Unfair criticism of judge, but there is a double standard

Stuff reports:

Fisheries Minister Shane Jones called a High Court Judge a “Communist Judge” during a meeting with the seafood industry over Māori rights.

High Court Judge, Justice Cheryl Gwyn, who has awarded Customary Marine Titles to Māori, comes up in the meeting notes.

“[Jones] described Justice Gwyn (Judge in Wairarapa matter) as a “Communist Judge”.

There are a number of interesting aspects here.

The first is that Gwyn was a member of Socialist Action for at least four years, after she graduated (and possibly for a decade before that). Her politics then were probably Trotskyite or communist. That does not mean of course she has the same views today.

The second is that it is a bad idea for a Minister to disparage a judge. Now this was in a private meeting, not a public statement, so the Cabinet Manual doesn’t; come into play, but Ministers and Judges should be respectful to each other.

The third is that Gwyn has served well in various roles. I can’t say I follow her career closely but I thought she was an excellent Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, transforming that role from a fairly toothless role to a very active role which has helped increase confidence in our intelligence and security arrangements by having such rigorous scrutiny.

The final interesting aspect is that Gwyn’s years of Marxist or communist activism hasn’t held her back. Despite having been a far-left activist she has become a Deputy Secretary of Justice, Acting Solicitor-General, Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (appointed by a National PM) and a High Court Judge. Now I think this is all appropriate, but I do ask if the same would have happened to a lawyer who spent a decade as a far-right activist? It is unconceivable. So there is a double standard that extremism on one side of politics is acceptable, but not on the other.

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