Opinion of the Justices

To the Honorable Senate:

The undersigned, the justices of the supreme court, answer your inquiry relative to Senate Bill No. 37 as follows:

The commission proposed by the bill is intended to be an executive tribunal, and not a court within the judiciary department of the state government. The bill proposes to confer upon the commission power to adjudicate certain disputes of a legal character between individuals. A question arises whether such power may be thus vested constitutionally.

Article 37 of the bill of rights in the state constitution declares that the powers of the three branches of…