From the President – Paul Radich QC

Kia ora koutou,

Together with the leaves on our trees, our traffic light has changed to orange. And so the freedoms we cherish are returning. We are venturing once more beyond our suburbs, into our towns and cities, across our country, and across the world.

We are appearing in courts in person more regularly. Junior and intermediate barristers who have for the last year or two been deferring their overseas work experience are making plans to go. Others are making plans to return. The market and the ways in which we practice have changed markedly. We are perhaps more broadminded now, more versatile in the ways in which we practice. In some ways, the restraints on our freedoms have, as they are unwound, left us freer in the ways in which we think about, and go about, our work.

Before reflecting on the ways in which our increased freedoms are assisting with our activities at the New Zealand Bar Association|Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture, it is worth pausing to look beyond our borders, in order to put our own experiences here into perspective.

It goes without saying that the conditions faced by Ukrainians are the most distressing one could imagine. We join with the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute’s support for the recent decision of the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an independent international commission of inquiry, mandated to investigate all alleged violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law in Ukraine; to collect and analyse evidence of violations and abuses for the purpose of future legal proceedings.

Other UN Human Rights Council resolutions over recent weeks might be observed. Recently, the Council extended the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Examination on Belarus. The Examination is tasked with collecting and preserving evidence of human rights violations. The Council adopted a resolution on Myanmar with enhanced monitoring and reporting on the ongoing crisis, and with robust calls for suspension of arms transfers. It condemned the arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of lawyers and human rights defenders in Iran, Venezuela and Turkey. It recorded ongoing concern about the independence of lawyers in Afghanistan, particularly after the Taliban gained access to the Bar’s database containing the addresses and records of 2500 lawyers.

Freedoms have been constrained for other reasons in Peru which has introduced a state of emergency and curfews to quell violent protests about rising food and fertiliser prices. In Sri Lanka, a state of emergency has been imposed and the country’s president, Mr Rajapasaka, has dismissed most of his cabinet, following protests in response to dwindling fuel supplies and food shortages.

On the positive side of the ledger, the main sides in Yemen’s civil war agreed to a truce on 2 April, the first day of the fasting month of Ramadan, in the hope of renewing negotiations for a durable peace.

And, as a more general point of interest, three Republican senators joined the Democrats to seal the appointment to the US Supreme Court of Kentaji Brown Jackson who had served recently as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The new judge has a diversity of legal experience, including as a public defender for Guantanamo Bay residents. She replaces Justice Stephen Breyer, a fellow liberal judge for whom she once clerked.

There is much that is positive to report upon in the Bar Association’s world, too.

The Council

The members of the Bar Council and I are delighted to announce that Kingi Snelgar from Bankside Chambers in Auckland has joined our Council as a co-opted member.

Kingi is of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whakatōhea and Ngāi Tahu. He is an experienced litigator who has appeared at all levels of our courts. Kingi began his career in criminal prosecution at Meredith Connell, before completing an LLM at Harvard Law School as a Fulbright Scholar. He then joined the bar, practising in Manukau as a Youth Advocate and defence lawyer.

Kingi was appointed an inaugural Commissioner on Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, Criminal Cases Review Commission. He is counsel to assist the Royal Commission into Abuse in State Care. In addition, Kingi is well known for his work with te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa, where he chaired the criminal committee. Kingi‘s practice encompasses regulatory investigations, civil and commercial litigation and dispute resolution, and Inquiries.

Kingi has thrown himself into the Council’s work and we are lucky to have him. He has taken the Chair of te Ao Māori Komiti and has become involved in a range of projects.

Our Council comprises a truly remarkable bunch of people who are giving back to the profession on a daily basis. Our structures are so lean that, alongside our Secretariat team, Council members are working daily to achieve our objectives. Whether it is organising our conference, arranging collegial functions, advocating on access to justice, promoting diversity, submitting on legislation or reviews, liaising on behalf of the bar with the Law Society, or travelling to ceremonies or meetings, they are truly committed and give generously of their time. My sincere thanks to them all.

The Judiciary

The recent appointments to the bench have been welcomed by the profession. Following on from Justice William Young’s retirement, the Hon. Justice Stephen Kós has been appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court / te Kōti Mana Nui. His role as President of the Court of Appeal / te Kōti Pīra will be taken by the Hon. Justice Mark Cooper. The Hon. Justice Sarah Katz has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal to fill the vacancy created in that Court.

This in turn has created a vacancy in the High Court, which is to be filled by barrister and solicitor Kiri Tahana. Justice Tahana is of Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Makino and Tapuika (Te Arawa). Her Honour has had an outstanding career with significant roles in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas. More recently she has been a partner at Kāhui Legal. At a personal level, having worked with Justice Tahana at Bell Gully – more than a few years ago now – it is a true delight to be able to celebrate her appointment.

The District Court welcomes new judges too. Janey Louise Forrest of Wellington, Alexander Rangiheua Henry Laurenson of New Plymouth and Sarah Margaret Morrison of Wellington have been appointed as District Court Judges. Both Judge Forrest and Judge Morrison were members of our Family Committee. Judge Laurenson was a partner at Govett Quilliam. Judge Forrest will sit in the Manukau District Court, Judge Morrison will take up her appointment with a Family Court warrant in the Waitakere District Court, and Judge Laurenson will be based primarily at the Papakura District Court. Our warm congratulations to them all.

