APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATOR

Hokitika Guardian, 3 February 1930, Page 2

APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATOR

THE CHIEF JUSTICE. WELLINGTON, January 30. Some weeks will elapse between the departure from New Zealand of the present Governor-General,; his Excellency Sir Charles Fergusson, and the arrival of his successor, Lord Bledisloe. In tlie interregnum the Chief Justice (the Hon Sir Michael At,vers, K.C.) will, in accordance with the Dormant Commission, act as Administrator of New Zealand exercising all the powers and functions of Governor-General. Following the departure of Sir Charles Fergusson on February 8 next, Sir Michael Myers will he sworn in as Administrator by a senior judge of the Supreme Court, whose name has yet to be announced, and will continue to hold office until the arrival of the new Governor-Gen-eral.

Among other duties Sir Michael will preside at a meeting of the Executive Council.

The Dormant Commission, passed under the Royal sign manual, was issued at the Court of St. James on July 23, 1917, and remains in force. It appoints the Chief Justice or senior judge for the time being of New Zealand as Administrator of New Zealand in the event of the death, incapacity, removal, departure or absence of the Gover-nor-General. The las,t occasion on which a Chief Justice acted as Administrator was in 1924, when the Hon. Sir Robert Stout was appointed to act during the period between the departure of Viscount Jellicoe and the arrival of Sir Charles Fergusson. There are no instances on record when during an interregnum, a Chief Justice has been absent from Now Zealand and a senior judge has been called upon to act as Administrator,