I had a comment
recently that I ought to try writing a blog about something positive. It’s a
tempting thought and God knows I’ve scanned the news sites looking for some
really good local positivity. The fact is; although there are some good things
going on they don’t offer the same amount of scope for being lampooned (unless I pick on our local media) or making a
valid ethical or political point.
So I decided
instead this week to make a positive prediction.
I predict that 2012 will be a very good year for lawyers in New Zealand. Now you
might think that a pretty lame prediction considering that by income standards
at least, most years are good for lawyers in NZ. But I mean it will be a good
year for them because of the number of interesting legal conundrums that will
arise, for the most part from the actions of our Government.
It has already
opened in fine style with the Electoral Commission finding that the ‘Boogie
down with Jianqi’ radio show was in fact an election programme. It would seem
the EC possess the ‘nads to stand up to the Government, unlike the BSA, or Justice
Winkelmann, or the Ombudsman. Now let’s see if our Police Commissioner is a
real man or too scared about his promotion prospects to prosecute.
What makes this
one even more interesting is the fact that at present it is Mediaworks that is
in the gun and not Jianqi. Surely by taking part he would be responsible as
well – in fact the main culprit. Mediaworks (who by some strange coincidence
had a Government guarantee of around $45M given to them last year) were simply
accessories before during and after the offence. The Prime Muncher was responsible
for putting himself on there.
Consider this;
If Joe Bloggs asked his neighbour to borrow his truck so he could go and do a
ram raid on his local liquor store, then it would be Joe who would have the
book thrown at him while his neighbour would be prosecuted for the lesser crime
of knowingly providing him with the means to commit the raid. I can’t see why
the Radio Jianqi affair should be any different. However I’ve no doubt a bunch
of very highly paid counsel will be arguing that out soon.
Speaker and
general oddball Backward Smith has bumbled out early with a politically
motivated ruling that could also lead to legal action, although I sense there
could be a reprieve for him if the PSC disagree with his ruling.
I am reminded of
a similarly stupid lapse of judgement by the same Gaylen look-alike a few years
ago when he explained that Asians were ideally suited for fruit picking because
of their tiny wee hands. It’s a miracle he didn’t wind up with a large Chinese
basketballer’s mitt around his scrawny little throat to remind him that people
of all races come in all shapes and sizes.
Of course the
PSC might agree with Lockwood that it is fine to discriminate against deaf
people but not those in wheelchairs or those who want Maori translation.
Hopefully they will write that down as I just did to see how ridiculous it is
and allow the Greens to get their Mojo working. If not I see tears before
bedtime for ol’ Backwards and shouts of glee from some highly paid lawyers.
The legal
profession has already done very well out of the Tuhoe raids case and will no
doubt continue to do so for some time yet. I really don’t know what was going
on in Tuhoe country at the time, but clearly something was. Whether it was
illegal or not might be another matter. Unfortunately when somebody as high
profile as Tame Iti is involved the issues often become clouded as other agenda
from him and his opponents come into play.
It is clear,
however that the Police exceeded their powers, which is, let’s face it, not
that unusual for them. What makes this a bit different though is their insistence
that the ends justified the means. This is what the US Government calls
accepting a bit of collateral damage and what Adolph Hitler called the path to
the final solution (or something similar). If Government and Police want the
law to be respected they need to apply it in an ethical and fair manner. The
minute you start cutting corners and skipping over people’s rights you are on a
slippery slope. It’s a bit like opening that box of chocolates you know you
shouldn’t eat, just to have one, or maybe two, or three won’t really hurt, will
they......?
There is one
more case that will keep a lot of lawyers very busy and very well rewarded, and
that is the Megaupload (of bollox). This is another case that has a very dodgy
feel to it.
I don’t know a
great deal about Kim DotCom (such a silly name), but from what I can see, his
case is going to open quite a few cans of worms and I doubt they’ll all be able
to put back into the cans afterwards. The FBI seems to think he’s a cross
between Al Capone, Timothy McVeagh and Charlie Manson. Charges include
money-laundering (what do you use; I use Earthwise ultra concentrate);
racketeering (so he’s a bit noisy) and copyright fraud – but here is where the
lawyers will really get busy.
Owners of
copyright are entitled to full protection against theft of their works, but the
Feds are trying to make him and his company liable for the actions of third
parties over which they will have limited control. It is a bit like trying to
make a record store owner liable for the actions of somebody who buys a CD from
their store and takes it home and makes a load of copies which he then sells to
others. The store owner can’t possibly know the guy is going to do this and is
engaged in a perfectly legitimate and honourable trade selling CDs in the first
place. I can’t see how the Megaupload thing differs in that respect. However I’ve
no doubt a coach load of lawyers will make enough money out of arguing it to
put a deposit down on a small Greek island. I hear they might be going for
quite reasonable prices soon along with quite a lot of other European real
estate. But the lawyers will need to act fast to beat the bankers to it.
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