informed by me one month poor to the passing of the above resolution that I have no power in the matter of reinstating the Court sittings which is governed by Section 52 of the Judicature Act, 1908. The body particularly interested in the matter was therefore, m full possession of the facts. Your Chamber, without ascertaining the true position, erroneously assumes that I have power to reinstate the sittings and ‘demands’ that the decision be reversed. Under the circumstances, the only proper answer to such a resolution was a mere acknowledgment. (Signed) John G. Cobbe, Minister of Justice.” Those portions of the letter enclosed in single quotation marks were underlined by the Minister. It was pointed out in the course of a brief discussion that the Chamber of Commerce had had no communication from the Wairarapa Law Practitioners end had taken a perfectly proper and regular course in addressing the Minister of Justice regarding a question which was of considerable interest and importance to the business community as well as to lawyers. In the circumstances, it was decided to “receive” the Minister’s letter and to refer to the district members of Parliament the ‘lue'rt'on of seeing whether anything eonld he done to secure thq reinstatement of the local .Supreme Court sittings.