Former politician John Banks will be back in court next week but it will be a much sweeter occasion this time.
The ex-Act Party leader will be sworn in as a Justice of the Peace at Auckland District Court on Monday after he gave up the role in 2014 amid allegations of filing false electoral returns.
After a High Court trial, Mr Banks was initially convicted over donations he allegedly received from Kim Dotcom for his 2010 mayoral campaign which were not disclosed on his electoral return and which Mr Banks claimed were anonymous.
But the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial after Mr Banks' wife Amanda tracked down witnesses to a lunch at which Mr Dotcom had claimed the donations were discussed.
Those witnesses corroborated Mrs Banks' version of events and the court ruled the defendant be acquitted.