IN CAMERA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 302, 14 May 1913, Page 4

IN CAMERA.

One of the principles of English law and English justice is that a man shall be tried either by a jury of his peers or by a judge of admitted standing, and in this connection a recent decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is of unusual interest to New Zealand. The Lower Court had'ruled that the principal in a nullity suit in divorce had been guilty in an action which had been heard in camera. The Judicial Committee reversed the ruling, Lord Haldane remarking that every court of justice sit with open doors. This decision is obviously a very proper one. The Newspaper Press of New Zealand has earned a world-wide reputation for } its discretion, and there can be no fear of its publishing the unsavoury details of a case which a Judge may elect to hear ''in camera." But it has a right to give the plain facts to the public, shorn of unnecessary redundancies, and to act in such cases as amicus curiae in • tlie interests of the public. The proceedings of our law courts ought to be as far above suspicion as that somewhat vague person "Caesar's wife" is alleged to have been. This can only be secured by giving the Press of the country every opportunity and freedom, within bounds of decency which are already legislatively prescribed, to attend the proceedings of the Courts. It will be time enough to take these cases in camera when the Press displays any inclination to exploit them for purposes of pure sensation, and we have a conviction that that day is still a long way off. We do not want American methods introduced, either into our journalism or into our legal procedure. The strict probity of the Press is one of the safeguards of our national life, and we are glad to think that, so far as New Zealand is concerned, this trust from the people has never been betrayed.