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A GREAT TRIAL

THE GOVERNMENT MUST NOT STEAL

RIGHTS OF THE SUBJECT

THE PEOPLE'S LIBERTIES

[The Government must not steal

Tl'ie word of the Court of Appeal has

spoken it.'] In A.D. l<ll9 it might have teen taken for granted iliat such was the fact. Uut the Heads of certain Government Departments thought "unite otherwise" ana .put their apology for thought to the test at the country's expense by asking tho opinion of the Court of Appeal.AU that:'the Court could do—being a Court of Justice—was to repeat the famous decision of another Lawgiver named Moses, who <|uite a long while ago wrote- down the oft-repeated words— "Thou shall not steal." Many people, of course, still decline to take that as a final verdict. Perhaps they will now wait for the House of Lords (!)/*» Bay the. final ivord before they are quite satisfied. > .

' The decision of the Court of Appeal arose over tho attempt of the Government to take private property for public purposes wit him t payment. That is now declared to bo illegal. And as there are so many ,Tacks-in-011iee to-day who are disposed" to unduly exact their office, anil who have inscribed over their doors the motto: "Tho -State—that's Me," it is as well to have this decision stated in plain English. The verdict means what it says-that the State shall not steal, and, in'ferentially, that its servants are not entitled to waste the public time, which is also public properly. An Important Judgment. "The case of 'De Keyser's Royal Hotel T. The King , will rank in the series of famous trials iu which English Judges have defended the rights of the. subject against the prerogatives of the Crown or State," says the "Spectator." "The minority of the Court in Hnnip. Jen's case, who declared that the King could not tax a subject arbitrarily, were Judges of tho same independent type as the blaster of the llolls and Lord Justice Warrington, who held that the Office of Works had no right to take De Keyser's Hotel and use it as a public office without paying for it, under the pretence that this was necessary to the defence of the realm. "The two Judges pointed out that even Charles 1 made no such claim, and they declined to stretch the Stuart, prerogative for Sir Alfred Mond. It is obvious that if the State had a legal right to confiscate one hotel at the whim or some Departmental official no one, rich or poor, would be safe in the possession of his property. The importance of the judgment can hardi'.y be exaggerated. "The Court of Appeal delivered coil; sidered judgments on one of the greatest le"al issues which His Majesty's Judges have had to try'since Hampden's time, savs "The Times." "Indeed, history has almost repeated itself, for the question before this Court bore some resemblance to that in the famous Ship Money case. There the Judges were asked to say whether the King, by writ under the Great Seal, might command his subjects at their charge to provide vessels for the defence of the kingdom. Here it was contended that by -the ancient common law of England the Sovereign might seize the properly of his subjects for the public safety and in defence of tne realm without 'payment of compensation "The matter came bewre the Courts on a- petition of right, by Be Keysers Royal • Hotel-one of the many hotels which have been requisitioned by the War Office and other Government Departments within the last few years. Tho suppliants sought indemnity for the occupation of their premises, and, after arguments which were heard intermittently since July, 1918, judgment, has now been given against the Crown by a majority. An Asylum of People's Liberties. "The case needed a protracted hearing No charge of dilatoriness cain. be brought against the Judges. ]t-vastes-sential in the public interest that they should take every step to ensure that tin>ir decision would be worthy, oy-re-search'- and- deliberation, 6i tho plana Vh'di it will occupy in the constitutional history of-this country. In our opmion nothing could be more iu accord with the spirit of the fundamental principles of the. Constitution than the Judgment ct the Master of the Bolls. The Court has proved to be what Clarendon called, an asvlum of the people's liberties, riiu jiiil"ment is a vindication ol tho btet Ua> litious of the English Bench in tunes n-h°i> there is » tendency to associate tlw Judicature too closely with the execulive It is because of such, a tendency that some of the dissenting views qi Lord Justice Duke will be unconvincing -to 11 m v persons and anathema to others. His support of tho contingent rounders o the prerogative are incompatible with the evolution of a .democratic "In older days it was, understood t at the prerogative of the Sovereign exlendto he seizure of land on he coasts hi Dnike bulwarks and ramparts against in i vadiii" foe; and in some ot the I::?t,u , ;;s d , , s.£ Si u*e 'l eppeliw and aeroplanes and necessary in the present, case.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19190709.2.79

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 244, 9 July 1919, Page 8

Word count
Tapeke kupu
844

A GREAT TRIAL Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 244, 9 July 1919, Page 8

A GREAT TRIAL Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 244, 9 July 1919, Page 8

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