Proposed changes to how judges are appointed

26 Feb 2012 09:19a.m.

Siena wrote:

Kiaora. 'Judges cannot be equated with law reformers.They cannot and do not engage in systematic reform of a body of law, as the Law Commission is established to do. At most, a judge in a particular deserving case may think it appropriate to give a little piece of the law a nudge in a different direction – sometimes as much as a vigorous shove.But judges have to be cautious about doing this because they usually do not have in the evidence and arguments before them the background information which a Law Commission is able to gather together on which to base a recommendation for change.That highlights also the other reason for caution. A Law Commission does not actually change the law.It makes only a recommendation for change which comes only after further consideration by Parliament.And by that means it can be done comprehensively and with time for second thoughts. In contrast, any change by a judge is (subject to appeal) immediate. And the change may have side effects which the courts cannot control. The role of a judge, particularly one who sits alone in a first instance court, can be very demanding. The law, like life in general, has grown ever more complex, witnesses can often be partial and unreliable and a large number of your customers are going to be dissatisfied. But there is considerable satisfaction to be gained from doing your best to solve the problems others bring before you...Not his full speech of course...Not enough characters, I'm afraid. Ref:JUDGING & LAW REFORM - Rt. Hon Sir Peter Blanchard Supreme Court of New Zealand. This speech was given at the Auckland Live! Inspiring Minds at the University of Auckland event on 5 March 2011 as part of the University of Auckland 2011 Distinguished Alumni Awards, at which Sir Peter was recognised as a 2011 Distinguished Alumnus.

25 Feb 2012 10:10p.m.

cyril wrote:

The best person for the job should be picked regardless of gender. If they happen to be all male ,well to bad. You dont want to put someone in the job who isnt the best just to appear fair to all parties.

24 Feb 2012 02:08p.m.

Chargone wrote:

not that the 'boys club' is always 100% male, mind you. (tends to be, mostly due to the fact that it started out that way and so the social links that drive it play out that way most of the time, but still.) greater Actual transparancy in such processes (IE: the public have easy access to what's going on. not the so called 'transparency' where... the only people who get told anything are the ones who got told before this promise of transparency and even MORE effort is put into hiding things, which is what's happening in the USA.) that said, i'm always Slightly suspicious of things where supposedly the biggest issue is that women don't end up in the top jobs in whatever industry and blah blah blah. now, it Might be that there's an actual thing there preventing them from doing so, and if so it needs fixing, but as a general rule it's straight down to either subconscious bias on the part of those who decide who's best for the job, which you're not going to change with laws and regulations, or it's because there either isn't any interest from women or those who Are interested don't have the skills. i suspect the issue is a tendancy to prefer to hire from within 'the club' so to speak, and ANYONE who doesn't start out in those (mostly male) social circles has trouble achieving those (fairly limited in number if you think about it) posts. (i mean, should we have started freaking out when our Monarch, GG, PM, and... whatever the title for the top judge is... were all women because, Gasp, no men were in top jobs in government? shock horror! gotta be careful a reasonable desire for fairness does not become a witch-hunt.)

24 Feb 2012 12:11p.m.

aiden wrote:

or have you not noticed Jan in your stupidity that Judith has only just recently got this ministry. why would judith look at the police? she is not the minister of police, and if you knew what you were talking about, which you don't. Judith did quite a bit to see woman in high profile police jobs. Suggest you educate yourself next time Jan, Ann Tolley is the minister of police, and she is also the minister of corrections. Wow, how much of a failure are you if you cannot even keep current Jan?

24 Feb 2012 10:52a.m.

jan wrote:

Wow has Judith Collins only just noticed the "boys Club". This type of employment goes on every where also in parliament. Just look at the CEO's of some places, they seem to go from top job to top job. Some ex members of parliament will get a top job and circulate until they get a golden handshake and then hopefully retire. She had better look at the police and corrections for whom she is their minister, the boys club also relates to covering up for others/ turning a blind eye to indiscrections. cops/lawyers/judges know each other off the record so to speak. This country is surposed to be the least corupt. The word least is important because it also indicates there is corruption.