Karl du Fresne: Tony Ellis ups the ante in the Callinicos affair

The Callinicos affair – or should that be the Callinicos scandal? – continues to simmer, no matter how much the judicial establishment might want it to evaporate.

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with the background. There’s a good summary here, but to recap briefly: Hawke’s Bay Family Court judge Peter Callinicos made himself unpopular by upsetting Oranga Tamariki social workers with his no-nonsense questioning (entirely justified, in the circumstances) during the racially sensitive “Moana” custody case, and subsequently appears to have been stitched up by senior judges who disapproved of the way he conducted proceedings.

Karl du Fresne: Judge's meetings with Oranga Tamariki: nothing to see here, folks

Marty Sharpe of the Dominion Post has another story on the Judge Callinicos affair this morning, this time reporting a law academic’s concerns about Chief Family Court judge Jackie Moran having regular meetings with Oranga Tamariki’s chief executive and senior lawyers.

Auckland University law professor Mark Henaghan is quoted as saying our legal system is based on the separation of powers between Parliament, the courts and the executive. Meetings between Moran and Oranga Tamariki, whose staff and lawyers are frequently involved in contentious cases before the Family Court, appear to cross that line.

Henaghan says they give the appearance of “undermining the separation of powers and potentially weakens the checks and balances principle and the independence of the judiciary”.

Karl du Fresne: It seems to be open season on Judge Callinicos

There have been significant developments in the case of Moana (not her real name), the Maori girl whom Oranga Tamariki wanted removed from her Pakeha foster parents. I commented on the case here, here and here.

The Dominion Post’s long-serving Hawke’s Bay reporter Marty Sharpe, who broke the story, reported yesterday that the Judicial Conduct Commissioner, Alan Ritchie, found that two senior judges did not act inappropriately when they contacted Family Court judge Peter Callinicos to express concerns over his handling of the Moana case.

Chief District Court judge Heemi Taumaunu and Principal Family Court judge Jackie Moran intervened while the case was still in progress, prompting a complaint from Callinicos that their action compromised his judicial independence.

NZCPR Weekly: Democracy in New Zealand - a stocktake

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

In this week’s NZCPR newsletter we undertake a stocktake of New Zealand’s democratic safeguards to assess the resilience of our democracy to attack, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Anthony Willy shares his concerns about the dangers of judicial activism, and our poll asks to what extent you believe tribal co-governance is a threat to New Zealand’s democracy.

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Karl du Fresne: The disturbing case of Moana

The disturbing case of Moana, the heavyweight influencer and the judges.

Dominion Post journalist Marty Sharpe has reported a disturbing case in which Oranga Tamariki and a Hawke’s Bay iwi tried to have a young Maori girl removed from a safe, loving and secure Pakeha foster home because her cultural needs were supposedly not being met.

That in turn has led to an even more disturbing development, also reported by Sharpe in today's paper. I can’t recall a New Zealand judge ever rebuking two of his judicial superiors and effectively telling them to pull their heads in. But that’s what Family Court judge Peter Callinicos did when two senior judges appeared to interfere in a case he was hearing that related to the girl.

Their action created the appearance of the judges, both of whom were appointed during the term of the Ardern-Peters government, exerting influence behind closed doors in a matter that raises politically sensitive race issues. It’s not a good look.