ABOLITION OF DISTRICT COURTS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 524, 3 June 1909, Page 9

ABOLITION OF DISTRICT COURTS.

A WAIRARAPA DEPUTATION. REPLY BY DR. FINDLAY. A deputation,' representing the legal profession in Masterton, tho Chamber' of Commerce, and tho liorough Council, waited yosterday on the Minister for''Justice (tlio Hon. Dr. Findlay) to ask that tho District Court at Masterton should not bo abolished, unless some satisfactory, substitution is made. ' • . ■,Mr. W. G. Beard said that the deputation were acting for the general public, in making their application. Tlio District Court at Masterton had been established, he thought, for nearly 30 years, and had done a largo 'amount .of. very useful work. Tho deputation did not ask that : tho District Court should bo retained, provided another Court wore substituted which would discharge tho business satisfactorily. He thought that tho growth of tho district would Justify the. Supremo Court in holding circuit sittings in Masterton. In that case, a registrar should be appointed, so that bankruptcy and probate business could be taken.', 'ihey had received a half promise of Supremo Court; sessions, provided that; a courthouse was': provided, and arrangements were almost completed that would supply this need. There was also a prospect of a library being provided in connection with tho Court. They recognised, that, there must : bo some delay before the Supremo Court could sit at Masterton, unless tho judges would put-up > with somo degree, of inconvenience in regard to Court premises." The Minister said that the Judges-had already shown readiness in , that direction, by agreeing to take cases at Hokitika, Greymouth, and Westport, where tho Court accommodation''was certainly no bettor than at Masterton; . .. . . Mr. Board said that if delay was ncces-' sary, the deputation would, like to see tho District: Court continued as a purely temporary institution. It' was .only fair to tho public and profession that, in a centre as lafgo as Masterton, there should be opportunity of hearing cases locally, instead of taking them seventy miles .to Wellington, or clso to Palmerston North, • which, as .the crow llies, was nearer, though, by railway route, more distant.

Mr.. P. L. Hollings, representing the Masterton Borough Council said thai the District . Court did not. moot tho present requirements of tho district, and its procedure; was obsolete and inconvenient, but ta abolish' the District Court without, providing a reasonable 1 substitute would be to increase the inconvcnienco. Ho did not think that the expense of circuit sittings of the Supreme Court would bo : nearly so much as that: of . periodical sittings__ of the District Court. ,Tho expenso of a ' registrar'Tinitlit' bo largely obviated by -appointing the Stipfendiary Magistrate 0r..-.Clerk of Court to that position. The membo'rs of tho profession in Carterton :and: Eketahuna both favoured, tho proposal to hold circuit sittings in Masterton. '

. Mr. H. 0. L. Robinson, representing, tho Trust Lands Trust, which is. effecting au exchange that will prqvido a site for tho new courthouse, saiu it had been arranged for a Bill to bo put through the House this session to ratify ; i tho.. arrangement.' Tho Trust Lands Trust, for thoir own reasons, were anxious to accelerate the completion of this matter. Mr. A. R. Bunny, Crown Prosecutor ot tho. Wairarapa District Court, said that nine out of ten criminal cases in. the Wairarapa had to .come to Wellington owing to tho limited jurisdiction of that Court. Thero would bo an immense saving of expense if circuit sittings of the Supreme Court were held iu'Masterton. Tho '.--Minister replied that the District Court was to-day an anachronism. It originated over fifty years ago, its procedure was out of date arid clumsy, and that it .had been, made to work as satisfactorily as it did was mainly duo to the good judgment 'the presiding Judges. He thought that' . special jurisdiction should be conferred on "magistrates to secure a_ speedy - trial of certain cases thati had: hither ( to been taken by' the District Court." The Government had no intention, to deprive any ' locality now served by a District Court of the judicial facilities' which at present it" enjoyed. _ It bad to keep two main considerations in viow —first, the efficiency: and promptness of the administration of justice, and, second, economy,-The Government could.,,.not. t be asked at''this timo'of'retrenchment,to spend unnecessary money - in Erecting. a., Supreme Court ,in Masterton, but. ho thought that a'fair. substitution could be made and an j oven moro efficient judicial service, afforded than that of tho District Court. The expense of bringing prisoners from Masterton to Wellington was trebled in the.caso, of other portions of tho Dominion. By, abolishing tho District Courts, giving special jurisdiction in somo cases to magistrates, and having Supremo Court sessions at some" of . the larger " centres, ho thought £1000 could be saved throughout,the Dominion in the transport of prisoners alono, and this would be only a portion of tho total saving. • The judges could not do impossibilities, but In any proper case thore were indications that they would agree to . tako the cases —civil and criminal—that: would - arise, in such a place as Masterton. He could , only consult tlio Chief -Justico on the subject, and that he would bo pleased to do. The abolition of the District Court had met, with some opposition, but every riiember. of., the profession must approve of its disappearance as a Court whoso objects could be much better .served by an extension of the. magistrate's jurisdiction and by the provisioti of Supremo Court' sittings in centres \yhose importance called for them. Ho 'was very much in sympathy with the application, and would communicate with tlio deputation after consulting the Chief Justice. There might be a brief interval necessary for adjustment after tho abolition of the District Courts at the end ,of .this month, but the interval-before the institution of a now servico would be as short aspossible. :