Swearing-In of Justice Rob Osborne at the High Court at Christchurch on 17 December 2018

 Address by Jonathan Eaton QC on Behalf of the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture.

E ngā mana, e ngā reo,  e te iwi whanui, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou. All people, languages and creeds, welcome, welcome, welcome.

He mihi nui ki a koe, Kaiwhakawā Osborne.
A special acknowledgement to Justice Osborne.

Your Honour the Right Honourable Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, all Judges and Associate Judges of the Courts of New Zealand; your Honour Justice Osborne, it is my great pleasure on behalf of the New Zealand Bar Association | Ngā Ahorangi Motuhake o te Ture to record our delight at your appointment as a judge of this court and it is my privilege to extend to you the very warmest congratulations from the members of the bar.

Your Honour, your appointment has been met with widespread and unanimous approval both at the bar and beyond.  In your many years in practice at Duncan Cotterill and in your time practicing at the independent bar, your Honour has made so many friends within the wider profession.  Your appointment as an Associate Judge in 2009 was so warmly welcomed and, for those who practice within the courts, your appointment as a judge of this Court has always had an air of inevitability.

Your appointment of course fills us with special pride as we like to think of your Honour as very much home grown.  A graduate of the University of Canterbury under the tutelage of John Burrowes QC, practice at Young Hunter, Duncan Cotterill, Canterbury Chambers, all Christchurch institutions of the law.

The essential attributes that gave rise to your success at Duncan Cotterill and as a barrister, that is your sharp intellect, your work ethic, humility, good humour, kind, inquiring and caring nature have not diminished in the slightest since your appointment as an Associate Judge and is reflected in the number of your former colleagues who are here to celebrate with you today.  

Your Honour has always fully embraced and promoted the importance of collegiality. You personally have always been wonderfully collegial. Your Honour’s determination to meet and welcome with warmth young lawyers or those whose faces might not be so familiar is widely recognised and much appreciated. 

Your Honour has enjoyed a very broad range of experience in the law.

Your first mentor during your time as a law clerk at Young Hunter was none other than Peter Penlington, as he then was. In 1978 you began with Duncan Cotterill where your Honour engaged in all forms of litigation. And of some relevace to the cases your Honour will now hear, whilst at Duncan Cotterill you acted as junior to Peter Penlington QC in a multi-accused trial for the murder of one Ricky Hill. A manslaughter verdict.

In 1980 the Attorney-General’s office in Hong Kong beckoned. A year prosecuting and three years in the civil litigation office before Austin Forbes inveigled your return to Duncan Cotterill and to general civil litigation but with a substantial employment practice.
 
A career at the bar was always likely and in 2007 you joined the independent bar with Nick Davidson QC and Dale Lester as foundation members of Canterbury Chambers.

Then, in January 2009 when your Honour was appointed an Associate Judge of this court.

Your contribution as an Associate Judge has been immense.  Your appointment followed in the footsteps of the GFC leading to a very significant increase in insolvency litigation and having managed those demands you found yourself on the frontline of the earthquake claims and the related litigation that has arisen in the wider Canterbury region since 2010.  

You have been the liaison judge on behalf of all associate judges and more recently the editor of McGechan.

So although, and as has been observed by a “customer” of this court, your Honour may not have run a lemonade stand, you certainly have, over many years developed a broad, and comprehensive experience in the law.

But your Honour has never allowed work pressures to impact on the atmosphere within your court. You are universally regarded as fair and courteous, your courts a pleasure in which to appear. Your calm and relaxed nature always prevails. 

Indeed a 2017 Ministry of Justice publication implied that calm demeanour might be a reflection of learnt behaviours, learnt from none other than Harper, your infamous Shih Tzu Maltese, who you inspiringly took to a sensitive intra-familial settlement conference to help the parties “chill”.

For that we all owe Harper our gratitude.

Given other speakers have made mention of Harper, and what is clearly a special relationship, I shall instead speak of your relationships with MOJ staff. Although at first blush the two incidents I will refer to might appear to demonstrate a conflicted attitude towards staff, in reality of course they do not.

The first incident, reported to me by Auckland counsel is one where your Honour’s warmth and caring nature created a rather awkward scenario.  Your Honour had been engaged in a telephone discussion with your research clerk whose identity shall remain anonymous. No doubt discussing some esoteric provision of the Companies Act. The discussion was perfectly convivial however no-one could have anticipated how your Honour might end the call. Your Honour did so with these words, and I quote “bye darling, love you”.  Your Honour hung up as it dawned on you that you had perhaps been overly familiar. You immediately phoned your somewhat confused clerk back to explain that you were a creature of habit and had slipped into language usually reserved for Claire.

But your Honour has not always been so bonded to those with whom you work the closest. Your loyal associate Karen Helms shared a rather distressing experience she endured in Dunedin when your Honour was focussed on getting the last plane back to Christchurch. Your Honour had agreed to give a District Court Judge a lift to the airport relegating Karen to the backseat.

You were in the basement of the Dunedin Courthouse.  Karyn went to put her bag on the back seat and get in. She opened the door and the pies your Honour had purchased from the “Who Ate All the Pies” pie shop were taking the space on the seat so she put her small case on the seat next to them and said “I will go around the other side”.  

But that comment fell on deaf ears and your Honour took off. Less one associate who immediately ran after the disappearing car in high-heeled boots. 

 After running down the street leading to the motor way she noticed the lights ahead turn red and your car slow and stop.  Thank goodness, he has noticed you might think. But no. Just as Karyn nearly caught up, the light turned green and off you sped.  This happened twice.  Fortunately the District Court Judge then received a personal call and in order to not appear as if listening to the call, your Honour only then sought to engage with your loyal associate. … Oddly enough there was no response.  One ought to not lightly ignore a judge. So your Honour turned to see no more than three pies and one suitcase.  And then promptly stopped the car.

I am pleased to confirm that laughter prevailed and your associate holds no grudge. 

Justice Osborne, you enjoy the utmost respect of the profession.

The Bar Association is in no doubt that your Honour will be a first-class judge whom we will look forward to appearing before.  

Congratulations your Honour and best wishes.

Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa