COMMON SENSE NEEDED

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 230, 28 September 1928, Page 5

COMMON SENSE NEEDED

QUALIFICATIONS FOR JUSTICES

LEGAL TRAINING NOT NECESSARY. ADDRESS BY JUSTICE FRAZER. "It is more in connection with criminal eases that your work is concerned, and it is really a very important work," said Mr. Justice Frazcr, president of the Arbitration Court, in giving Auckland Justices ot the Peace some impressions of his experiences as a magistrate and judge in Xew Zealand, in an address last evening 011 "The Lights and Shades of Court Work."

"Firmness must he present in all judicial work," lie added, "and we cannot allow ourselves to be guided by weak sentimentality." He reminded his hearers that justices, to perform their functions, need not necessarily Le possessed of the knowledge of lawyers. All that was required of them in their judicial capacity was the exercising of common sense. If one was confronted with a legal problem the final or right answer should be a common sense one. After all law was the embodiment of the experiences of the nation through the centuries. It had become necessary to crystalise the code of rules in dealing with one another, and such a. code must appropriate common sense. Law Likened to Ass.

the law did "seem to be an ass," but it was the exception to the general rule. It was said there were some successful lawyers who did not know the law, so justices need not worry very much. "Legal training is not really necessary for justices, and they have no need to let it concern them if they have not training in that respect," proceeded his Honor. "Your common sense is tho guide. All that is necessary is to use the same common sense that you use in your usual business transactions, and you will find that in 90 cases out of 100 von are not far from the mark."

His Honor observed that the Magistrate's Court, in which he w;:s speaking, was his judicial home, and in a sense also his spiritual home. There he had learned many a lesson, and despite preconceived ideas come to know among other things that many a kind heart beat under the blue tunics of policemen. He also spoke highly of the various welfare officers of different denominations, with whom he had come in contact during his term as a magistrate, and said he found in the court building that such things as sectarianism and bigotry could be left aside altogether. Weaklings, Not Criminals.

His Honor regarded that there was a redeeming feature about- most prisoners who were arrainged before the court, and they were not really criminals at heart. There was no r.ctual criminal class in New Zealand, although there were weaklings who sought to take the easy path, and had not the strength of character to resist it. In the system evolved for their reformation social workers were invaluable to the magistrates. In dealing with offenders against the law, sentimentality was the worst possible attitude to adopt. It must always be remembered that the true object of punishment was to reform the prisoner and teach him the error of his ways; that benefit accrued from leading a better life. Looking at court procedure from the spiritual side, his Honor said there was always a good spirit of fellowship between court officers, the police, solicitors, and the Bench. In advising his hearers how to regard various matters raised during their judicial duties, his Honor said it was wise not to assume that a. person was guilty till his case was complete. Very often there was an explanation. Misleading Witnesses.

It was not very often that witnesses were untruthful, but they unconsciously came to judgments of their own. It was a common thing, for instance, in cases concerning motor collisions for people to confuse perception with judgment. Perfectly honest witnesses by this means misled themselves, and the court also. Possibly the best witnesses were children who had facility for noticing minute details in a way that adults seldom did. Women, too, frequently had keen perception in that direction. Turning to reference to the muchdebated arbitration system, his Honor explained that it originated shortly after the maritime strike in 1890. The I.C. and A. Act was framed in 1894, and the system was the first in the world to compel observance and the enforcement of awards. It was necessary for industrial disputes to be discussed in conciliation before being referred to the Arbitration Court for final settlement.

Unfortunately it had been found that the conciliation system was not perfect, because sometimes it was impossible to get the parties to agree. But, if the Arbitration Court went by the board, there would require to be some tribunal to settle the disputes in which conciliation proceedings proved of 110 avail.