Legal principles applicable to the New Zealand rules of racing

Abstract

Horse-racing in New Zealand is not solely a sport. It is also an industry from which many, many people earn their income. It is an industry controlled by a governing body which is known as the New Zealand Racing Conference. It was recognised at a very early date in the history of New Zealand that there was a necessity for each individual Racing Club to combine with other such Clubs in order to make the supervision of horse-racing in this country conform to a uniform procedure. Consequently, the New Zealand Racing Conference had its birth - an organisation which appears to have no similar counterpart in any other industry. It purports to have complete authority over all forms of horse galloping in this country. The New Zealand Racing Conference is to-day a body which is unique among racing authorities in other parts of the world in that it is a fully representative federation of all racing clubs throughout the country. The legal control exercised by the New Zealand Racing Conference through its judicial committees, and in particular how the decisions and decrees of this organisation's judicial committees can be controlled, and, if necessary, corrected by the local municipal Courts, is a problem which has become increasingly important.