Supreme Court

I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.   Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the morning (Sign). 

I specifically greet you:  Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias, Chief Justice and Justices Blanchard, Tipping, McGrath and Wilson of the Supreme Court; Hon Christopher Finlayson, Attorney-General; John Marshall QC, President of the New Zealand Law Society; Colin Carruthers QC, President of New Zealand Bar Association; Members of the Judiciary of many courts and the legal profession; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you for the invitation to my wife Susan and I to be present at this reception following the first formal sitting of the Supreme Court of New Zealand in its new home.  I would like to speak of the significance of today’s events in the context of New Zealand’s constitutional development.

More than a century ago, Justice Sir Joshua Williams, a famous New Zealand Judge, made a highly perceptive comment about this country’s constitutional arrangements.  As a graduate of Cambridge University, a Supreme Court judge, inaugural President of the Arbitration Court and New Zealand’s first permanent resident representative on the Privy Council in London, he was well placed to see the full expanse of New Zealand’s constitutional development.   He said in 1903:

“Fifty years in New Zealand mean much more than fifty years in England. The changes, political, social and material that have taken place in New Zealand during the latter half of the nineteenth century are greater than those that have taken place in England from the time of the Tudors to the present day.”

While Sir Joshua’s comments were in the context of the 19th century, the pace of change has continued.  While the Westminster common law tradition has flourished on soil far removed from Britain, it has done so in its own distinctive way. 

Earlier this month New Zealanders celebrated the 170th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi which established New Zealand as a modern nation in 1840.  Just thirteen years later New Zealand held its first general election. The House of Representatives sat for the first time in 1854 and quickly called for responsible government. 

In 1893, New Zealand became the first country to grant women the right to vote.  New Zealand then has been self-governed for more than 150 years—and for 117 years, all New Zealanders, regardless of gender, wealth, race, or religion, have had a right to vote in national elections. 

In the 20th Century, the pace of change has continued.  New Zealand became a fully independent country in 1947 when it adopted the Statute of Westminster and the largely ineffectual appointed Upper House was abolished in 1950.

The Court of Appeal first sat in 1958 and within a few years quickly began establishing a distinct New Zealand legal identity.  While respectful of its Westminster ancestry, in a series of decisions the Court made it clear that there was a limit to the binding force of House of Lords' decisions in New Zealand courts.

The 1960s and 70s saw New Zealand embark on a number of initiatives to recognise and enhance civil and human rights.  New Zealand appointed the first Ombudsman outside of Scandinavia in 1962, followed by the establishment of a Race Relations Conciliator in 1971 and a Human Rights Commission in 1977. 

The establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975 and its expanded jurisdiction a decade later has raised the profile and significance of the Treaty of Waitangi. What was once described by the courts as a “simple nullity” is increasingly recognised as a foundation document that is of great constitutional importance to New Zealand.

In other innovations, New Zealand adopted freedom of information legislation in 1982, many years before similar legislation came to be passed in the United Kingdom.

Most significantly in 1986, New Zealand repealed the Constitution Act (UK) 1852, described by the late Emeritus Professor Keith Jackson as “the shortest and most ridiculous written constitution of any nation in the world”.   The passage of the Constitution Act 1986 asserted our national sovereignty by removing the last rights for the British Parliament to make laws for this country.

What this brief and admittedly incomplete history shows is that our constitution and legal traditions are always changing and adapting.  If one looks to other parts of the Commonwealth, to Australia, Canada, India or South Africa, one can see that our legal traditions have a common ancestry.  But one can equally see that each has adapted and evolved to meet each nation’s needs and conditions.  They are similar, but they are not the same.

And so it was that on 1 January 2004 that the New Zealand Supreme Court came into being and appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council were ended.  It was yet another important step in our nation’s constitutional development.

The move had been proposed several times before then and was subject to considerable debate. A few years on from those debates it seems clear that the anxieties expressed then have proven unfounded.  Reflecting the calibre of the bench and the quality of its decisions, the Supreme Court has confidently established itself as New Zealand’s final court of appeal. 

And yet while the Court was a reality, it did not have a home of its own.  The decision to give it such a home was significant and attracted the kind of debate that to my mind is a sign of a healthy democracy.  With the building complete and the debate behind us, we can all celebrate the many benefits of the court’s new home.

As an erstwhile lawyer, Judge and now Governor-General, I note that those benefits are not just practical, but also symbolic.  In 1924 in the case of R v Sussex Justices, Lord Chief Justice, Lord Hewart, famously said that it was of “fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.” 

No court can expect to establish its credentials fully as a place where justice is not only done, but is seen to be done, while hidden under the coat tails of another.

And what better place than here, in the heart of Wellington’s historic central precinct, where all the pillars of New Zealand’s constitutional system—the legislature, executive and judiciary—are represented. Across the road is Parliament and the Beehive, while the judicial colleagues of the Supreme Court, Justices in the Court of Appeal, High Court and District Court are all nearby. 

This magnificent new complex, with its new central courtroom, attached to the beautifully restored historic High Court building, represents the past, the present and future.  Likewise, the silver inkwell gifted by HM The Queen of New Zealand and the wakahuia lent by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa represent the strands of our nation’s heritage.

With HRH Prince William formally opening this building on behalf of The Queen in January, today’s first formal sitting in its new home marks a further step in the Court’s development.  The completion of such a significant stage in the journey deserves to be marked and celebrated.  Now, with the court settled into its home and with celebrations almost over, it is time to roll up the sleeves and get on with business.

And on that note of encouragement in that regard,  I close in New Zealand’s first language, Māori, offering everyone present this morning greetings and wishing everyone good health and fortitude in your endeavours.

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.