Lawyers question temporary appointment of Principal Family Court Judge
Thu 13 Dec 2012
The Government's appointment of a temporary Principal Family Court Judge has been called into question by lawyers. The NZ Herald reports that ...
The Government's appointment of a temporary Principal Family Court Judge has been called into question by lawyers. The NZ Herald reports that in tomorrow's Auckland District Law Society newsletter 'Law News', barrister Catriona MacLennan says the decision to appoint Judge Laurence Ryan to that role temporarily had been made "without lawful authority".
Labour's justice spokesperson, Charles Chauvel, said he agreed that Attorney General Chris Finlayson had acted unlawfully. He also believed the appointment was "a cynical political attempt to ensure that the Family Court judges, most of whom are very worried about the effect of the Government's massive looming cuts to Family Court access, would not speak out about those changes through their head of bench".
"After all, a person appointed only temporarily to that position is not necessarily going to feel empowered to speak out against Government policy if the prospect of permanent appointment can be dangled in front of them."
Mr Finlayson announced the six-month appointment of Judge Laurence Ryan in late October. Judge Peter Boshier officially retired from the role in December.