Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Ever wanted to know more about the men and woman deciding the fate of those appearing in court?
A new survey has revealed the majority of New Zealand's judges are men, 3.5 per cent identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, 12 per cent have a disability and 24 per cent are religious.
And, while most are Pākehā the bench is made up of men and women from at least 10 different ethnicities.
The insights come from a new judicial diversity survey carried out as part of Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann's annual report, for the period between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, released this afternoon.
In the report, Winkelmann discusses the current challenges facing the courts and how the judiciary is responding to those challenges.
As of December 31, 2021, there were 312 judges and more than 220 judicial officers presiding in New Zealand's court system.
In October 258 of 312 of those judges agreed to take part in a revealing diversity survey providing an insight into the makeup and background of those on the bench.
Personal life
The majority - about 200 - identified as Pākehā, with 45 as Māori and 40 as European.
Other ethnicities also included Australian, Chinese, European, Indian, Middle Eastern, Samoan and Tongan. Around 10 others registered as having a different ethnicity.
Twenty-six immigrated to New Zealand, 44 have one parent who immigrated here while 31 have two parents who immigrated to New Zealand.
Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann released her inaugural annual report this afternoon. Photo / Nicola Edmonds
One in six grew up rurally, while 154 or 60 per cent of judges are men and 3.5 per cent identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual.
Education
Fifteen per cent of judges have two parents who did not finish secondary school, 22 per cent had one parent who didn't finish secondary school, while 47 per cent had two parents who were not university educated. Nine per cent have a parent who was a lawyer or judge.
The majority, 134, came to the bench after working at a law firm, while 79 were working independently on the bar. Thirty-one were working in the public sector and 14 were working in "other" areas.
Judges had experience in a wide variety of law, the majority - 150 - working in criminal defence law, 135 family law and 90 were criminal prosecutors. Other areas of law included trust and estate law, employment, commercial, public, property, environment, health, ACC, treaty, human rights and refugee/immigration law.
As for education, judges learned new skills on an ongoing basis to ensure that they can provide fair hearings and make just decisions in accordance with the law.
Core courses cover subject areas including decision-making processes, evidence law, trial procedure law, judgment-writing and delivery and courtroom management.
Tikanga and te reo Māori are core parts of the judicial education curriculum.
Wellbeing
Physical and emotional wellbeing has also been a focus after the non-suspicious death of Judge Robert Ronayne in January 2020.
Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall presiding in an inquest in the Auckland District Court in November 2020. Photo / Peter Meecham
As part of her inquiry later that year, Chief Coroner Deborah Marshall carried out an inquiry and sought advice from clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire about what could help judges manage their high-stress environment and those experiencing psychological distress.
Maguire found judges were exposed to unique forms of stress including high workload, exposure to traumatic materials, professional isolation, limited management support, and a culture and expectation of high performance.
Building from that and other work, the District Court launched its wellbeing framework, Mauri Tū | Judicial Wellness Programme in late 2020.
Since then, all heads of various courts agreed in principle to adopt the programme in some version.
