Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 85

Supreme Court Library. William Crick, Librarian

Supreme Court Library. William Crick, Librarian.

This library, which was commenced when the Supreme Court was first established in Auckland, now contains about 6,000 volumes of strictly legal works. It is open daily, Sundays and public holidays excepted, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., on Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Supreme Court, occupies a fine site, nearly opposite Government House, and is a handsome building of red brick and stone; two small rooms in it are set apart for the library, these are already over crowded, and additional space for the due expansion of the library is much wanted. The library contains a good collection of English and Colonial law reports and text books. The English reports and new editions of text books, are sent out bound as soon as issued, from Messrs. Stevens and Haines, and so the authorities are kept up to date. All the works relating to New Zealand law arc to be found here, including the scarce work of James Macassey, published at Dunedin in 1873, of cases decided in the Province of Otago, between the years 1861-72; and the New Zealand Jurist, edited by Mr. G. D. Branson. It is only quite recently, in 1883, I think, that the New Zealand Law Reports, in the same form as the series of the English Law Reports, were started, under the auspices of the Council of Law Reporting for New Zealand, and edited by Mr. William Fitzgerald. page 11 This Council, which deserves to be mentioned for having introduced an uniform system of reporting of cases decided in the various courts of the colony, consists of ten members, viz., the Attorney and Solicitor-General, ex-officio; and two members from each of the cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christ Church, and Dunedin. A printed catalogue of this library was issued in 1874, sm. 8vo., pp. 106, but it is out of date, and the Librarian has accordingly prepared in manuscript a new one in two parts, the first of authors, the second of subjects; and it is ready for printing whenever the Council permits. Mr. Crick has also prepared some elaborate collections of reports in the leading provincial newspapers, of civil cases tried in the superior courts. These are of some value to the library, as there was apparently a period when the reports of cases were to be found in newspapers alone, which is but one more proof of the value of the early Colonial newspapers. The library is accessible to the members of both branches of the profession, and is supported out of the fees received for the examination of students, &c.

It may not be amiss to note here, that the two branches of the legal profession were amalgamated in New Zealand in the year 1869, by the Act 32-33 Victoria, No. 63, which created the New Zealand Law Society, an incorporated body with a common seal, and a council of not more than fifteen, nor less than nine members; all lawyers in New Zealand now, whether barristers or solicitors, are members of this society, and as such are qualified to carry on their profession. Since 1879, management of the library, has been in the hands of the Council of the Law Society of Auckland. This Society came into existence after the passing, in 1878, of the District Law Societies Act, 42 Victoria, No. 36, which was an Amending Act of the New Zealand Law Societies Act of 1869, already alluded to. By section 14 of the Act of 1878, it was provided that all fees payable under the Law Practitioners Act of 1861, and any Acts amending the same, should form one fund, and page 12 should be under the management of the Council of such District Law Societies as were created by the said Act of 1878, to be by them disposed of in the purchase and maintenance of law libraries, in such towns in New Zealand as the Council should direct, both for the use of the Supreme Court and any other court in that district, which the Council should approve of. It only remains to be said with regard to this library, that with additional space, and with a printed catalogue, it would be more accessible to students than it is at present, and as there is no lack of law students in Auckland, it is very desirable that both these requirements should be seen to.