From the President Paul Radich QC*
Kia ora koutou. One of our most challenging years is drawing rapidly to a close. In a range of different ways, we have all grappled with some of the most difficult practical, legal and social issues we could imagine – managing our lives, our families and our work under considerable restrictions, managing clients and hearings through remote technology, dealing with delayed, and then abridged, hearing timetables and navigating – both personally and for clients – some of the most challenging constitutional issues our society has faced at any time in its history. We all deserve a good nurturing and reflective break.
candidate was appointed to fill the vacancy. I am very pleased to welcome back Iswari Jayanandan, a member of our 2020-2021Council, and one who has made an immense contribution to the Bar Association’s work.
Ceremonies Sincel my last column, we have seen a number of swearings in of High Court and District Court Judges. I have tried to attend as many of them as possible, but the workload from dealing with Covid issues means I have not been able to get to all of them. I reiterate my warm congratulations to all of the recently appointed judges.
In the meantime, here is a recap on recent events and a summary of the Bar Association’s work, as delivered through its Council, Secretariat, and committees.
Changes to the Council On 1 October we welcomed the new Council. You can find biographies of the Council members in our September issue of At the Bar.1 Alongside our new Council members, I am delighted to welcome Maria Dew QC, our President Elect. Maria’s term as President begins on 1 October 2022. But one of the advantages in having the overlap between current and incoming President is that it helps to spread the substantial workload. Maria has (as one would expect) hit the ground running and has already made significant contributions to the Council’s work. As many of you are aware, under our Rules of Association, we can co-opt up to five members to the Council if it is considered to be in the interests of the Association. We have a considerable workload at the moment, and so Council determined that we would make four immediate co-options. We hope to advise in the New Year a fifth co-option to help us with a particular project. I would like to warmly welcome new Council member, Gowan Duff, and returning council members Sam Jeffs, Stephen Layburn, and Maggie Winterstein. Finally, as many are aware, we had a vacancy on Council for a candidate from Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland. Our rules allowed us to either appoint someone to that vacancy, or we could run another election. Given that we had held an election just a month earlier, with a call for nominations at that time, the Bar Council considered that it should respect the outcome of that election and the next highest polling
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Swearing in ceremonies are a wonderful reminder of the journey that each judge takes before their appointment. It is often surprising, when attending the ceremonies, how little we know of our former colleagues. It is more than a little humbling to listen to stories of the careers of our new judges, and of the contributions they have made; both to the law and to their communities. One of the innovations in recent ceremonies, particularly in the District Court, has been the inclusion of mihi whakatau. Less formal than a pōwhiri, the District Court mihi whakatau involves the new judge and his or her family being called into the court room, through a karanga, and then whaikōrero, following which the judge is ushered across the courtroom to be received by members of the judiciary. The ceremonies are always impressive and remind us of the duality of our constitution. Recent innovations in ceremonies for new High Court judges have seen a bespoke approach to each,
DECEMBER 2021
