A tongue-in-cheek look into judges’ perks - Sasha Borissenko

Judges' perks have been revealed. Photo / 123rf

OPINION

In a huge legal first, Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann, supported by Attorney-General Judith Collins, released the list of High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and Employment Court judges’ perks last week.

And boy, was it a treat.

There was quite the rigamorale around why it took so long, but the saga dates back to May last year when Crown Law declined media requests to release the information. The Official Information Act doesn’t apply to the Attorney-General when they’re acting in their “law officer” capacity and the Remuneration Authority formerly reviewed judicial salaries, including perks, back in 2018 and 2019.

Former Attorney-General David Parker kicked off the transparency process during parliamentary question time, saying he’d be open to making the perks publicly available but that, for reasons of comity and courtesy, it wouldn’t be in the public interest to do so without engaging with the judiciary. And so it was.

With the changing of the “national” guard, Winkelmann issued a memorandum to the new Attorney-General in November highlighting the public criticism, saying the release was ultimately Collins’ decision.

Essentially, it came down to following due process and maintaining the separation of powers.

Goody bags are fun, but limited

Now for the juice. For judges on the move for a new gig out of town, relocation reimbursement is flush with moving, conveyancing and rubbish dump entitlements. Rent - subject to limits - is also accounted for, which I imagine helps to keep the terror of buying and selling a house at bay.

On the stingy side, judges are only entitled to $50 a month for internet and phone costs. Then there’s an eye test every two years, $300 for a pair of spectacles, a yearly check-up and counselling services.

Sadly, judges with a flair for interior design may feel bereft, as the 2024 perks don’t include the clause allowing them to introduce their own personal furniture for their chambers on request.

The iron fist of public funding stops at laundry services, where dry cleaning is only available for judges who have been out of town for more than seven consecutive nights.

To quote my favourite legal Twitter personality @strictlyobiter, in reference to paying for ceremonial robes: “judges get course-related costs [$500 for legal books - digital versions unspecified] but have to pay for their own robe”.

Judges on tour

While fellow sole-trader shlubs like myself can’t claim food expenses while travelling for work, judges can either be reimbursed for food and accommodation, for example, or alternatively work to a $240 flat rate. Day trips don’t apply.

Speaking from experience, a dingy, windowless, private room in a hostel in Auckland and Wellington could cost you between $50 and $130 a night. It’s no place for a judge, or anyone, really. Thankfully, the Ministry of Justice can reimburse judges for “actual and reasonable expenses” above the daily allowance if necessary.

For legal aficionados who need the love of their plus-one, this means their partner can also claim $96 a day.

Previously, judges had the option to use a travel card for authorised expenses and for the accommodation (no motels) to include the additional cost of a “private sitting room” - which I can only imagine would be in a shade of maroon and filled to the gills with mahogany and leather seating, dampened by the smell of cigars. Maybe not.

Intrepid travellers

Judges can travel for free - economy, premium, or business unspecified - in New Zealand when they’re working out of town or attending the annual judges’ conference bonanza. Senior judges (not associate judges) and their partners also get up to 5,360 kilometres of work-free flights a year.

A return flight from Auckland to Wellington is 960km, so we’re talking about potentially six flights a year.

On the ground, judges can use a government car and chauffeur - yes, you read that correctly - between the home, airport, hotel, etc when travelling to and from official functions, leading the court charge in another town or when they are on “official business”.

Between home and court outside of normal working hours, the government car and driver can be used when traditional modes of transport are too “difficult or inconvenient”. When isn’t getting from A to B convenient?! Uber, public transport, and walking are reserved solely for common peasants like me.

For the judge who doesn’t shy away from taxis while travelling on official business, reimbursement, it is then. Or, if public transport isn’t an option, judges can use their own car for official business and be reimbursed for up to 14,000km a year. Those who live on an estate in the middle of nowhere are hard out of luck.

Work hard, play hard

Although there are no statutory entitlements to leave (ahoy Holidays Act reforms!), judges aren’t required to sit during court vacations unless required. They can also take a week’s leave between June and Chrimbo.

So, with Easter, six weeks over Christmas and January (the one benefit of legal practice when firms and the courts shut up shop) and June, we could be talking two months of leave a year to make the most of those six free-fun return flights.

After two and a half years on the job, judges can take a three-month sabbatical. Five years on the job entitles a judge to six months of leave, and 10 years entitles a judge to frolic for a year.

What does this all mean? Oh to be a judge, or better yet, married to a judge!