Mahvash Ikram
Lawyers, particularly from Asian backgrounds, should consider running for Parliament and becoming lawmakers if they want to improve respect, understanding and access to the law for their communities, former Attorney-General Judith Collins KC says.
Judith Collins KC
When communities see their own representatives making the law, they become more willing to view it with respect. “Parliament is actually the people,” she said.
Speaking at the New Zealand Asian Lawyers annual event in Auckland on 3 May, Collins said understanding the law was sometimes lacking in immigrant communities.
“Most people have a good understanding of the law as it applies to what they’re doing, but not everybody [has this understanding] – particularly people who come to New Zealand as their chosen home, rather than those of us who were born here.
“[For example] some clients simply do not understand what’s needed in contracts or in the undertaking of them and how to behave in business. And partly that is because people don’t talk about these things – and if they do, it’s often in terms of ‘you have to go to a lawyer to be told what to do’.”
Clayton Kimpton, Mai Chen, Tony Herring and Vikram Singh
Making a difference
While practising law is interesting, it can never be as rewarding as making the law, Collins said.
“For those of you who are looking for a change in your career…. after 21 years in law, I changed to politics. This is the job for you, because whatever party you’re in, if you’re in Parliament, you can make a difference.”
Even backbench MPs can create an impact to bring positive change, she said.
Again citing herself as an example, Collins said it was in her first term in Parliament, from 2002 to 2005, that she forced a select committee inquiry into the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war and its effects on New Zealand troops and their families.
“It didn’t matter how many inquiries had been before by eminent people. They were wrong. And I made that happen. And I did that by working right across parties and making sure that people understood that there was a solution.”
More recently, Collins – who also chaired the Regulations Review Committee – worked with Labour ‘s shadow Attorney-General Vanushi Walters to improve access to secondary legislation and digitise government services.
“Once it was made clear to us that this was a problem, we fixed it. That’s lawmaking. How much fun is that?”
’Soft discrimination’
Vanushi Walters told the gathering that a rise in racism, anti-immigration sentiment and recent “ruptures” of international law had created challenges for Asian lawyers who had connections overseas.
Vanushi Walters
The old world order had come to an end and a new one had not yet been established, she said.
“It shakes us to our foundations. As lawyers who have deep personal connections across the globe, my sense is that it’s especially concerning for us.”
And when it came to racism, even Parliament and the legal profession were not immune.
“I think when we see overtly racist behaviour in some of our communities, in the public space, in the professional world, that can sometimes translate into a more restrained, polite bias, if you like, in professional corridors.”
The solution, she said, was for the legal profession to protect constitutional balance and ensure discrimination did not play out in the courts.
“The world needs lawyers to play a greater role in the defence of the rule of law… whether we’re talking about calling out breaches of international law or addressing the increase in distrust in terms of our institutions here in New Zealand, whether we’re talking about respect for the comity between the judiciary and Parliament, whether we’re talking about ensuring that soft discrimination doesn’t play out in our courts, but rather that understanding context and building that understanding with our colleagues is what needs to happen in judicial practice.”
‘Cultural intelligence’
In the next two decades, Asians will make up nearly half of New Zealand’s population, said Mai Chen, President of the NZ Asian Lawyers. In Auckland, every third person already identifies as Asian. Their average age is 29.
“If you look at the younger demographic of people who are eating and drinking and buying houses, Asians are a significant part of that.”
Mai Chen
This highlighted the need for more lawyers who had “cultural intelligence”, Chen said.
“IQ is no longer enough to be a lawyer… It is necessary, it’s just not sufficient. Some EQ is also pretty important…. but actually CQ [cultural intelligence] now becomes critical and it’s critical to ensuring that you understand what your client’s telling you to do.”
Currently, 13% of lawyers are Asian, but the numbers are growing and about one in four lawyers with seven years’ post qualification experience and below are Asian, she said.
“There is still work for New Zealand Asian lawyers to do to ensure that Asian lawyers are able to break through the bamboo ceiling to the senior ranks of our profession and the justice system. There are still many firsts to be achieved – an Asian judge in the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court, and as Attorney-General, for example.”
Without cultural capability, it will become a challenge to deal with the complex legal issues that are unique to Asian parties.
Without practitioners who understand cultural nuances, the system becomes vulnerable to abuse, Chen said. For example, people might claim they have English language difficulties in circumstances when this is not relevant.
And at the opposite end of the spectrum, Chen said, would be people who will not get access to justice due to a genuine misunderstanding of what breaches the law.
Those in dispute with Asian parties also needed a better understanding of culture context.
“It’s very difficult for Pakeha parties that are in dispute with Asian parties to sometimes understand the psyche. They say to me, ‘this is crazy. Why are they still fighting and litigating when going to court actually costs more than the amount in dispute?’ And I say, ‘it’s about big face’.”
Unique issues
Asian parties in legal disputes face myriad issues in accessing and understanding the law, often due to cultural differences, Chen said.
This highlighted the need for an even greater number of Asian lawyers who could help these parties navigate their way through the legal system.
Interpretation and translation difficulties often presented challenges when it came to documentary evidence, she added.
“[Also], Asian parties not understanding the court system, nor the law that applies in the specific area in contention, results in not understanding the role of judges, lawyers and interpreters.”
There are also challenges of “cultural overlay”, where interpretation of the law is based on how it was applied in their home country, she said.
With high rates of self-representation and little to no documentation, litigants often found it difficult to find their way through the legal process.
Life members
Former Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand and Judge Ajit Swaran Singh have been made life members of the New Zealand Asian Lawyers..
Sir Anand Satyanand and Judge Ajit Swaran Singh
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