Bridges Simon: Judicial Conduct Commissioner and Judicial Conduct Panel (Deputy Commissioner and Disposal of Complaints) Amendment Bill District Courts (District Court Judges) Amendment Bill Judicature (Judicial Matters) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Bridges Simon: Judicial Conduct Commissioner and Judicial Conduct Panel (Deputy Commissioner and Disposal of Complaints) Amendment Bill District Courts (District Court Judges) Amendment Bill Judicature (Judicial Matters) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Volume:661;Page:9634] 
SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga) 
: 
 I said in an earlier reading of the Judicial Matters Bill that the matters we are dealing with in it may in many ways seem dry or not even technical really in that we are just increasing some numbers and creating a new role and that is about it. But behind it all are important constitutional principles that go to the heart of the rule of law in this country and ultimately our democracy. It is important that we get legislation like this right and that we do a good and thorough job. It is good to see as we come to the third reading stage of what was one bill but is now three bills that we have done that. 
This legislation does a number of things. It takes the original law that created a Judicial Conduct Commissioner and a Judicial Conduct Panel—which was important for giving confidence in the complaints process in relation to the judiciary—and it creates the new position of Deputy Judicial Conduct Commissioner. Again as I said in an earlier speech there are many reasons why it is important to have a deputy. It is surprising in many ways that we did not get this right the first time we did the job and created the position of the Judicial Conduct Commissioner given that in a small nation like New Zealand where the legal community is obviously even smaller—people know each other well and everyone who has worked in a law firm knows many other lawyers well professionally and personally—conflicts of interest and appearances of conflicts of interest will arise. Also the Judicial Conduct Commissioner will from time to time get sick be overseas or not be able to perform his or her job for any variety of reasons so it is important that we create the position of a Deputy Judicial Conduct Commissioner. We have also given this office the power to take no further action which is something that I think the Judicial Conduct Panel recommended. 
Through a series of bills we have increased the number of Associate Judges of the High Court. I remember talking fondly about associate judges in an earlier reading. I said what an important role they play in terms of getting through the lion’s share of corporate commercial company securities work in our country. They do a very good job for us. 
The legislation also increases the number of District Court judges High Court judges and Court of Appeal judges. Let me just ponder very briefly the increase in the number of District Court judges from 140 to 156. I think it is worth noting that our District Court judges do a superb job for us in this country. As a lawyer I appeared before a wide variety of judges of all shapes and sizes and of all intellects—I will not dwell on that point—and they do a very good job in our courts. In the Tauranga District Court we are exceptionally well served by Judges Thomas Harding Rollo Ingram Bidois Somerville and Geoghegan. All of them do an excellent job day in day out under what is—sadly given that most of it is criminal and family work—a growing demand for their expertise and wisdom. 
With those remarks I finish by saying that this series of bills does a number of things that some might think of as boring. Nevertheless behind all that is important principles and issues that go to the heart of the rule of law and democracy in our country.