Council and Committees Report Having active committees is important at the best of times but during a pandemic, it became critical. The NZBA had to call on committee members for help in a number of areas and we are very grateful for all of those who immediately stepped up.
pandemic. What we did know was that we had to act very quickly in several areas to ensure that it could withstand the impact of the unfolding events. The Management Committee had the responsibility of reviewing proposed plans and the budget and reporting on these to Council. It was charged with One advantage we had was that the NZBA keeping a tight control on expenditure proposals. has been working towards virtual meetings for some years now. All our training and technology Criminal Committee committee meetings have been virtual since This committee had to deal with a range of about 2015, and most of our other committees issues relating to courts, prisons, transportation have started meeting in this way over the last to court, legal aid etc. They were asked for three years. This made the transition during feedback practically every day at the beginning lockdown relatively seamless. and although this has tailed off, they are still being called on at least once or twice a week. In many respects, the greatest advantage with an online meeting is that it allows participation by Jonathan Eaton QC has been representing NZBA members from throughout New Zealand. the NZBA at the Criminal Processes Working Although you lose the face-to-face contact, Group. This group is considering how we can you can still build collegial environments online. streamline the criminal processes in the District Connecting with people you might not ordinarily Court. It is an ambitious project. You will hear work with outweighs many of the disadvantages. more about this project through our member updates soon, but we thank Jonathan and the Another advantage is that we can reduce the entire Criminal Committee for their prompt and environmental impact of travel. The NZBA has considered feedback. been conscious of reducing its footprint in this area and others. We started the move to a Technology Committee paperless environment some years ago and At the start of the outbreak this was certainly the have been working remotely and in the cloud for committee that was called into action very quickly. a considerable time. So, in many ways, we were It liaised with the courts on proposed technology able to respond quickly to the crisis. (sometimes with a somewhat different viewpoint to that of the MOJ!) and reported back to Council What follows is a very brief summary of the work and members. Some of the ideas that came out undertaken by our committees and Council. of the early days will be carried forward into other projects. As you are aware, the committee also Council participated in a Virtual Happy Hour webinar on In any given year, Council meets four times. This using Microsoft teams. The committee is now year, Council has met five times in the first half considering how we can increase our support for of the year. Our meetings schedule went out the our members as we move towards using more window in late March. This has required a huge technology than ever before in our practices. time commitment in Zoom meetings from Council Members. Council's immediate concern was what Commercial Committee the NZBA could do to support members. This We have several new members on our was closely followed by regular reports on the commercial committee, and we thank them for state of the Association's accounts and how we their willingness to participate. Members of the could ensure its continued work. Council is now committee are Michael Webb (C), Debra Angus, considering what changes are needed in future Stephen Layburn, Jane Meares, Rhonda Powell. to respond to the different professional landscape This membership shows the diverse work of the resulting from Covid 19. commercial committee. You will find an article from Stephen Layburn on p14 of this issue, Management Committee which is well worth the read. The committee The Management Committee is responsible for the met during the lockdown and has developed a day-to-day running of the NZBA. Nobody knew plan for developing the role of barristers within how the Association would be affected by the government work. Details will follow shortly.
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