http://www.Kiwisfirst.com/rss/ Kiwis First News AUCKLAND JUDGE JUDY POTTER ABORTS TRIAL TO TAKE HOLIDAY. Powerful QC called her "An embarrassment to the Court". 27 March 2008 New evidence is coming to light over Auckland High Court Judge Judy Potter aborting a multiple defendant criminal trial lat week so that her six-week South American Holiday was not delayed. Seven days into the expected ten-day ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732561 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST THE RIGHT TO KNOW - when slience threatens justice The Story of New Zealand Writer Anne Hunt.   dateline: 1 May 2008 Steven Price, who wrote Media Minefield (a journalists' guide to media regulation in New Zealand) says he thinks he's right in saying Anne Hunt's book, Broken Silence, is the only book ever to be banned and ordered to be pulped by NZ's High Court. A stay of execution was required to prevent the ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732569 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:00:00 EST DEATH AND GREED ON MATAKANA ISLAND, dateline 14 February 2008 You get a feeling things are bad when, within 5 days of a man being found incinerated in the back seat of his car, the car crudely parked on an isolated road, the police investigator is claiming suicide. The empty petrol container allegedly used to create the inferno is found tucked away in the closed boot of the car. The police surmised the man poured petrol over himself and his backseat before tidying up enough to ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732554 Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST What happens when you are the highest legal official in the country and, in your first year in office, you create an international incident, file two Crown legal actions that ignore basic laws and use your public office to prosecute your political opponents? If you are the NZ Solicitor General David Collins (left), you get a pay raise. Now that the United Nations ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732555 Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST NEED BETTER WORK STORIES? 28 February 2008 The twelve Police detectives who laid siege to the Gulf Harbour home of Vince and Jane Siemer at 7.00 am Thursday morning 21st Feb 2008 can add the intimate details they learned of this family's personal lives to their Friday nights out on the ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732557 Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST AUCKLAND CITY DREDGES THROUGH COUNCIL DIVISIONS 7 March 2008 There is a new guard in charge of Auckland City Council. They are a fierce and determined bunch. In a spirited "Combined Committees" session on Wednesday 5 March, fights over money and politics created banter bordering on a verbal brawl. In the early going, long-time City Vision Counselor Cathy Casey passionately attacked a C&R sponsored motion which would put current ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732558 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST Deterioration of Police Standards Plagues New Zealand Force Dateline: 10 March 2008 Less than a generation ago the New Zealand Police endeavoured to increase the quality of its ranks by recruiting more educated and morally conscious constables. The impetus in thought was that moral and educated cops make moral and educated decisions. The consequent recruit-marketing stressed honour, as well as pride in accomplishment. http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732559 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST JUDGE NUMBERS DOUBLE: COURT LOGJAM WORSENS 12 MAy 2008 According to a Ministry of Justice response to an Official Information Act request by Kiwisfirst, the number of lawyers appointed judges in New Zealand has doubled in the last 25 years from 103 to 204.  Despite this population explosion in active judges, trial backlogs plague the Courts at an unprecedented rate.  Delays of a year or more are common.    The delays within NZ ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732570 Fri, 09 May 2008 06:00:00 EST STRATFORD RACING CLUB MEMBERSHIP DECIDED BY COURT OF APPEAL 20 May 2008     by  Vincent Middeldorp In the recent Zimbabwe elections, ballot boxes were brought into police headquarters in the capital Harare where ballot papers for Robert Mugabe were added and ballots for Morgan Tsvangirai removed.  Two weeks later in New Zealand, the Court of Appeal condoned a much better system for rigging election outcomes; albeit not for the Presidency of the ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732571 Mon, 19 May 2008 06:00:00 EST $62 Million New Annual Budget for Auckland Consultants 21 May 2008  In an Official Information Act response to Water Pressure Group Spokesperson Penny Bright received last week, Auckland City Council revealed previously undisclosed data on the City's financial expenditures and structure.  Among other things, it disclosed a budgeted $62 Million for 'external experts and specialist advisors' in the 2008-2009 fiscal year.  Of this figure, $45 million is earmarked ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732572 Tue, 20 May 2008 06:00:00 EST The Vanishing Jury 16 June 2008  No, it is not a John Grisham novel.  