Speech
District Court Judges Conference
May 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)
May I specifically greet you: Your Honours Russell Johnson, Peter Boshier and Andrew Becroft, Chief District Court Judge; Principal Family Court and Youth Court Judges respectively; The Hon Sir Thomas Thorp, Judge of the High Court; Members of the Judiciary of many courts; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting my wife Susan and I to attend the District Court Judges Triennial Conference here in Rotorua this morning. It is wonderful to be among so many familiar faces and people we know as friends.
I have been asked to officially open this conference but before I do, I would first like to speak about the important role that Judges play in our community. In particular, I would like to make some comment on your role in the difficult times New Zealand is about to face.
There are thanks and appreciation to be registered for the role that you, as District Court judges, undertake in our legal and judicial system - from the general community from whom comes an unspoken hope that the Courts will work well.
The District Court is the workhorse of our country's legal system. It deals with a significant and increasing volume of civil cases, and almost all criminal matters enter the legal system through the District Court, even if they be finally resolved elsewhere.
All courts uphold the rule of law and act a bulwark against the arbitrary abuse of power. Everyone-myself included as the personal representative of the Head of State and our members of Parliament-are subject to the law through the courts.
In 2004, the Law Commission, chaired then by Justice Bruce Robertson, emphasised the important role the courts played in resolving disputes. In its report, Delivering Justice for All, the Commission noted, and I quote:
"The function of all judges-despite variations in hierarchy or process-is fundamentally the same: to deliver justice by determining the factual or legal issues relating to particular cases in front of them. Their decisions have influence beyond the individuals and groups who come before them: they underpin the way the economy and society functions and citizens interact. In this way, courts make a vital contribution to a stable and civil society."
The reality of a career in the law, based as it is on adversarial content, is one where you are most frequently involved in focusing on, or resolving inherently negative matters. That focus is usually on a dispute or criminal act, an error, mistake or transgression.
Even so, our society continues to depend on people of integrity coming forward to contribute to the development of the law. The nature of working in public life is that brickbats flow more frequently than bouquets.
However, I believe that the wider community holds a great reserve of respect for our judges. They hold that because they know that the Courts are places where they will get a fair hearing and that is appreciated.
They also recognise that judges see their role not as a sinecure or reward but as a privilege.
That sense of service was brought home eloquently to me in a recent letter I received from a district court judge. As Governor-General I receive letters surrendering their warrants. The letter from the judge, who I will not name, said: "I have been privileged to hold the office and in exercising it to serve my country. My years as a judge have been a time of great personal reward and satisfaction."
Judges are not only the workhorses of the system, but also its primary public face. It is the judges in the district court with whom the public are most likely to have any dealings with. While judges in the major cities have the benefit of a greater degree of anonymity, having been a judge in a provincial city, I know that you are not only figuratively, but also literally, the public face of the court system.
In what is now turning out to be a lengthy career in the law-law clerk and law student, prosecutor and later defence counsel, as a judge, ombudsman and now Governor-General-I have seen the law from a number of different angles. I would like to bring some of those perspectives to bear with my second point, that of delivering justice for all as our nation faces difficult times.
According to many economists, New Zealand and the world are entering one of the most difficult economic periods since the time of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
A malaise that was originally centred solely on the financial sector has spread far further. A recent report by the World Bank suggested the world economy as a whole would shrink for the first time since the end of the Second World War.
What does this mean for New Zealand and what does it mean for District Court judges? While I am no economist, the World Bank's predictions are of concern for New Zealand.
Governments throughout the world, New Zealand's included, have implemented a variety of initiatives to lessen or blunt some of the worst effects of the recession. But it already seems clear that our society and economy will face considerable stress.
It also seems inevitable that some of that stress will be played out before the courts and the district courts in particular, both in criminal cases and civil disputes.
As judges and members of the community, it is impossible to pretend that the courts are somehow immune from the maelstrom going on in the world and the economy outside.
As Governor-General, there is a wide spectre of travel throughout our country meeting New Zealanders from all walks of life, young and old. For example, last week I completed a regional visit to the West Coast of the South Island.
The West Coast, as we all know, has suffered some hard knocks over the years. In a speech to a civic reception in Westport, I noted that if anything could be learnt from the West Coast's past experiences, it was that being downcast is no way to get out of difficulties.
There is understandable concern about the future, but there is also a strong positive sense that by working towards the future together, New Zealanders will work through these times.
I see people continuing to develop innovative businesses and enterprises. Last week in the West Coast sphagnum moss recovery and packaging is a business that is booming with the drop in the dollar. I see New Zealanders contributing to the community as volunteers in schools and hospitals and to charitable and sporting organisations. I have seen restoration of growing pride and sense of purpose in Maoridom. I see New Zealanders embracing their nation's growing cultural diversity. I also see New Zealanders enjoying life by attending new sorts of gatherings such as the Wildfoods Festival and the Chinese New Year as well as a North Island Flower Show in the South Island.
All this gives me considerable hope for the future. As district court judges, a very human face of these troubled times will come before you.
But I believe that the key should always be to keep before us, the values of our system of government and key principles such as the rule of law.
In difficult times, public confidence in the courts and the law will be maintained by continuing to fairly and impartially interpret and apply the law. Those values are part of our heritage and they are store for difficult times as well as good.
For if, as Robert Bolt's Sir Thomas More said in A Man for All Seasons, that the law "is a causeway upon which so long as he keeps to it a citizen may walk safely," then it is your role as important players in our justice system, to ensure that that path is well maintained.
I can think of no better way to end than to read the illuminated address given to a colleague of ours nearly 130 years ago, His Honour Judge Thomas Shailer Weston. It reads,
To:
Thomas Shailer Weston Esq
Late District Judge for the District of Westland
Dear Sir
We the undersigned Inhabitants of Hokitika desire to place on record the expression of our deep regret that the condition of the Colonial finances has required the Government to dispense with the service of yourself and other District Judges.
We cannot allow you to leave Westland without expressing our admiration and respect for your official and personal character.
That, in the discharge of your judicial duties, you have been just, impartial and incorruptible is not ground for praise; in thus acting you have only carried out those traditions of the British Bench which have rendered it the pride and glory of Britons for centuries; but your career has been marked by a patient, a conscientious and painstaking care in the sifting of evidence, by a lucidity in your judgement and statement of facts rarely found combined with the suavity and courtesy of demeanour towards all concerned which you have habitually shown and which so powerfully helps to preserve decorum in our Courts of Justice and to impress, on the minds of the public, respect for the law and its administrators. In short, the words in which the greatest of Roman orators spoke of one of the most noted of his countrymen are strictly applicable to yourself:- "Fvit in iffo ingenium, ratio, memoria, literæ, cora, cogitatio, diligentia".
By your personal character you have adorned and elevated the rank you held, you have encouraged literature and science, and taken an interest in all that concerns the well-being of the community of which you formed a part. By your hospitality and charity you have endeared yourself to all, and added to the regret we feel on public grounds for the loss of your services.
It is with the heartiest good wishes for you future happiness and prosperity and for the welfare of your family that we now bid you most respectfully and cordially, ‘Farewell'!
And on that uplifting note, I thank you again for your service to our legal system and take great pleasure in declaring your conference open.
I will close in New Zealand's first language Māori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours.
No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.