231

A.—4.

12 June, 191 L] Imperial Appeal Court. [Ith Day. The PRESIDENT : He is not regularly here ; he only comes occasionally, and as a rule when there are South African cases. Sir JOSEPH WARD : But he sat during five years in connection with South African cases. The PRESIDENT : In those cases, but he does not sit regularly. I understood your proposal to be, although it is rather anticipating what you have to say on your own motion, that the judge from the Dominion should be a peimanent member of the tribunal and always here. Sir JOSEPH WARD : Yes, for a term of, say, five years, and then return to the New Zealand bench and another judge come for another term, and so on. The PRESIDENT : That is not the case in South Africa. Mr. MALAN: I would like to say this: The difference between New Zealand and South Africa is not great, because under the Act of 1895 at any moment when New Zealand wants to have a representative on the Privy Council they can ask for it; and, as the Lord Chancellor has said, there will be no difficulty in acceding to that request. So that New Zealand, under the Act of 1895, is really in the same position as South Africa practically. Sir JOSEPH WARD : That is not quite the case. As a matter of fact the number is limited to five under the Act, and there is that number now, so that New Zealand has not a chance of doing what you, in good faith I know, suggest. Mr. MALAN : Under the Act of 1895. Sir JOSEPH WARD : Under that Act they are limited to five. " Under these provisions there are five Colonial judges who are members of the Judicial Committee —namely, Lord de Villiers (South Africa), Sir Samuel Way (South Australia), Sir Samuel Griffith (High Court of Australia), Sir H. Taschereau (Canada), and Sir E. Barton (Hight Court of Australia)." There is no vacancy at all. The PRESIDENT : Sir Henri Taschereau is dead. I am not sure whether Lord de Villiers any longer comes under this. He is now a peer of Parliament, and entitled to sit in the House of Lords, so my own impression is there are two vacancies. Sir JOSEPH WARD : Sir Henri Taschereau is put down as being on it in the memorandum sent to us dated February, 1911. Mr. BRODEUR : Sir Henri Taschereau died a few weeks ago. The LORD CHANCELLOR : Somebody has succeeded him. There can be no difficulty about meeting the wishes of New Zealand in regard to having a New Zealand judge in this position. The PRESIDENT : No difficulty whatever. The LORD CHANCELLOR : We could meet your wish about that at once. Mr. MALAN : I was about to say that there is a feeling that the Judicial Committee is really no court of law at all. Its procedure differs from that of an ordinary law court, not only in the way in which judgment is delivered, but also in the number of judgments. There is only the one judgment. Counsel have to withdraw, and then judgment is published afterwards.

30—A. 4.