The Judiciary in New Zealand
Ardern's Most Important Decision as PM
Matthew Hooton
NZ Herald
The appointment of a new Chief Justice to replace Dame Sian Elias is the most important personal decision Jacinda Ardern may ever make as Prime Minister.
This will be the first time a Prime Minister has simultaneously chosen someone to be head of both the judiciary and New Zealand's court of final appeal.
When Prime Minister Jenny Shipley appointed Dame Sian Chief Justice in 1999, the court of final appeal was still London's Privy Council. Beyond the obvious symbolism, Helen Clark's Government replaced it with the new Supreme Court in Wellington to encourage the evolution of a distinctly New Zealand jurisprudence. It was time, Clark's Attorney-General Margaret Wilson told Parliament in 2003, for our country to enter the 21st century and New Zealanders to take responsibility for our legal system and destiny.
The issue facing New Zealand is a fundamental one. Either the rule of law is mediated through the legislature, or it comes via the judiciary--which by its very nature is an elite, non-representative institution. The present Chief Justice has pushed for a more intrusive judiciary--wrestling wider and higher powers for the judiciary at the expense of Parliament.
