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Judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on Proceedings to Review Aspects of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Erebus Aircraft Disaster - C.A. 95/81 by Duncan Ivor L. M. Richardson R. B. Cooke Sir Owen Woodhouse;Wallace McMullin;Sir Edward Somers
page 110 of 115 (95%)
In the Courts it is constantly necessary to indicate a preference for
the evidence of one witness or to make a decision to put evidence
completely to one side; sometimes it even seems necessary to describe
evidence in terms of perjury. But in the Courts Judges always attempt to
be most circumspect in handling issues of this kind, particularly if
misconduct seems apparent which is not immediately associated with the
central issues in the case. There can be no less reason for
circumspection in the case of a Royal Commission at least where the
terms of reference do not directly give rise to inquiries into criminal
dealing. In _Re The Royal Commission on Licensing_ (1945) N.Z.L.R. 665
Sir Michael Myers C.J. dealt with the point in the following way (at p.
680):

"A Commission of Inquiry under the statute and a Royal Commission
under the Letters Patent are alike in this respect--each of them is
an inquiry, not an inquisition. By that I mean that the Commission
is not a roving Commission of a general character authorizing
investigation into any matter that the members of the Commission
may think fit to inquire into and that the ambit of the inquiry is
limited by the terms of the instrument of appointment of the
Commission."

It must always be sensible for any Commission of Inquiry or other
tribunal to keep those words in mind.

We are satisfied that the findings contained in each of paragraphs 348
and 377 are collateral assessments of conduct made outside of and were
not needed to answer any part of the terms of reference. The
Commissioner had no authority or jurisdiction to deal with the affected
officers in such a fashion and the findings themselves are a regrettable
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