http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10637508
This one has been brewing for a while. We have a supreme court judge who owes a tonne of money to a lawyer, and then failed to disclose this conflict of interest when hearing his cases.
The problem is that the lawyer could exert pressure on the judge to influence the outcome of a case. And in this case, it is a supreme court judge - so the impact could be substantial as precedents will be set.
And to make it even dirtier, the supreme court judge had a vested interested in a horse racing venture with the commissioner that had to rule on his conduct.
Now I'm not saying this particular judge has done anything wrong in his cases, but the whole principle stinks. A supreme court judge can't be sitting in on cases where someone could influence his decision, and then he himself be judged by a business partner. It smells like an old boys club.
And the thing has only really come to light because a former judge with 43 years of experience has lodged a complaint. And he can only do this because he is no longer a judge - otherwise the person he is complaining to, the business partner of the supreme court judge, can simply order him to shut up.
The judges are highly paid. Part of there pay package is that they have to remain squeaky clean. We can't have judges being involved in practices which brings their decisions into doubt.
My vote, he has to leave. Your vote?
Bookmarks