LEGAL DELAYS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1065, 2 March 1911, Page 6

LEGAL DELAYS.

BUSINESS OF COURT BLOCKED. CHIEF JUSTICE PROTESTS. Business at tho civil sittings of tho Supremo Court has , been more or less disorganised ever since the sessions opened over two weeks ago. Up till the present very little progress has been made, although a long list of fixtures awaits attention. At the outset, Mr. Justice Chapman was the only judge in "Wellington, the other judges being oil circuit. Mr. Justice Chapman's efforts to cope with the. business were discounted by tho fact that counsel were frequently, not ready, to go on with cases when they were called and, further, by the fact that his Honour had to leave 'Wellington, first to preside over the sitting of the court at Blenheim, and then at Kelson. With the return of the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) and Mr. Justice Cooper it appeared us though there were a prospect of the business being pushed 011.from yesterday, but another delay was occasioned when it came to calling on the cases which had been set down. In the first place, proceedings were held up until 11 p.m. by an application to the Chief Justice -in Chambers in the case Hubert Gladstone Ilill v. .1. B. MacEwan and C 0.,. that ail amended statement of claim be struck out oil the ground that the addition of a claim for interest set up a new cause of action. After hearing argument, his Honour decided to reserve his decision on tho point raised until this morning. As a result the hearing of the case could not be proceeded with. An action for libel, Gini Angelini v. Carlo Antico, was then called on, but again, there was a bar to progress. Counsel for plaintiff informed the Court that an amended statement of defence, which had only been put in the previous evening, and which raised a plea of justification, put him in the position of having to call a number of witnesses. Ho could not do this immediatel.y, and would prefer an adjournment until next session of the Court.

His Honour thought that it was only fair that plaintiff's counsel should he given time. Defendant was to blame for not .having filed the plea of justification before. The case was accordingly allowed to stand down, and the Court had nothing to fjo on with. With this position before him, his Honour ■ remarked ' on delay occasioned through counsel continually assuming as one had done that day, that a case would last all daj-. The result was that the time of the Court was wasted, and judges found that they' were unemployed, although there was plenty of business to bo done. It did not affect the Court so much in ordinary cases as it did when jurors were involved. He did not like to bring business men away from their worlc, and then have to dismiss them because the cases wore not ready. His Honour apologised to the jurymen who had been summoned to attend the Court. He was sorry that the present position had arisen. A novel and important point of law rai«ed in Chambers had made it impossible to so on with the first case set. down, and the other cases set down could not be proceeded with. If e was sorry, but he would have to ask the jury to come back the following day.

Asked whan it was intended to hold a sittinsr in Chambers to arrange dates for the Civil list, his Honour remarked that, solicitors had better lie prepared to po 011 ivith their cases next. week. Tile eases would lie taken in the order in which they stood on the list.