It is the upshot of higher court rulings in New Zealand today.    Civil jury trials have, for all practical purposes, been done away with in New Zealand.  The last known case of trial by jury was Menzies v Attorney General (CIV2002 418 00005) in late 2004.  The shift away from juries has occurred without any law change.  Rather, it has evolved quietly, by judicial ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732573 Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EST New Zealand Solicitor General Testifies No Unlawful Orders Occur in New Zealand 18 June 2008 Testifying before a two judge panel in the Auckland High Court contempt trial of Vince Siemer on Monday, Solicitor General David Collins was not pleased.  His terse answers revealed much about the man, as well as his motivation in bringing the contempt action against Mr Siemer for operating this website.  Mr Collins has alleged that comments relating to Mr Stiassny on ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732574 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EST NOT ON MY WATCH 25 June 2008 Former Police Prosecutor Grace Haden is making a name for herself as a private investigator and it may prove more valuable to society than her former police role.  In the process she is learning quite a lot first hand and up close regarding the inner workings of the civil justice system.  It is fair to say that it is not all pleasant and, at times, disturbing.  Perhaps the biggest adjustment for Mrs. Haden is that she now ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732575 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:00:00 EST ROYAL COMMISSION OF PAIN 23 July 2008  This year is proving to be an inauspicious one for the Auckland City Council and its well-paid allies (read 'contractors').  The Royal Commission of Inquiry looking into governance practices by local Councils was, only a year ago, expected to be a mere formality designed to show the public that politicians and bureaucrats were not asleep at the switch when it came to the efficient spending of the public's hard-earned ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732576 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:00:00 EST DAVID COLLINS BEING CRIMINALLY INVESTIGATED BY NEW ZEALAND POLICE Dateline:25 August 2008; updated 1 September 2008 The New Zealand Police confirmed to kiwisfirst this week they are investigating New Zealand Solicitor General David Collins for criminal conduct under s111 of the Crimes Act, namely making a false declaration to the High Court in May ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732582 Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:00:00 EST Bill Wilson's Private Appointment to Supreme Court a Lesson to Public 4 September 2008  "Friends of Bill W" is taking on a new meaning after the meteoric rise of Bill Wilson to the New Zealand Supreme Court bench this year.    Less than two years ago, Mr Wilson QC was sitting in his law office trying to figure out where his next paying client was coming from.  Not that Wilson needed the money.  His Rich ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732583 Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:00:00 EST SOLICITOR GENERAL COLLINS MOCKS FAIR TRIALS AND PUBLIC RIGHT TO KNOW 16 September 2008 The first day of the Solicitor General's prosecution of the Dominion Post and its editor Tim Pankhurst for contempt in the Wellington High Court brought a moralizing sermon from the S-G himself.  David Collins decided to personally prosecute the Dominion Post's for publication ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732588 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:00:00 EST POLICE ON VERGE OF SECOND ENQUIRY INTO DAVID COLLINS 29 September 2008  A new police complaint against embattled New Zealand Solicitor General David Collins is being explored in relation to Mr Collins' recent attempts to prevent evidence of Judicial conflict of interest by current New Zealand Supreme Court Justice Bill Wilson from being brought before the Court.  Last year, Judge Wilson failed to ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732589 Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:00:00 EST JUDGE COOPER'S RACIST INVECTIVE TAINTS HIGH COURT RULING   1 January 2008 Under cover of the Christmas Holiday, Auckland High Court Judge Mark Cooper (right) ruled that kiwisfirst editor Vince Siemer had defamed Auckland ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732609 Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST VECTOR TO SELL ASSETS TO PAY DOWN DEBT 19 April 2008 Vector is currently in a race to sell off its 'gold plated' Wellington to Auckland transmission lines to pay down its burgeoning debt.  The only purchase interest in this strategic infrastructure appears to be coming from off-shore.  Australian and Chinese investors have reported to be in the running.  Potential buyers have asked for more time to evaluate the investment prospect, effectively extending ... http://www.kiwisfirst.com/news.asp?pageID=2145848073&RefID=2141732568 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:00:00 EST