Saturday, October 30, 2004

How stupid is our Chief Justice?

The Herald reports that Sian Elias didn't know that her criticisms about the Prime Minister's constitutional ignorance were going to be reported. This might have been tolerable except that after the earlier public scuffle, the damage control spin was:
It appears unlikely that Dame Sian or the two other Supreme Court judges who appeared in May before the House of Commons constitutional committee, Justice Kenneth Keith and Justice Thomas Gault, knew the cross-examination of their evidence was to be publicly posted verbatim.
While it may be constitutionally improper to have the Chief Justice's speeches vetted by the Beehive's Ninth Floor, I can't help thinking that idea has its mertis.