Chch judge for Court of Appeal

Press, 18 April 1989, Page 12

Chch judge for Court of Appeal

By

NEIL CLARKSON

Mr Justice Hardie Boys, whose appointment to the Court of Appeal was announced at the .week-end, believes he will miss the work of the High Court. The Christchurch-based judge said he and his wife had given much thought to the move to Wellington, which the appointment entails. “We just like it so much here in Christchurch, even though we are Wellingtonians.” The appointment, announced by the AttorneyGeneral, Mr Palmer, is effective from May 1. It will bring the number of judges in the Court of Appeal to seven, although a retirement is expected soon. Mr Justice Hardie Boys will serve on the Court of Appeal during May and

June before returning to the Christchurch High Court Bench for three months.

His Honour will then’ return to Wellington to take up the position permanently. The last High Court judge to be appointed direct from Christchurch was Mr Justice Somers, who took up a Court of Appeal post on May 1, 1981.

Mr Justice Casey was a Christchurch judge more recently appointed, but he had moved to Auckland before joining the Well-ington-based Court of Appeal.

His Honour said he expects he will miss the High Court work. “There is the ordinary day-to-day work. I’ll miss that, I’m sure. But this has got different challenges,” he said.

“It’s a different sort of work. You don’t have the day-to-day unfolding of human drama.

“You see only lawyers in the Court of Appeal. It’s a rather different exercise.”

Mr Justice Hardie Boys, who has been a resident judge in Christchurch for the last eight years, said he will miss criminal trials.

"There is some sort of fascination about criminal trials — the drama of them; the human side of them.

“They can be quite stressful for a judge at times.”

The High Court workload had increased during his time on the Bench, he said.

“We are under a lot more pressure now than we were when I was appointed.

“It is largely, I suppose, because we are hearing as much criminal work as we were then, despite the attempts that were made to take it off us.. “The criminal work is now all that much more difficult. It is nastier and often more difficult.” In his earlier years on the Bench the High Court handled the trials involving lesser charges such as burglary and car conversion. Today the High Court handles only trials involving purely indictable charges such as murder, sexual violation, manslaughter, and armed robbery. “I think our civil work is getting more complex. I think it is just a sign of social circumstances.” His Honour said he

found sentencing the most difficult.

“It is the most unpleasant and probably the most difficult part of the job.

“That is when we are in the front line. Our work comes under the closest public scrutiny and usually on fairly inadequate information.”

He believes sentencing has become even more difficult during his time on the Bench. “There is much more community interest in sentencing than there used to be because. I think, we are becoming a more judgmental society.

“There is far more room for (public) debate about differences of opinion on sentencing. “We have legislation telling us to take one particular line and we have people in the community thinking we should

take another." Mr Justice Hardie Boys obtained his law degree from Victoria Universityin 1953 and joined the firm in which his father was a partner. Scott, Hardie Boys and Morrison. His father was also a judge, being on the Supreme Court Bench from 1959 until his death in 1970. Mr Justice Hardie Boys was appointed in 1980 and served in Wellington for a year before his transfer to Christchurch. His Honour said the Court of Appeal appointment does not necessarily push retirement further into the future. “I really haven’t thought much about retirement. I am almost the last of the generation who can go on if they wish until they are 72."