The New Zealand Law Society Review

Late last year the Law Society announced an independent review of the statutory framework for legal services in Aotearoa New Zealand to examine the regulation and representation of legal services, including the structure and functions of the Law Society. The panel appointed to conduct the review is Professor Ron Paterson (Chair), Jane Meares, and Professor Jacinta Ruru. They will address six workstreams, with te Tiriti o Waitangi applying across them all. The streams are:

1. Complaints and discipline.

2. Conduct and culture.

3. Appropriate separation of interests and functions.

4. Regulated services.

5. Te Tiriti o Waitangi, biculturalism, inclusion and diversity.

The panel will be issuing a discussion paper within the next month or so and we look forward to engaging with you all on the points that arise, so that we can provide targeted feedback from the perspective of the independent bar.

Our Committees

Our work for you, our members, is delivered primarily through our committees, which are chaired by Council members. Their activities are too many to mention in full, but I want to outline some of them here.

Our Te Ao Māori committee is investigating initiatives that would increase members’ familiarity with tikanga and basic reo Māori. Importantly it will be looking at initiatives to ensure that those members who identify as Māori feel that they are welcome and valued within the Association.

Our Membership and Wellbeing committee is looking to get a range of collegiality events underway now that the light is orange. We are very much looking forward to being able to see you in person again.

Our Diversity and Inclusion committee has been working on two key deliverables. The first is equitable briefing. The team is working with the Law Society on rolling out the Gender Equitable Engagement and Instruction Policy (introduced in March 2018) into the Gender Equality Charter. This will simplify the procedure for signatories and improve reporting on targets. Secondly, the Committee is working with Auckland University of Technology on mooting initiatives, which we look forward to discussing with you all shortly.

On 19 May, Chief Employment Court Judge Christina Inglis will join members of our Council, and our committees for a discussion on judicial diversity. This is and important topic and we thank her Honour for taking the time to meet with us.

Our Education committee has been active in delivering our ongoing free webinar series. We are maintaining our commitment to our members in these times when collegial events are difficult to manage, to provide training without charge. The series has included engaging chats with Colin Carruthers QC and Clive

Elliott QC and webinars on criminal case theory and strategy, and on closing addresses. And we recently enjoyed a delightful happy hour, swapping notes on remote court appearances. Significantly, we are on track to deliver our thrice-adjourned conference in September. [If this tempts fate and it all goes wrong with another delay, please note it is the President's fault. - Ed.]

Our specialist area committees are carrying heavy loads.

Our Criminal committee’s work has been exacerbated by Covid and the need to liaise regularly with the judiciary, the MOJ, Department of Corrections, and other legal organisations over the operation of the courts. In the background there are two major workstreams dealing with criminal procedure and with disclosure. The deadlines for consultation have been tight. A significant vote of thanks is due to those who, week after week, have been providing comments and feedback.

Our Employment Law and Privacy committee will be presenting two webinars over the next couple of months - on workplace investigations and on employing junior barristers. And it is working on a variety of law reform matters. For more information, see the report on p11 of this issue.

Our Family Law committee is likewise focussing on education at the moment. There is a fuller report on this committee on p13. One of its aims is collegiality, which the Committee notes is a core ingredient of being at the bar. I encourage everyone to get involved in this way.

We are forever grateful for the wisdom from our Commercial Bar committee in relation to the Association's affairs.

In a similar vein, the work of our Audit Risk and Governance Committee is crucial in our operations. This committee’s terms of reference are to support the Council in fulfilling its responsibilities with risk management systems, internal control structures, financial reporting, compliance with laws and regulations and with its internal and external audit functions. It is vital work that goes to the heart of our accountability.

Thanks for staying with me this far. I wanted to give you all a sense of the remarkable work that is being done across the organisation. A couple of pages do it no justice but there are dedicated teams of people here who are committed to making life at the bar a better place and to representing its interests, legally, politically and practically.

Ups and downs…

It has very much been a year of ups and downs.

For the winter ahead, meteorologists predict La Niña conditions but warmer than average temperatures. Inflation is on the way up, due not just to imported items but, more so, to non-tradable items and those produced domestically. (Our minds are taken back to the introduction by Roger Douglas of the “0 to 2%” reserve bank inflation target.)

There has been a 20% decrease in prisoners on remand since December 2019 but an increase in the time that people are spending on remand (see p32 of the Chief Justice of New Zealand’s Annual Report). There has been a real increase in the use of specialist courts to provide wraparound support for people going through court processes and to address the root causes of their offending (Te Ao Mārama, the Young Adult Court and Porirua, the Matariki Court in Kiakohe, the Court of Special Circumstances in Wellington and the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Courts in Auckland, Waitakere and Hamilton). There has been an ongoing decrease in the number of legal aid providers (a crisis we are committed to continue addressing) and a marked increase in judicial diversity.

I hope that there are more ups than there are downs – more highs than there are lows – in your practices as we head into winter. My very best wishes to you all.

Kia noho haumaru – stay safe

Ngā mihi mui,

Paul

Paul Radich QC

*Paul Radich QC is the President of the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture. If you have any questions or comments about this column, please email him via president@nzbar.org.nz