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One QC summarised Downs best: “What he lacks in goodness he makes up for in confidence.”

Justice Downs’ poor interpersonal skills are likely a reflection of his falling somewhere on the autistic spectrum and his consequent lack of empathy. Other than Crown counsel, few lawyers would choose to appear before him.

Downs J is at times overtly racist and sexist. His fellow judges feel compelled to cover up his base propensities but are not happy doing so. In an unusual move, Supreme Court Justice Joe Williams diplomatically called out Downs’ for his adherence to strict agency, the belief everyone chooses their actions and that environmental influences are just an excuse for offending.

Years as a successful Crown lawyer opposing criminal appeals has hardened Downs’ beliefs that his world view is correct and he will allow no law to assist opposing views he considers might lead to unjustified outcomes.

Since judicial appointment, Justice Downs has grown his hair long and assumes a bench posture of tilted head to let his hair fall in his face.

As a Crown lawyer Mathew Downs routinely opposed appeals on grounds the due process breach at trial would not have changed the outcome. Downs found the section of the law he sought to promote s (385(1) of the Crimes Act) provided vast discretion to the Courts and was founded on little underlying published legal theory. This prompted Downs to undertake his PhD thesis No substantial miscarriage of justice: the history and application of the proviso to Section 385(1) of the Crimes Act 1961.

Mathew Downs spoke on this later, “the more I called for appeals to be dismissed, the more questions I had about this provision. It really gives the court an enormous amount of power, and I wanted to know more about how it was applied.”

Whereas most judicial appointees try their best to be fair during their judicial honeymoon, Downs almost immediately became drunk on the immense power he determined fell to judges in New Zealand.

Justice Downs returned to Crown Law in early 2005 as a Crown Counsel in the Criminal Law Team. In 2013 he was promoted to the position of Senior Crown Counsel.

Justice Downs has specialised in criminal law and has appeared extensively in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

As a lawyer Downs was a guest lecturer at the universities of Auckland and Otago.

Downs J PhD thesis, which he said was “part professional need, part curiosity”, was on section 385(1) of the Crimes Act. As an alumnus of Otago’s Faculty of Law, it never occurred to Mathew to study elsewhere: “I knew the Department, and I knew Professor Kevin Dawkins would be an excellent supervisor. Everyone was very enthusiastic about my topic – it was great to be back.”

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