Tag: Administration of justice

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Diversity central to public confidence in the court

Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue Improving diversity among judges is vital if, as a people’s court, the District Court is to remain relevant to the diverse communities it serves, explains Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue. The criminal justice system has been a topic of intense debate in 2018. The discussion, brain…

Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts transforming lives

Society tends to offer little sympathy to drug addicts and alcoholics who commit crime to feed their addiction. After all, many end up on an endless cycle of prison lags only to use drugs inside where they learn new ways of committing crime through hardened career criminals. But what if addiction…

Thoughts from the departing Secretary for Justice

Andrew Bridgman Andrew Bridgman has been Secretary for Justice and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice since 2011. He will leave this role on 31 January 2019 to move to the Ministry of Defence as Secretary of Defence and Chief Executive (from 1 July 2019). LawTalk talked to Mr Bridgman…

Joining the judiciary: The thoughts of three of our leading women judges

What skills, experience and qualities are needed to become a member of New Zealand’s judiciary? What’s it like being a judge? How do the women in our judiciary balance being mothers? At a recent event organised by the Auckland Women Lawyers Association, three women who are long-serving members of the…

Once were judges: Life in the law after ‘the Bench’

What does a judge do at the end of a long career in law? Increasingly, judges are not retiring and are taking on what many refer to as third careers, as barristers, arbitrators and mediators. But what motivates a judge to return to law, particularly after reaching what many would consider…

New Zealand's ranking improves in the latest WJP Rule of Law Index

New Zealand has improved a notch in the latest World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index for 2017-2018. New Zealand is currently ranked 7th of the 113 countries assessed in the report, with a score of 0.83. This is the same score as for 2016, but represents an improvement…

Interlocutory applications and appeal rights

The Supreme Court’s decision in Ceramalus v Chief Executive of Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment [2018] NZSC 26 is noteworthy for what it asks, rather than what it answers. The appellant had begun judicial review proceedings in the High Court. The proceedings were struck out by Woodhouse J, who found…

New Zealand juries get better judicial guidance, study shows

Changes to judges’ summing-up in New Zealand criminal trials have led to jurors getting more helpful guidance, enabling them to focus better on the facts at issue. This was the high-level conclusion of a comparative study, conducted over several years, and supported by the Law Foundation. The study analysed 45 New…

Testing resolve in testing times

The New Year is often a time for making and, shortly thereafter, breaking resolutions. Although resolutions may be easy to make and hard to keep, it requires more than glib good intentions to run a court as large and busy as the District Court. District Court judges are realists, and for…

Demolition by neglect? The saga of Hamilton's old court on the hill

What value does New Zealand’s legal profession place on its historic courthouses? Internationally, at least, developments in online courts and in the use of audio-visual and other technologies in courts have been challenging long-held ideas about the importance of physical justice spaces. Some of these technologies are already being trialled…

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