Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias abandoned her day job as Chief Justice and Head of the Supreme Court to drop by London's Palace of Westminster for a bit of play-acting today.
Dame Sian (66) makes up a legal luvvie threesome alongside UK Supreme Court president Lord Dave Neuberger (67) and US Supreme Court member Justice Steve Breyer (77) to rule over a mock trial skit marking the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.
They are to hear arguments on whether the barons' action in 1215 could be justified in law - heady and relevant stuff, CaseLoad is told.
Lawyer and funny television celebrity Clive Anderson plays King John and a couple of British Queen's Counsel are primed to argue the various pros and cons.
The verdict will be published on the UK Supreme Court website straight after the mock trial.
"Who pays for this judicial jaunt?" said The Scunner.
To an absent friend
Journalist, columnist and fervent Christian, Garth George MNZM (75), after a long battle with cancer.
As the Rotorua Daily Post reported: "Love him or hate him, Mr George was never short of expressing his opinion on everything from fluoride to gay marriage, and everything in between..."
Celebrity Judge Simon scores a big one
Celebrity Judge Simon Moore has been given some real judging to get his teeth into, and his many chums are delighted.
His Honour has been presiding in Whangarei High Court in the trial of Frederick Solomon Erihe, charged with historic child rape, unlawful sexual connection, indecent assault and assault involving seven complainants under 16 at the time of the alleged offending.
Sworn in as a High Court judge by doting Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias before a packed house in March 2014, the former Auckland Crown solicitor and prosecutor of some 20 years, has languished a bit in the judging game.
Some even wondered if His Honour scored generous judicial sabbatical leave early...
It seems much of His Honour's skills have been taken up with petty appeals from the lower courts and a smattering of civil squabbles.
Observers are looking for the flair, enthusiasm and humour Chief Justice Elias said Justice Moore would bring to the job when she dubbed him the country's first celebrity judge.
Why lawyers should look trustworthy
News Item: Toronto research shows a person's face may influence the severity of the sentence they get for the most serious crimes.
The research, using data on 742 people, reveals that inmates whose faces rated as low in trustworthiness by independent observers were more likely to have received the death sentence than inmates who faces were perceived as more trustworthy, even when the inmates were later exonerated of the crime.
"It doesn't stop there," said a Well-Placed Insider.
"It began with folk claiming their lawyers were incompetent but we are now seeing jailhouse malcontents pushing for appeals based on the trustworthy appearance of their lawyers."
"It's well-known that the face of a sentencing judge - whether he or she be grumpy or kindly - plays a significant role in the severity of penalty.
Just as dodgy looking judges, for example, are known for imposing harsher penalties, criminal 'stakeholders' reckon having a dodgy looking lawyer gets them more jail time.
"Just as dodgy looking judges, for example, are known for imposing harsher penalties, criminal "stakeholders" reckon having a dodgy looking lawyer gets them more jail time."
"Research now suggests that whether or not a lawyer looks trustworthy can impact on their client's sentence."
"In a recent study, folk selected at random were shown photographs of lawyers and asked to rate them on how trustworthy they looked, using a scale of 1 (not at all trustworthy) to 8 (very trustworthy). The raters did not know the photos were of lawyers."
"Results showed that the less trustworthy a face was deemed, the more likely it was their client copped a stiffer penalty."
"This is a worry, because not all of us have the patrician visage of the likes of Paul Davison or Stephen Mills," said Our Man At The Bar, deftly applying a dollop of Oil of Olay (Ulay, Ulan, Olaz: take your pick) before heading off to the district court.
"If this research is right then a whole lot of legal folk could be out of work."
"Perhaps not a bad thing," said The Scunner.
A venerable agrarian person writes
"Dear Sir,
I'm an old Cow Cocky, and look forward to your weekly page. I share your conclusion re Urewera Riddle (CaseLoad July 24).
I cannot believe that the alert folk of Ruatoki, with their resident activist Tame Iti, did not stage-manage much of the whole farce. As kids who grew up beyond the "tar seal", we amused ourselves tracking every stranger who entered our patch.
Tame Iti.
Any non-local motor car aroused great curiosity, and we kids were expected and encouraged to keep the district informed.
The patch I grew up in, in the Waikato, is now semi-urbanised, and as an octogenarian I'm still fascinated by the insatiable curiosity of my fellow rural "bumpkins".
I now live in the village of Cambridge, along with many other retired farming couples. If any new folk move into our street, our rural patch protection habits click into gear, and telephones run hot until the interlopers are identified.
Ruatoki kids, like ourselves 75 years ago, would still today be expert "trackers" and would have observed every stranger and what they were doing, when they entered their patch.
I can well imagine the excitement of every alien visit: erecting cameras, etc, and the kids reporting back to the village.
I know and have worked with several Ruatoki folk and can imagine the zeal with which Tame Iti would have marshalled his troops to put on a top-notch show. I will never ask any of my Maori friends, they will be honour-bound to play dumb.
All speculation on my part. Hope I live long enough to verify but doubt it.
Cheers "John"
(Name withheld by request but he's a well-known New Zealander).
Carefully-worded diplomatic explanation
Mindful of not upsetting his Editors, Legal Scrutineers and Paymasters, CaseLoad gently advises that the absence of honorifics in this column is not of his doing.
The dropping of honorifics has been raised with CaseLoad by several Moaning Minnies and general malcontents, including turf accountants, various boulevardiers, Queen's Counsel, bar flies, a Big Bloke At The Next Leaner and legions of High Court judges - the last lot wondering if they are next.
CaseLoad is advised it is a style thing, whereby honorifics are used only in the main news sections of the newspaper but are dropped from the names of those appearing in the business (where CaseLoad appears in print), sport, entertainment sections or in features.
"Be careful where you go with this," said The Scunner.
John, of Wellington, writes
"Your column last week was as usual very good but you seem to be somewhat obsessed with John Banks as is Larry Williams..."
Newstalk ZB host Larry Williams.
"As for the newly appointed 10 acting District Court judges (CaseLoad July 17), I will reserve my comments but a few of them are not up to much..."
[While he may agree with some of John's colourful views on the Banks Affair, CaseLoad feels they are couched in language inappropriate for general dissemination.]
Making a crust is never easy
News that a West Australian family court lawyer's bill was brutally chopped back from $A330,000 to $A220,000 because it showed 24.8 hours of work on one day shows how out of touch the system is with the everyday legal workload.
"Strewth, many lawyers are working and billing more than 24 hours a day - some as many as 30 hours - to keep on top of the gruelling money-making machine," said a Colonial Visitor with a day pass to the Ladies & Escorts Lounge.
