Public urged to have their say on way judges appointed

Attorney-General Margaret Wilson today released a public consultation paper encouraging New Zealanders to have their say on the way judges are appointed in this country.

“The Ministry of Justice paper explores the idea of setting up a Judicial Appointment Commission for New Zealand,” she says. “Such commissions operate in a number of countries including the United States, Canada and South Africa. And the British Government has recently introduced legislation proposing similar commissions be established in the United Kingdom.”

Currently all judges in this country are appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Attorney-General who in turns takes advice from the Solicitor-General and the Chief Justice and/or the Chief Judge of court to which the appointment is made.

Margaret Wilson says the country has been well served by its judges, both current and past, and over many decades Attorneys-General and other Ministers have undertaken their roles in recommending judicial appointments with due diligence and integrity.

“However, from time to time, commentators have asked whether the appointment process could be improved, possibly by establishing a judicial appointments commission to identify and recommend suitable candidates for judicial office. Last year a number of submissions on the legislation establishing our Supreme Court supported the call for a judicial appointments commission.”

Providing an opportunity for wider discussion on the issue is all part of maintaining public confidence in the judiciary and ensuring its ongoing independence, Margaret Wilson says. Copies of the consultation paper, Appointing Judges: A Judicial Appointment Commission For New Zealand?, are available at www.justice.govt.nz or by contacting the Ministry of Justice on (04) 918 8800. The closing date for submissions is 30 July.

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>