Minutes of JANZ Annual General Meeting
Held by Microsoft Teams meeting on Monday, 29 November 2021
Commencing at 4.35 pm
Present
Judge Gerard Winter (President)
Judge Claire Ryan (Treasurer/Secretary)
Judge Jeff Smith (Former President)
Judge Ida Malosi (Executive Judge and Chief Judge’s representative on the Executive)
Judge Dugald Matheson (Executive member)
Judge Raoul Neave (Executive member)
Judge Sharyn Otene (Executive member)
Justice Susan Glazebrook
Judge Dale Clarkson
Judge Noel Cocurullo
Judge Paul Geoghegan
Judge Tom Gilbert
Judge Karen Grau
Judge Paul Kellar
Judge Gerard Lynch
Judge Emma Parsons
Judge Dianne Partridge
Judge Noel Sainsbury
Judge Lee Spear
Community Magistrate Philippa King
Apologies
Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann
Justice Layne Harvey (Executive member)
Justice Matthew Palmer
Justice Joseph Williams
Judge Jenny Binns (Executive member)
Judge John Brandts-Giesen
Judge Christina Cook
Judge Keith de Ridder (Executive member representing retired judges)
Judge Bernadette Farnan
Judge Bill Hastings
Judge Simon Maude (Executive member)
Coroner Mark Wilton
Zita Thomas (representative for whānau)
1. Welcome and apologies.
Judge Gerard Winter welcomed us to the first AGM since pre-Covid-19 days in February 2020.
2. Quorum
Confirmed. The quorum is 10 members pursuant to Rule 23.2 of the Constitution.
3. Minutes of the previous meeting on 20 February 2020.
Accepted unanimously.
4. Matters arising from the minutes
Nil.
5. Presentation of the President’s Report.
Distributed prior to the meeting and taken as read. Judge Winter summarised key portions of the written report, including the delays caused by Covid-19 and lockdowns,, the international meetings he and Judge Jeff Smith had attended virtually and the well-planned Wairakei conference in September which had to be cancelled because of Lockdown 2.
6. Adoption of President’s report.
MOVED: Judge C Ryan/Judge J Smith “That the President’s report be accepted and that he be thanked for his generous work for all of us in these difficult times.” CARRIED.
7. Presentation of Website Report (Judge Gerard Winter).
The website report was also made available prior to the meeting. Judge Winter thanked Lara Wyatt for her outstanding work, administering the website and keeping up the levels of engagement. In February 2020, the raw membership was about 50, by 31 March 2021 it was about 85 but there are now close to 120 members with about 180 in support and over 650 hits on the website which is creating great attention for JANZ. Lara will hopefully soon be working on a secure chatroom where judges can talk and Vimeo interviews with judges around the motu.
8. Adoption of Website report.
MOVED: Judge C Ryan/Judge R Neave “That the Website Report be accepted and that Lara be thanked for her sterling work.” CARRIED BY ACCLAMATION.
9. Financial report. (Judge Claire Ryan)
The reports were circulated before the meeting and taken as read. Our finances are in good shape despite the Covid lockdowns. There are two financial reports to be approved, the annual report of 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2020 and the annual report of 01/04/2020 to 31/03/2021. They require approval at an AGM before they can be filed with the Registrar.
10. Adoption of financial report
MOVED: Judge Jeff Smith/Judge Tom Gilbert “That the two financial reports be approved.” CARRIED.
11. Appointment of Auditors
At this stage, no Auditors have been appointed. This might be reviewed if the amount in the account grows significantly. No member requested the auditing of the accounts.
12. Confirmation of members of the Executive Committee.
Judge Malosi was welcomed onto the Executive. Coroner Mark Wilton would like to join but is unable to be present at today/s meeting.
MOVED: Judge Gerard Winter/Judge Claire Ryan “That Coroner Mark Wilton be appointed to the JANZ Executive.” CARRIED.
MOVED: Judge Claire Ryan/Judge Ida Malosi “That Community Magistrate Philippa King be appointed to the JANZ Executive.” CARRIED.
13. Motions to be put to the AGM.
Judge Gerard Winter explained that these were “in principle” mandates.
13.1 Sanctuary care programme, with a sponsor for five years. JANZ has access to a property in the North Island and seeks one in the South Island. Sanctuary Care will be available to Judges and whānau if there is a crisis or they need a “circuit breaker” time away or if they are otherwise in need. It will provide them with safety and wise counsel if that is required.
He asked for in principle approval to press on with the programme which will involve discussions with heads of bench.
13.2. Draft programme for 2022. There will be a meet-the-new judges’ function in Wellington and in Auckland in February if it can be arranged.
13.3. JANZ foundation launch, approved in principle.
13.4. Motto and medallion, again approved in principle.
13.5 A gala event planned for the triennial conference in August.
13.6 The planned Australasian conference in Auckland needs to be postponed.
13.7 Christchurch JANZ meet -scheduled for December 2022.
There was general support by the Meeting.
14. General business.
A general discussion took place about Covid lockdowns holding us back, arranging a table at the triennial conference and a JANZ conference in the future.
Judge G Winter will not be standing again as President. A new President should be ready to take office in March next year. He reiterated how important JANZ is, regionally, nationally and internationally.
The meeting concluded at 5.02 pm.