Judge's emails attack court 'mayhem'

Judge Roy Wade. Photo / Richard Robinson

Emails from a senior judge to a lawyer reveal his frustration at the "Mickey Mouse Manukau mayhem" at Manukau District Court.

As well as complaining about the court system and the staff in emails to lawyer Kirsten Giles, Judge Roy Wade delivers some stinging assessments of Ms Giles' legal colleagues.

In response to her comments in one email, he says one lawyer will come a "big cropper in the near future" and says that lawyers who are caught lying will lose judges' respect.

In other emails, he makes a series of personal comments about lawyers at the court.

The emails, given to the Weekend Herald, date back to early this year.

In one, Judge Wade said that at court that day, he was "just about to lose the plot with some of the useless staff we seem to have".

"The idiot who drew up the roster thought two judges were essential at Papakura today, but one was adequate for the whole of Manukau," he wrote.

He had not been able to start court until 11.15am, and when he did, he found a packed public gallery and eight lawyers waiting.

What followed, he said, was an "undiluted" 45 minutes of consent bail address variations, repeats of registrar adjournments and minor traffic violations.

"When I blew my top and demanded to know which incompetent had pretended to sort things out, the staff mysteriously evaporated," Judge Wade wrote.

"At that point I apologised to counsel and the public gallery and pointed out the huge cost of lawyers sitting idly while I dealt with trivia.

"Would have made a great headline had only someone from the media been there ... as it was a total waste of breath."

In another email, he said: "Half the problem is that I cannot discipline any staff member or interfere in the way MOJ [Ministry of Justice] chooses to run the Mickey Mouse Manukau mayhem.

"At best I suppose the judges en masse could complain at the shambles and say without proper staff to back us up we'll find it impossible to go on."

The Weekend Herald showed the emails to Judge Wade and Ms Giles. Judge Wade did not want to comment. Ms Giles said she believed her computer or Judge Wade's had been hacked, and neither party had authorised the release of the emails.

"I have no idea of their authenticity. I can't ascertain whether they're accurate or not."

The emails were an "invasion of privacy", and she believed they had been doctored. She said she would be informing the police.

The emails pre-date a report by Dame Margaret Bazley which criticised aspects of the Manukau court and accused 80 per cent of its legal aid lawyers of "gaming the system".

Dame Margaret was commissioned by the Government to head a review of legal aid.

One of the emails from Judge Wade contained serious criticisms of a lawyer.

The Weekend Herald showed the head of Manukau District Court bar, Panama Le'au'anae, the emails yesterday. He said it was the first time he had seen them but if they were genuine, the criticism seemed inappropriate.

"And I think it's agreed members of the judiciary should not be making comments to counsel, particularly of a personal nature about other counsel," Mr Le'au'anae said.

"If it's true, then I don't know if it's defamatory but it's certainly not very dignified and, you know, someone may have a crack at that, I mean for all sorts of reasons."

But Mr Le'au'anae said Manukau was a high-pressure court.

"I don't know, maybe the pressure of the work. ..."

Judge Wade was very experienced, he said, although he had been on the bench for only two or three years.

"We're not talking about somebody who doesn't know what he's talking about or who doesn't know the law."