Last month I encouraged you to read a series of articles about judicial hard times in the United Kingdom. A day later I received this article. Scary stuff and many will say ,“It won’t happen here.” Well hang on a minute. Whilst judicial officers in New Zealand are relatively well remunerated the executive push to appoint limited contract judicial officers to fix hearing delays by employing rather than appointing judges is a worrying trend that needs our earnest attention.
The use of this device in a managed justice setting overlooks the most important constitutional imperative: independence. As the wise old saying goes, “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” Employing judicial officers on a limited contract risks a perception of bias that I dare say blurs the separation of powers line.
Judges living off baked beans
Immigration judges on zero hours contracts say they have been forced into debt, to remortgage or sell homes and claim benefits
Catherine Baksi | Jonathan Ames, Legal Editor | Saturday July 03 2021, 12.01am BST, The Times
Judges are applying for benefits and eating a diet of baked beans and instant noodles as “zero hours contracts” push them into debt.
Part-time, fee-paid immigration judges have said they would be treated better if they worked in McDonald’s. Some have moved in with parents since the first lockdown as the number of days they were booked to sit dropped, while the case backlog hit a record high.
Six judges who spoke to The Times anonymously said they and colleagues had been forced into debt, to remortgage or sell homes and claim benefits. One judge knew of two colleagues who had claimed universal credit and another said a lack of work contributed to the breakdown of their marriage.
The judges say they are discriminated against in their terms and conditions compared with full-time salaried judges, who are paid regardless of whether they hear cases. They also miss out on benefits such as sick leave, holiday pay and considerably higher pensions.
They allege that the way they are remunerated and the target-driven approach of the Ministry of Justice, which is supported by the senior judiciary, could result in miscarriages of justice, because financial pressures make them less likely to grant adjournments.
Part-time judges, who hear about 75 per cent of immigration and asylum cases, do not earn unless they hear cases. They receive £500 each day that they sit and are paid to write judgments on a sliding scale day-rate of up to £500.
They say they are not paid to prepare cases, which they say can involve reading hundreds of pages, and receive less money if cases are adjourned or do not go ahead. They also claim to have had to buy their own computer equipment to download documents and hear cases from home during the pandemic.
One judge said: “I am now like an Uber driver, on a zero hours contract. We would have greater protection if we worked in McDonald’s.” That judge, who normally sits for at least 120 days a year, said that between March and December 2020 they had one hearing and had sat only 11 times this year.
The judge claimed to have lost 90 per cent of normal annual income and was forced to remortgage, take out a hardship loan that they could not repay, and live on baked beans and Pot Noodles.
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Under anti-corruption rules, judges who fall into financial difficulties can be subject to disciplinary proceedings. One said: “We are all in dire debts . . . We should all be reporting ourselves. I am worried sick about being taken to court for debt by the Ministry of Justice and losing my judicial position, and equally ashamed to claim welfare benefits. Who would believe that a judge has to claim welfare benefits?” Another judge said morale was low. “The past year has caused many fee-paid judges to conclude that they are not relevant to the administration and delivery of justice.”
Kaly Kaul QC, founder of the Judicial Support Network, said her organisation “can confirm that a number of fee-paid judges have contacted us . . . and some have suffered great hardship.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “During the pandemic we introduced advanced payments to support fee-paid judges and remote hearings to increase the number of sitting days, while we reopened hearing centres as soon as it was safe to do so.”