“UNWISE DISCRIMINATION."

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2205, 20 November 1920, Page 3

“UNWISE DISCRIMINATION."

“il is (lit 1 practice of llu 1 Supremo Court, when prisoners are brought, before a. jury for trial, and while flu; issue is still ni (louhl. to refuse ha.il to the purlins accused. It may -lie assumed I hut the reason for : Inis to minimise the risk of inlerierenee with, or cnereion of, Individual Jtti”, men. (Ibvionsly a ride <d iliH kind should not he lightly broken, heciittse discrimination in --mdi mailers can only have one effect, viz., to ereule mistrust in the mind of the eomnnuiily. nnd that, where our Courts of Justice are concerned, is above all things to he avoided. These remark’s are made became our attention Inis been called to me iact that a great deal of public comment has arisen out of a local incident of this tut lure. In one camof manslaughter in which a laxidriver was involved, application wa-made-Cor hail, which was nol only peremplorily refused, but eotnn el was asked not io make a similar application again. Therefore when another case of mmislmtghler was iienrd, this time against a nmtorgarage proprietor, bail was not ask-

ed for. Tlien another ea.-e intervened in which eounsei for a man charged with perjury made in Inown word- an “'unusual application,” namely that lie should he allowed to accompany his client lo Ins home, and be responsible for returning ■him to Court next .morning. T ids application wa- readily, and. even graciously conceded. ’With this prei edent in view, eounsei for the mot-or-garage proprietor, on his second trial, was emboldened to ask thal his client'might be admitted to bail. The judge eurlly refused, and (old him that be knew lie bad no right to make any such appliealion. Hooking at the whole of the circumstances we must say candidly that his Honour in the exercise of his discretion seems to have made a mistake. II is obviously unwise lo di.-erimi-nale (.me hair's breadth in eases of this kind, unless it is delinileiy disclosed that life a#d death issues arc involved, and only then under conditions which ensure that one prisoner on trial shall have no advantage over the other in regard to the onus of providing ample security.” —Manawatu Times.