Four judges logged on to sex sites

By VERNON SMALL deputy political editor

Pressure is mounting for Justice Robert Fisher to resign in the interests of public confidence in judges after he used work computers to access sexual material on the internet.

But the embarrassment to the Judiciary could spread - a scan of court computers found that three more judges have logged on to sex sites.

It is not yet known how long they stayed, which sites they looked at, or whether the visits were accidental.

Attorney-General Margaret Wilson said Justice Fisher's access lasted for about an hour and a half spread over two weeks.

The unnamed judges' visits to the sites had been brief, so they might have been mistakes or work-related.

She would receive a fuller report by the end of the week and meet Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias tonight to discuss the issues.

Ms Wilson and Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday stressed the independence of the Judiciary from political interference.

Only Parliament can remove a High Court judge and it must be on the grounds of incapacity or misbehaviour. It has never done so in New Zealand.

But Helen Clark made it clear that she felt Justice Fisher had breached Department for Courts policy and had made an error of judgment.

"There's always the computer games if you are waiting for a jury verdict," she said.

The Prime Minister said the Department for Courts had a policy on internet use. Staff had been warned that there would be periodic audits of internet access and files on computers. Any inappropriate access would result in management action.

The policy for judges was aligned with that for other staff.

"The judicial information consultative committee was explicit that judges who were not prepared to abide by departmental rules and practices should not be given access to departmental equipment," Helen Clark said.

"It is an error of judgment."

The question was whether the access was so inappropriate and the error of judgment so great as to suggest resignation.

Helen Clark said she had never met Justice Fisher, but others had said he was a brilliant man. She would keep her feelings to herself until she had more information.

But under the same circumstances, ministers would have to consider their positions.

"Some people have very thick skins and sit it out, others may decide in the fullness of time not to continue."

Helen Clark said higher standards were expected of judges.

Justice Fisher, aged 60, admitted accessing the sex sites 15 months ago using court equipment. He has since apologised and promised not to do it again.

Ms Wilson said the internet sites were still being investigated.

"The sites accessed appeared, on investigation, to fall within the category of what might be described as adult movies or explicit sexual movies," she said.

"Certainly the cover sheets would indicate that in fact the materials accessed were not of the sort that would fall within the category of what is called objectionable publications under section three of the Films, Videos and Publications Classifications Act."

But it would be inappropriate in the meantime for Justice Fisher to sit on a case "relating to family matters or matters which would directly impinge on this".

The initial view of the Crown Law Office was that the material did not breach the law.

Any move in Parliament to sack a High Court judge would involve a process called an address of the House. It can be moved by any MP.

National leader Bill English said he would prefer the matter to be dealt with by the Judiciary.

A spokesman for the Judiciary, Neil Billington, said Justice Fisher had "rescheduled" his cases yesterday and was working in his chambers at the High Court building in Auckland.

The High Court list, posted at 9 am, had him down to sit on a Court of Appeal case with Justice Noel Anderson and Justice Hugh Williams. Justice David Baragwanath replaced him.

Mr Billington could not say why Justice Fisher had stayed away from the Bench yesterday, except that it was perfectly legitimate for judges to reschedule cases.

Justice Fisher has been unavailable to comment since news of his visits to sex websites became public.