Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 2nd, 1910. INDEPENDENCE OF MAGISTRATES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10133, 2 November 1910, Page 4

Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 2nd, 1910. INDEPENDENCE OF MAGISTRATES.

The question of the independence of the Stipendiary Magistracy of New Zealand lias again been raised. It is claimed, with some show of reason, that Stipendiary Magistrates, who dispense justice to a larger section of the community than do the Judges of the Supreme Court, should not be at the mercy of the Ministry of the day. They should, in fact, feel themselves entirely free from the

dominating influence of politics. At the same time, it can hardly be said that a Stipendiary Magistrate occupies a judicial position which can be compared with that of a- Supreme Court Judge. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial tribunal in the land, and against its decision there can bo no local appeal. Nor can it be said that the selection of Stipendiary Magistrates has been such as to increase the dignity of the Bench or to inspire respect for the intermediary Court of Justice. Indeed, some of the appointments during recent years, both to the Magisterial Bench and the .Commission of the Peace, have been aproaching the scandalous. Men with absolutely no claim to preferment on account of legal ability or the possession of a judicial mind, and without even the saving recommendation of long and faithful public service, have been entrusted with the responsibility of administering justice with equity. While appointments of this character are made, the public can hardly be expected to repose confidence in the minor Courts of Justice, or to favour the independence of the Mag-' isterial "Bench. The reform which

is most urgently required at , the present moment is in the method of appointing Stipendiary Magistrates. It should not be in the power of any Ministry to make appointments as rewards for political services rendered. The exercise of such a power is at once subversive of dignity and opposed to the higher principles which should govern the administration of British justice. « When the Government of the day adopts a rational and proper method of making Ministerial appointments, it will be time to discuss the placing of Stipendiary Magistrates in a position of absolute independence.