NZ judge resigns from contentious Dubai role

CHRISTCHURCH: A leading figure of New Zealand’s judiciary appointed to a Dubai judge’s role quietly resigned just weeks into the job after mounting pressure from human rights campaigners.

Sir William Young, a former Supreme Court judge who led the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the March 15, 2019 Christchurch terror attack, stepped down less than a fortnight after joining Dubai’s international financial court.

Two Irish judges virtually sworn in alongside Sir William on July 27 to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts — the republic’s former chief justice Frank Clarke and former High Court president Peter Kelly — resigned after pressure from a leading politician, who said their appointments were part of a ‘‘deliberate strategy by [the] regime to use respected former judges as a way to legitimise it’’.

Amnesty International claims the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government continues to commit serious human rights violations, including its courts passing death sentences.

Sir William (70), who lives in Christchurch and retired from the bench of the Supreme Court earlier this year after 25 years as a judge, had been listed on the DIFC’s website as one of its judges, alongside highprofile figures from England, Wales, Scotland, Australia, Malaysia and the UAE.

His photograph and details vanished from the site earlier this week.

Sir William confirmed he had stepped down.

He said he was first approached to consider the position late last year.

Sir William said he was pleased to accept the appointment, believing that the DIFC Courts played a valuable role in providing ‘‘independent, impartial and efficient resolution of commercial disputes for those who seek redress through them’’.

However, the criticism of the appointments of the Irish judges, and the ‘‘concerns that underlie that criticism’’, made Sir William rethink his decision, he said.

‘‘I therefore decided to resign from the DIFC Courts and did so by email to the Chief Justice of the DIFC Courts on August 9.’’

The resignation was received with ‘‘polite regret’’, he said.

Human rights activist and retired Irish barrister Bill Shipsey, who has been outspoken in criticising judges for signing up to the Dubai jobs, praised Sir William for making a ‘‘courageous decision’’ to step down. Mr Shipsey wrote in the Irish

Times earlier this month asking ‘‘what were they thinking’’ given what he calls Dubai’s ‘‘appalling human rights record and the conduct of their appointer, the Ruler of Dubai, Mohammed Al Maktoum’’.

The DIFC is yet to make any public comments around the resignations.

The appointment of highprofile respected judges has been branded ‘‘judge washing’’; similar to ‘‘sports washing’’ — a term popularised by Amnesty International to describe the use of sports by oppressive governments to legitimise their regimes and distract from their human rights abuses. —