29.
so great as to
there would be
There are undoubted advantages in the single court concept;
in a major reform it would certainly be a feasible and attractive
option. The question now is whether the advantages are
justify the effort and cost of implementation. First,
wide consultation and discussion after which a policy and a plan of
action would have to be settled. I doubt that the
judges would be great except perhaps for some geographically but there
would be a considerable upheaval for some of the staff and difficult
problems of accommodation. The task of writing new rules might be
The legal profession would have to consider its lines of
onerous.
demarcation.
disturbance of
30.
My advice is that in the immediate future the Judiciary will
be sufficiently occupied with more urgent changes and that it should
proceed more gradually to reforming court structure. The next steps
should be: first, to increase the District Court's monetary level;
secondly, to establish a policy of convergence for the rules of the
High Court and the District Court in which at least no divergent
innovations are introduced and if possible active realignment begins;
thirdly, to prepare for a full examination of the single court concept.
I so recommend.
31.
In a full discussion of that concept the possible
consequences for small claims might also be considered. My suggestion
below that the present policy of informal adjudication should be
maintained would not preclude further examination of the system. For
instance, the office work might be done in the civil court office by a
small section of properly instructed staff. This would preserve informality of adjudication and opportunities for conciliation wholly within the influence of the Judiciary and its guardianship of the
principles of natural justice and of judicial policy. This latter suggestion might work with the existing District Court and I propose that it be considered in that light also.
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