Ema Aitken and Winston Peters were involved in a fracas at Auckland's Northern Club in December. Photos/ Mark Mitchell, supplied
A judicial conduct panel will inquire into the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken at a New Zealand First function at Auckland’s Northern Club last year.
It’s alleged that Judge Aitken disrupted a NZ First party event being held last November at the prestigious club, where she was attending a separate function.
According to NZ First’s account in a report prepared by the Northern Club, Aitken allegedly heard NZ First leader Winston Peters speaking, tried to get into the event, and yelled out: “He’s lying! How can you let him say that?”
However, Aitken doesn’t accept the version of events in the report. She contends she did not recognise the then-Deputy Prime Minister’s voice and did not realise it was a political function. She says she mouthed an inaudible comment after hearing a snippet of a speech about the teaching of tikanga at law school.
After complaints and Attorney-General Judith Collins writing to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner, it was recommended that a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the judge’s conduct that day.
A Judicial Conduct Panel investigates allegations of misconduct against judges, potentially leading to their removal from office.
However, Aitken filed proceedings in the High Court, seeking a judicial review of the commissioner’s decision. In late April, this was dismissed.
In a statement today, acting Attorney-General Paul Goldsmith said he had accepted the recommendation for a panel to be established.
“Following an inquiry, the panel will provide me with a report, including its opinion as to whether consideration of Judge Aitken’s removal is justified. Members of the panel will be appointed following consultation with the chief justice.”
Goldsmith is acting as the Attorney-General on the matter to avoid any perception of conflict of interest, bias or pre-determination after Collins referred it to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner.
A statement from David PH Jones KC on behalf of Aitken said she would “cooperate fully” with the panel “notwithstanding the concerns she and others have about the process which has led to the panel being appointed”.
“There has been immense support for her Honour which is unsurprising given her calibre as a judicial officer and the universal high regard in which she is held.”
It said she was “both grateful and humbled” by the support.
According to a letter to the commissioner, Judge Aitken said she took a wrong turn on the way from the toilet and walked past the NZ First function. At this point, she says she heard a male speaker saying something along the lines of, “They’re now teaching in law school that tikanga Māori law overrides the Westminster system”.
She said she was surprised and taken aback as she wasn’t expecting to hear the word tikanga at what she assumed was a social function.
In her statement, she said that comment was “incorrect to me and mischaracterised the important role of tikanga for lawyers and judges in the district court processes”.
As she walked past, she said, she mouthed to a woman seated at a table near the door, who looked familiar, “That’s not true”. She said that would have been inaudible. She later recognised the woman as NZ First MP Casey Costello.
Judge Aitken said she made a comment disagreeing with the speaker, reportedly: “He’s lying, how can you let him say that?”
She said none of about half a dozen people at the table with Costello turned and responded to her comment. She denied shouting and said she was speaking in a normal voice.
The judge said she was quickly approached by a man and a woman, who walked her back down to her function, which was in the room next door.
As she was being guided back, she commented that there was a room full of judges who might have a different view from the speaker.
She said that was only to illustrate that there was a group of informed members of the community who might hold a differing view.
It was only at this point that she looked back and realised the speaker was Peters and the woman she’d seen at the table was Costello.
“I didn’t know who the speaker was, but I did believe the speaker’s comments went a step too far,” she said.
She also denied entering the room, saying she made the comment in the foyer as she walked past.
“It did not occur to me at the time that my comments or actions might have crossed the line between the executive and the judiciary. The situation was entirely unexpected and perplexing, but at the same time I did not see it as anything more than that.
“Had I believed that further steps were necessary, I would have taken them; however, I did not perceive this to be the case at this time,” she said in her statement.
Judge Aitken has publicly apologised for her behaviour, which she accepted was rude and inappropriate.
But her lawyer, Paul Rishworth, KC, said the apology referred to the judge’s actions and words, not the NZ First allegations, which she was unaware of at the time. The apology was not an acceptance of the NZ First account or media reports, he said.