He gave praise to court staff, press, police, restorative justice, Justices of the Peace and Community Probation, and said there was “good mutual respect between the Bench and the Bar”.
He was sad to be leaving “this lovely town”.
Other speakers said the judge was easy to work alongside, was in touch with the community and would be missed.
As the Chief Coroner, he worked with the government to introduce a national coronial system with 16 coroners serving across the nation.
Two mass fatality events occurred during Judge MacLean's time as Chief Coroner.
The first was the Pike River Mine explosion in November 2010 in which 29 men died.
The following month, Judge MacLean met bereaved families in Greymouth to explain the coronial process to them.
Two months later, in February 2011, a devastating earthquake struck Christchurch and 185 people lost their lives.
Judge MacLean travelled to Christchurch, where he again provided information and reassurance to grieving families.
Coroner Peter Ryan, who worked with Judge MacLean from 2007 until he retired in 2015 to return to the District Court in a role as an ACC appeals judge, recalled his “compassion and empathy” for grieving families.
“Also, I appreciated the way he engaged with the members of the bench and involved us in the setting up of the new service.”
Judge MacLean was a strong advocate for improved reporting and more open discussions on suicide. That resulted in frequent appearances in the media to discuss matters such as youth suicide, cyber bullying and solvent abuse, and to ensure the public were aware of the work of the Coroners Court.
Judge MacLean started the system of publishing annual suicide statistics.
“It staggers people that the suicide stats are bigger than the road toll,” he once said.
“We get 10 to 12 a week.”
Coroner Sue Johnson said Judge Maclean was a very good first Chief Coroner, who did an extraordinary amount of work to update the old system.
“Judge MacLean was very wise. I learned a great deal from him and felt privileged to have worked with him, but also to have gotten to know him as a very jolly, warm, friendly and kind gentleman.”
Judge MacLean began his law career in Christchurch after graduating from the University of Canterbury in 1967.
He had a distinguished career in the legal profession between 1972 and 1993 before being appointed a District Court Judge.
Judge MacLean was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to the judiciary.
He is survived by Susan, his wife of 53 years, their three children and their families.
