Attorney-General attacking Judges, not defending them
March 30th, 2005 at 6:21 am by David FarrarLabour’s lack of lawyers who have not lied or been forced to give up their practising certificate led to Dr Cullen going from history lecturer to Attorney-General.
He said just last Saturday “traditionally, the role of the Attorney-General was to defend the independence of judges “and I certainly have every intention of doing so” and “Parliamentarians have to be extremely careful about criticism of judges.”
Yet what did he do yesterday. He accuses the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court of leaking documents to the news media. Now attacking a Chief Judge in Parliament, even if he had done that, is a very bad look for the Attorney-General. But even worse he got it wrong.
As the Herald reports, Judge Williams had not spoken to Jonathan Milne, and had not authorised its release because anyone who had requested it could have had it.
Milne confirmed he had openly sought it and received it from the registrar. He also sought Crown Law’s submission and received it. Will Cullen also attack the Solictor-General for leaking information to the press?
This is a huge blunder by Cullen. The Judiciary will have a total lack of confidence in an Attorney-General who smears a Chief Judge in Parliament for political gain, and even worse gets it wrong.
No tag for this post.
March 30th, 2005 at 8:13 am
Our unwritten constitution is a subtle collection of checks and balances, including the role of the Attorney General. But the government has sent a signal to anyone including Judges they if they stray into what the Government defines as a political zone then they will get a political response. Judges getting directly involved with the media is the tricky area. I have some sympathy with the AG if Judges stray away from issuing decisions in court to playing on the media field. When they do that they can expect to be dealt with by the AG in that forum.
Vote:March 30th, 2005 at 8:38 am
This seems to continue a theme from labour of attacking public sector staff when issues are raised in the media, thus taking the heat off the ministers. Everyone wants to get ahead in their careers and labour is sending a message that you better watch your back and keep your mouth shut or else, not really a wholesome work environment. If I was a paranoid individual I would think it was part of a plan to put labour cronies at all levels of the public service (if they aren’t already). For examples look no further than the police and NZQA.
Vote:March 30th, 2005 at 8:52 am
But Tim, he was wrong. Indefensibly wrong.
Vote:March 30th, 2005 at 8:58 am
This incident reflects badly on everyone involved. A judge should not be fuelling media coverage and an Attorney-General should not attack a judge in Parliament. If the judge wants to be an advocate, he should go back into private practice. If the Cabinet wants to censure/remove the judge, there are formal processes to do so. Briefing the media about being furious and making sarcastic comments in Parliament are not the way to do it.
Vote:March 30th, 2005 at 2:58 pm
erm, but rightkiwi the judge didn’t supply the info to Milne.
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