News 2006

High profile Zimbabwean judge joins Victoria

A Zimbabwean High Court judge who fled his homeland is to join Victoria University of Wellington as a visiting Fellow in the Institute of Policy Studies.

Benjamin Paradza recently arrived in Wellington and was yesterday celebrating becoming the University’s newest Fellow for up to two years. The former Zimbabwean judge is the first person to be named Victoria University’s Sigrid Rausing Visiting Fellow in the Institute of Policy Studies. This Fellowship is being run in association with Victoria University’s New Zealand Centre for Public Law.

Mr Paradza fled Zimbabwe earlier this year after what is widely regarded by independent commentators as the latest of a series of controversial examples which have seen the Zimbabwean government accused internationally of interference with the independence of the judiciary.

Judge Paradza acquitted an opposition politician and was then himself charged with corruption and perverting the course of justice. He fled Zimbabwe and was convicted in a judicial process strongly criticised by the United Nations, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Pat Walsh, welcomed Mr Paradza to Victoria. “We are proud to be assisting Mr Paradza in rebuilding his career in an academic setting and we sympathise that he is unable to do this in his own country. It will be beneficial to our staff and students to have the opportunity to develop their skills with a practised jurist in their midst.”

Dr Andrew Ladley, Director of the Institute of Policy Studies, says he’s pleased to have Mr Paradza on board.

“The experience that Benjamin has been through is a vivid demonstration of the breakdown of the rule of law in Zimbabwe, including now the almost complete erosion of the concept of an independent judiciary, free from government control. I am delighted that the New Zealand Government accepted Benjamin as a refugee and so have provided a safe haven for him and his family. And I am very pleased that Victoria has been able to work with the Sigrid Rausing Trust to create this fellowship. I am sure Benjamin will rapidly become a valued member of our community.

“Benjamin will be working directly with me in developing his own study, and in researching and commenting in the broad area of peace and conflict resolution studies where he is likely to focus on the importance of the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law and human rights issues.”

Mr Paradza thanked the University for the opportunity to undertake research in Wellington.

“It’s a pleasure to be here and I hope I can be an asset to this beautiful country and the city of Wellington. I look forward to my time at Victoria University and I thank the people and the Government of New Zealand. Special gratitude also to Sigrid Rausing for this highly generous opportunity that has been made available to me.”

London based Swedish philanthropist, Sigrid Rausing has agreed to fund this new fellowship for two years. She has a particular interest in refugees and the guardians of human rights, like Benjamin Paradza, who are persecuted for trying to uphold the rule of law in Zimbabwe.

During the next two years the Institute of Policy Studies and the Faculty of Law hope to raise the additional funding required to make the Fellowship permanent.

Further information and media appointments; contact Andrew Ladley on 027 563 6834 or 04 463 6834

The 2006 NZCPL Lecture Series Begins

The Centre has started the year with a prestigious line up of speakers who will be presenting public lectures in 2006. In March we have the President of Trinity College in the United Kingdom coming to Wellington, the Hon Michael Beloff QC. Mr Beloff will present a lecture on Tuesday 7 March. Following on from this great start to the year's lecture series we have the first of our Public Office Holder Lecture Series Lectures, to be given by the Hon Peter Dunne on Thursday 9 March.

On Thursday 30 March we are pleased to present the second Public Office Holder Lecture Series lecture to be given by the new President of the New Zealand Law Commission, the Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Palmer. Following on from there we have Hon Jeanette Fitzsimons presenting in May. There are more lectures confirmed for dates throughout the year.

14th Annual ANZSIL Conference

On Thursday 29 June Professor Campbell McLachlan President of ANZSIL, will open the 14th Annual Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law Conference at Victoria University. The Conference is normally held in Canberra, Australia but comes to Wellington for the second time and where it will be once again hosted by NZCPL. The conference will feature a distinctly Pacific flavour, under the topic "Pacific Perspectives on International Law".

Salmond Symposium

The Law School and New Zealand Centre for Public Law are pleased to announce the 2006 Salmond Symposium. The Symposium is scheduled for Friday 18 and Saturday 19 August 2006.

The Hon John Salmond was a prestigious jurist and Judge who spent time at Victoria University Law School as a professor of law in 1906. The Salmond Symposium poses to look into the finer details of Salmond's work. As a teacher of Law at Victoria University College he was very highly regarded by students and the profession alike for his personality and ability to express the complexities of the law.