I'm pleased for Judge Emma Aitken. She lives to rule another day.
That dreadful night at the Northern Club that threatened to derail her career has not ended in the calamity it could have.
The adjudicators didn’t like what she did. But equally she isn't losing her job.
I got fascinated by the whole experience because it's unusual to see a procedure that is legal, but not really legal.
There was a panel and witnesses were called and a verdict of sorts was going to be issued.
Yes, for Aitkin it was potentially a disaster. But for the observer like me, it also had comedic elements to it.
The Northern Club is a venue of pretence snobbery, snooker and high society. Add judges, Winston Peters, champagne, pissed, old KC's and what could possibly go wrong?
They were never going to sack her. It was a classic he said, she said.
She claimed she uttered her words. The others said she yelled.
She said she didn’t know it was Winston. New Zealand First banners were all over the place.
She had a fabulous yellow dress on and was tired from her day of deliberations.
There were two glasses of champagne, or possibly only one and a half. There was a New Zealand First employee who found Aitken quite visually bedazzling. None of that was going to lead to the end of a career.
What was a scandal was the bill. But that’s lawyers isn't it? It was seven figures in the end and guess who paid for that?
The case to my mind was really simple. Two wrongs were committed.
1) She got involved in something that was none of her business. Whether she recognised Winston, or yelled, or didn’t, is immaterial. She wasn’t an invitee and as such should have kept her sticky beak out.
2) NZ First for elevating this to the level it was. What a grandstanding waste of time.
Comity was breached and it shouldn't have been. But somewhere between the champagne and interference and upset should have been a few adults, and some common sense, who should have realised this was but a moment in time.
And hardly a scrap worth hiring a lawyer for.
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