Such criticism has "the potential for disturbing consequences for the justice system and society," the organisation says
The New Zealand Bar Association(NZBA) has called out what it said is the “misinformed criticism” of judges.
The organisation highlighted the backlash against South Island Judge Joanna Maze following her sentencing of a sex offender in a recent press release, and said that such criticism “has the potential for disturbing consequences for the justice system and society generally.”
“Some of the information circulating in the news media, seeded by politically motivated lobby groups, is either outright wrong or misleading through lack of context. The most obvious example is that the media reporting referred to this as a case of rape when it was not,” said NZBA Vice President Jonathan Eaton QC.
Eaton and NZBA President Kate Davenport said that public discussions on sentences were beneficial—but could also turn harmful if based on factually incorrect information.
“This sort of misinformation has the potential to seriously undermine the independence of judges and damage the integrity of our justice system,” Eaton said.
He pointed out that in such situations, it is accepted that judges would not defend themselves or engage in public debate, which he said indicated that Maze was “being unfairly maligned.”
“As well as the personal damage to the judge herself, the wider implications of the undermining of our justice system through some groups running their own ‘social media justice’ is also worrying,” Eaton said.
In such instances, the NZBA said that it has “a role and duty to highlight that incorrect and misinformed comment is being published.”
