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Judicial Conduct Commissioner and Judicial Conduct Panel Act 2004

Judicial Conduct Panel

34: Attorney-General's power to take steps independently of this Act if Judge convicted of serious offence

You could also call this:

"What happens to a Judge found guilty of a serious crime"

Illustration for Judicial Conduct Commissioner and Judicial Conduct Panel Act 2004

If a Judge is found guilty of a serious crime, you need to know what happens. The Attorney-General can choose to refer the matter to the Commissioner under section 12(2) or take steps to remove the Judge from office without following this Act. The Attorney-General can also take steps on their own to remove the Judge from office. If the Attorney-General takes steps to remove the Judge, some parts of this Act, like sections 7 to 33, do not apply. The Commissioner and a Judicial Conduct Panel can only deal with the matter if the Attorney-General refers it to them under section 12(2). This means the Attorney-General has some control over what happens to the Judge. You should understand that the Attorney-General's decision affects what happens next. The Commissioner and the Judicial Conduct Panel can only get involved if the Attorney-General chooses to refer the matter. This is how the law works when a Judge is found guilty of a serious crime.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM293717.

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34Attorney-General's power to take steps independently of this Act if Judge convicted of serious offence

  1. This section applies if a Judge is convicted of a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for 2 or more years.

  2. If this section applies,—

  3. the Attorney-General may, but is not required to, refer the matter to the Commissioner under section 12(2):
    1. the Attorney-General may take steps independently of this Act to initiate the removal of the Judge from office.

      1. If this section applies and the Attorney-General takes steps independently of this Act to initiate the removal of the Judge from office, the provisions of sections 7 to 33 cease to apply in relation to the matter.

      2. The Commissioner and a Judicial Conduct Panel have jurisdiction under this Act in relation to a matter to which this section applies only if the Attorney-General refers the matter to the Commissioner under section 12(2).