THE TRANSPORT ACT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 156, 17 September 1941, Page 4

THE TRANSPORT ACT

Sir, —The recent reserved judgment given by Mr Goulding, S.M. at Wellington, in which he held that a section of the "Transport Licensing Goods Services Regulations" was ultra vires, will be of considerable interest to licensees and particularly gives prominence to> the dangers of Government by Orders in Council or Regulations and which, have statutory authority without the ratification of Parliament. The facts are; that the Department prosecuted the Woburn Carrying Co. Ltd. for not being a member of an organisation of licensees under the Transport Act of 1931. In an order dated July 18, 1936, provisions were- made materially differnot from the corresponding section of the Transport Licensing Act, which the Magistrate hekl might be construed to be additioais, alterations or modifications of the statutory provision of the-Act, and which he felfc he was not called upon to determine. If they are continued the Magistrate, then, under Section 47 of the Act, power would appear to be given by Order in Council to enact and create a statutory law without reference to Parliament and without any apparent limitation whatever. Nowhere in the Act, continued Mr Goulding, could he find any statutory provision to compel licensees of goods or even passenger services to belong to an association of licensees. The Magistrate held the regulations to be ultra vires and dismissed the case with costs to the defendant company. The Magistrate in the course of his judgment properly pointed out the necessity for Courts to be watchful of any attempt to infringe the liberty of the subject and to guard against any attempt under cover of regulations to impose upfm any section of the community burdens or interferences not expressly authorised or necessarily to be implied from the legislation itself. Yours etc., J. H. BURNETT.,