POLITICS AND THE LAW

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21208, 3 September 1940, Page 4

POLITICS AND THE LAW

The decision of Mr Justice Evatt to contest a seat in the Australian Federal Parliament has raised a question of importance between politics and the law. The Prime Minister, Mr R. G. Menzies, has protested strongly, declaring that “the judiciary should be kept completely detached from party politics.” Had the candidate been contesting the seat as Mr Justice Evatt the protest would have been well founded and would have received the support of the great majority r>f Australians, but the judge has resigned from the Supreme Court bench and is entering politics as a private citizen. Therefore the protest, loses its sting.

Australia and New Zealand are proud of the fact that politics and the judiciary are so thoroughly separated. Indeed the public would think it disastrous if the two became confused. British justice demands that free men shall have recourse to justice irrespective of political power or favour. It* has long been so in British countries, and it would be a sad day if the principle were ever varied. When a judge severs his connection with the judiciary, however, it would be unreasonable to preclude him from participation in politics. In his reply to Mr Menzies, Mr Justice Evatts said : “My decision, which caused me anxious consideration, was influenced by the almost universal appeal that every Australian who is able should assist to the utmost in obtaining victory in war and security in peace.” With that statement there can be little quarrel.

There is another aspect of the matter, however, which Mr Menzies probably had in mind when he made the protest. Should Mr Justice Evatt fail to win a seat in Parliament, the question of his reappointment to the judiciary might come under consideration. In that case there might be sound reason for declining the appointment of a man fresh from a political struggle. Even there the men who have earned elevation to the judiciary can generally be depended upon to exclude all political considerations from their minds when administering the law. Still, the law as an institution is very precise on all such matters of principle, and it is fortunate for the high reputation of British justice that it is so.