The blogosphere is commenting heavily right now about the goos things the supreme court are doing (getting rid of awatere) and the arguments between top politicians and the court.
What people seem to be missing is the the government is putting the heat on the old members of the Court of Appeal. Not on the current members of the Court of Appeal. Kiwi Pundit.
The Rot is Setting In
Our Supreme Court has been in place for 5 minutes and already the government is trying to undermine it:
State Services Minister Trevor Mallard shocked members of a business audience in Wellington by saying it was a pity the Supreme Court had not been appointed on merit.Disclosure of the comment adds to a chain of incidents that have strained the relationship between the Government and the Judiciary, in particular Chief Justice Sian Elias.
I've said this before (many times) and I'll say it again:The worst thing about abolishing appeals to the Privy Council is enabling unscrupulous politicans to influence our highest court.
The clear strategic objective is to hasten the retirements/resignations of the current non politically appointed members of the Supreme Court (old C of A) with the current politically appointed members of the Court of Appeal.
Cunning.
There's also the mandatory retirement at age 68. Once either Labour or National gets a majority of judges who are compliant with their views, they'll swiftly abolish the age limit citing 'discrimination' or something similar.
Posted by: Nigel Kearney | Nov 19, 2004 at 02:19 AM