Complaint laid over actions of senior judges in Oranga Tamariki case

Friday, 3 September 2021

Attorney-General David Parker said a complaint had already been laid, and it would be up to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner to investigate its merit. (File photo)

The Attorney-General David Parker and Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann have been urged to take formal action in relation to the actions of two senior judges.

Human rights lawyer Tony Ellis has written to Parker and Winkelmann to tell them that he has made a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner about the actions of the Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu and the Principal Family Court Judge Jackie Moran in relation to their intervention in a case that did not involve them.

Ellis has told Parker and Winkelmann that because the matter is of such importance, involving the need to uphold the constitutional principle of judicial independence, the complaint should be made by them, rather than him.

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Human rights lawyer Tony Ellis believes the Attorney-General and Chief Justice should be heading a complaint. (File photo)

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Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann would not comment. (File photo)

Taumaunu and Moran intervened in a part-heard Family Court hearing into the future care of a five-year-old girl in Hawke’s Bay, earning a sharp rebuke from the presiding judge, Peter Callinicos, who said their actions were inappropriate and such communication was “a breach of judicial independence”.

The case in the Family Court in Napier involved Oranga Tamariki staff who wanted to remove a young Māori girl from the Pākehā couple who had cared for her for the past three years, over concerns that they could not meet her cultural needs.

Taumaunu and Moran contacted Callinicos after speaking with Sir Wira Gardiner, who was then the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki, to relay his concerns about the manner in which Callinicos spoke to social workers at the hearing.

Judge Peter Callinicos was contacted by senior judges in relation to a case that was part-heard. (File photo)

Ellis also quoted from a ruling by Justice Gerald Nation, made in the High Court at Auckland last month, in which the Attorney-General applied to join a case as a defendant citing “the need for the Attorney-General to uphold the constitutional principle of judicial independence and his responsibility to defend the judiciary from improper and unfair criticism”.

“I now invite him to do just that,” Ellis wrote in his letter to the Attorney-General and Chief Justice.

Ellis also urged the Law Society to make a complaint.

He has asked the Judicial Conduct Commissioner to postpone progressing his complaint until he had heard back from the recipients of his letter, “as hopefully I can withdraw my complaint in favour of more important complainant(s)”.

Parker told Stuff he would not be making a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner, but was aware that a complaint had already been made.

“It is not for the Attorney-General to express an opinion as to whether or not the complaint has any merit. It is now for the Commissioner to conduct a preliminary investigation into the matters alleged. It would be inappropriate for the Attorney-General to make any further comment at this time,” he said.

Chief Justice Winkelmann declined to comment.

New Zealand Law Society president Tiana Epati said the society was not aware of the facts of the case beyond what had been reported by Stuff.

“The Law Society was not involved in any way, and we would be speculating as to whether this is, in fact, a situation which raises a rule of law issue of public importance. As such, we will not be commenting on what has occurred to any party,” Epati said.

The Office of the Judicial Conduct Commissioner was formed in 2005 to receive and assess complaints about the conduct of judges. The current commissioner is Alan Ritchie.