COMPLAINTS AGAINST JUDGES ARE ON THE RISE

I note with interest this article 4 October 2010, “Complaints about judges rise.”

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4194630/Complaints-about-judges-rise

Now if you look at THIS article (12 October 2009), they look remarkably similar:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2956259/More-complaints-against-judges

In fact, you might think that the editor or journalist just has to pull out the previous year’s article and change the numbers. I am continually stunned, every year, by the fact that no journalist seems to ask the hard questions. Perhaps, and I don’t blame ‘em, they’re afraid.

With the increasing profile of his office, plus the increased questions about Judicial Accountability, the Judicial Conduct Commissioner (JCC), Sir David Gascoigne (pictured right), would appear to have the weight of a democratic nation on his shoulders. He tells us that "present resources are not adequate for the task in hand.” Hence, what is different about this year is that Sir David is asking for more money.

With the request for more “resources” now perhaps we’ll have some answers, because therein lies the obvious hard questions the country needs to ask him:

* What exactly is the Judicial Commissioner’s “task at hand”?
* What real outputs have come from the Office of the Judicial Commissioner since its formation, other than cases merely being dimissed out-of-hand?
* How many cases have been cleared?
* How many judges have been cautioned, disciplined, or (God forbid) fired?

If you go to court - and I encourage you to sit in the public gallery of any court room - you'll be surprised. You’ll be surprised at the time-wasting. You’ll be surprised by the inefficiencies. You’ll be surprised by some of the comments from the judge - which will NOT subsequently appear in the so-called transcript, “Notes of Evidence.” In the research for my complaint, I was flabbergasted by the sheer contempt of judges and the court system for its paymasters – us, the taxpaying public. There is an entire regime dedicated to NOT releasing information - in a supposedly free society. This regime of arrogance exists because not enough of us know that such contempt exists. It exists, because there are no apparent target outputs or key performance indicators for the judiciary or court system. In other words, this contempt exists because there is no accountability to the public.

Thankfully, our awareness is increasing, even though the formation of the Office of the Judicial Commissioner is still “crumbs off the rich man’s table” [Luke 16:19-31]. Unfortunately, the Judicial Commissioner uses that awareness as a reason for his increased workload – more complaints. Clearly, it can’t be that judges have done anything wrong, could it? So, again, the Judicial Commissioner will use that increased-workload as an excuse for not "clearing" any cases (such as disciplining any judge!)

Well, here are some facts relating to complaints against judges and the Office of the Judicial Commissioner:

* On 11 February 2010, Chris Finlayson MP, expressed that the JCC office “provides the public with a transparent and accessible judicial complaints process.”
* In making a formal complaint to the JCC, the complainant will not have access to the judge’s written reply prior to the JCC's decision, or to the audio recording of the court case which invariably generates the complaint.
* Court documents, including any audio recordings in court, do not come under the Official Information Act, and so can not be requested by the complainant as part of any research for a judicial complaint.
* The Ombudsmen (www.ombudsmen.parliament.nz) is a department that monitors and regulates government offices and departments. The JCC and judiciary do not come under the auspices of the Ombudsmen.
* Judges earn $360,000 (plus) per year, paid for by the government, and so by us.
* Retired High Court judge John Hansen calculated that each High Court judge costs taxpayers more than $630,000 a year.
* The number of complaints rises each year, and the number of “unfinalised” complaints rises each year, but no complaints have ever recorded as being “finalised,” other than being simply dismissed out-of-hand.
* Since its formation in August 2005, no judge has ever been officially or publicly impeached, cautioned, disciplined, sanctioned, dismissed or fired.

Think about that when you consider whether we live in a "free society." Do your research and make your own mind up.