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  • New Zealand Listener

    COURTING CONTROVERSY

    Jun 13, 2021 8 minutes
    by PAUL GORMAN
    photograph by SEAN WALLER

    Ever wanted to know what a judge really thinks of the law, her courtroom and her colleagues? Retired District Court and Family Court judge Rosemary Riddell has thrown back the musty curtains of the justice system to let in light and reveal what life on the bench is actually like.

    To Be Fair: Confessions of a District Court Judge (Upstart Press) reflects Riddell’s 14 years on the bench – 12 full-time and two with an acting-warrant – and is a vehicle for her strong opinions on issues such as the country’s handling of domestic violence, the “glacial pace” of the justice system, the outdated Adoption Act and the controversial “three strikes” law.

    Riddell, 69, is aware the forthright views she has unleashed in her book and subsequent interviews will ruffle legal feathers and mean there is no way back to the bench.

    She has been through plenty, including the death of her daughter Polly after a drug overdose in 2018.

    Riddell had a career in broadcasting and acting before studying and practising law. She was appointed to the District Court in Hamilton in 2006.

    Talking to the Listener, she takes a big swipe at Government spending priorities and the lack of funding for one of the country’s most pressing issues, domestic violence.

    “The moment Covid

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