To Be Fair
Confessions of a District Court Judge Marie Taylor-Cyphers and Maria Pecotic* A well written and aptly named book. Rosemary Riddell writes about her journey to the bench. In her preface, Rosemary says “I wanted to tell the stories of those in both the Family Court and the criminal jurisdiction where I worked. I wanted to draw attention to their struggles and triumphs” and she does exactly this. She started out as a mature student at university and describes her progress through the ranks to her position as a District Court Judge. Rosemary discusses the real tribulations of ordinary New Zealanders in her capacity as a District Court Judge presiding over mental health, criminal and family Court hearings with humour and insight. The book offers a refreshingly human aspect to the subject matter of life on the bench – the tales of life at home, her husband the pastor, and her beautiful children. Rosemary matter-of-factly details hardship and deep personal suffering within her experiences in an almost paternal reminder of just how frail life can be. Rosemary narrates the book at a good pace with an understated and humorous style. She says, “It may be apparent that I often use humour as a weapon with which to bash others over the head, metaphorically of course. Sometimes I wish I was an octopus so I could slap eight people at once.” The book is written in a style and manner that retains the interest of the reader and allows them to pick and choose which chapter to dive into. Rosemary shares small parts of her personal life in a way which makes her immediately relatable. Some of the things that she chooses to share, such as her relationship with her husband, who she calls her greatest cheerleader, and her children, throw a light on the human side of the person who sits at the front of the Court room. The book is not autobiographical, in the sense that it starts at the beginning and traverses her life to the end. Rather it is a compilation of memorable moments and observations from the perspective of a woman with life experience. Her tone is grounded and not pompous.
SEPTEMBER 2021
The constraints imposed upon the bench are presented in a novel light to the reader, or as Rosemary describes it, “the eye is on you”. However, Rosemary makes no apologies for the language used, which are quotes from real people who appeared in her Court. This will appeal to practitioners who have themselves witnessed or experienced the colourful language that can be heard in Court. The snippets of narration from her judicial mind are entertaining. She refers to “the rather pompous lawyer” who bravely prefaced his submission with, “Has your Honour ever considered...”, and the cutting commentary running silently through her head in retort. Rosemary also talks about her time working in the media and successfully directing a short film and a feature film. She downplays the enormity of the task she undertook and relates the story briefly but with a lot of humour. Each chapter broadly comprises a single anecdote. This makes it an easy read to pick up and enjoy in brief moments of downtime, although the brevity of each chapter entices you to just read one more, before setting it down. Each player in her courtroom is brought to life and given the dignity of their own story. In that way, the stories are educative. Rosemary describes the person in the dock in a way that, for the most part, the general public never have cause to consider. The book is a collection of insightful observations of the courtroom players, through a witty and selfdeprecating lens. It is a book that friends and whānau who have escaped life in the law should read. Many of the stories have a redemptive quality to them, making the book an uplifting read. This is impressive, given the subject matter the Courts regularly deal with. Take the story of Aroha: a family violence complainant turned social worker, whose success is packed into a page peppered with academic research and media references. It is informative and heart-warming. In sharing what she knows, Rosemary Riddell offers great advice. There are some wonderful one-liners and very funny anecdotes. Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended. A good book to read over a weekend. *The NZBA thanks Marie Taylor-Cyphers and Maria Pecotic for their entertaining joint review of this book. Given that we invite reviewers to keep the book, we are unsure if it will be kept on a time share basis or if the toss of a coin will determine ownership.
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