N.G. Magistrates

Plea For Appointment Of Non-official Justices

By Gordon Thomas

THE report from Canberra that resi dents of Norfolk Island are to be appointed Justices of the Peace revives the question of the appointment of New Guinea residents as Justices.

On more than one occasion this matter has been brought up in the N.G. Legis lative Council and, though the suggestion has been tabbed “for consideration" by the Administration, no definite action has been taken. Most likely nothing will be done unless the matter arouses the in terest of Canberra and there is some practical and outstanding illustration of the need for a change in the present method.

Although the classification of the Pub lic Service allows for a Stipendiary Magistrate at a salary ranging from

£804 to £900 per annum, this office has been vacant since the death of Colonel Shillington in 1931. The duties since then have been carried on by officials of the District Service staff, who naturally were Government officials and, not un naturally, imbued with the Government outlook.

It is not my intention to infer that there has been any “miscarriage of jus tice” in the Lower Courts in Rabaul, but what I do wish to point out is the pos sible tendency for Administration officials, serving under Administration discipline and schooled in the Administration policy which, as a result of the terms of mandate from the League of Nations, is a partiality towards natives, being biassed in their findings when cases arise between the colours. There is the pos sibility that a finding on facts may be substituted for a verdict in favour of the “ignorant native” who is struggling to find his level in the social scheme of things.

Were a Magistrate appointed by the Governor-General in Australia and not numbered amongst the personnel of the Territory’s Public Service, it is reason able to expect that he would feel more free and unhampered in his duties on the Bench than if he were an Adminis tration official, whose verdicts, in the interests of justice, at times must be unsympathetic towards the general Ad ministration policy with possible em barrassing results.

A Stipendiary Magistrate should be appointed for Rabaul and Justices of the Peace should also be appointed both for Rabaul and outlying districts. Such action would undoubtedly be welcomed by magistrates themselves, as well as satis fying a large section of the general public.

It would be difficult to select a more suitable man for the position of “Stipe” than a certain District Officer who has almost completed 20 years in the service, and whose experience and knowledge of this Territory is unique. In the ordinary course of events he will, presumably, retire and occupy his time growing bal sams in a city suburb down South; thereby the Territory will lose the ser vices of an expert on native “fashion” and evidence, as his work on the Bench, on out-stations and in Rabaul has al ready proved.