New judge at the top

child’s sick, what if the school rings up?’’

An arrangement was struck that she, and another judge appointed around the same time, would not carry the full load of months spent on ‘‘circuit’’, working in the other courts the Auckland judges covered.

The flexibility was allowed by Dame Sian Elias, the woman Winkelmann succeeds as chief justice. Winkelmann says it’s the type of allowance that has to be made to get diversity, starting at school level to bring people through their education, into the profession, and on to being a judge.

‘‘Judges of today are from a far more diverse group than we’ve had before, but they certainly aren’t as diverse a group as we would hope one day to have.’’

Winkelmann rose to be chief High Court judge and then was appointed to the Court of Appeal. She also heads the Institute of Judicial Studies.

She says judges need education if they are to understand factors like disabilities, gender, ethnicity, culture, sexuality, addictions, mental health, and poverty, and how those impact on people.

Being a judge can mean a hard, high workload, a reasonably inflexible lifestyle, in a sense working in a conflict zone, she says. ‘‘Society is changing very quickly and we have to make changes too within how we administer justice, so we are not locked in a permafrost while the rest of society moves around us.

‘‘And there is this increasing stress, which was not really present for judges of yesteryear, of media scrutiny, and it can be intense at times. No judge sets out to do a bad job. They are all earnestly trying to live up to the full demands, and they are full demands, of the judicial oath.’’

Technological changes complicate the relationship with the media. ‘‘We do keep up, I think we keep up, and when we don’t keep up the media are certainly pretty quick to point out what a bunch of duffers we are.’’

Like many judges she found sentencing a hard part of the job. ‘‘It’s a hard thing to send someone to prison, but of course that’s the appropriate punishment in many cases.’’

But if a judge clearly communicates the process and the reasons for a decision, confronting the issues and the tension, then the decision is more readily accepted, she says.

‘‘Judges do see a lot of heart-wrenching things so it does take a toll.’’

They have to find ways to cope with stress and trauma, even it it is other people’s.

Winkelmann has her own way of dealing with stress, such as waking at 5.30am to exercise. Not keen on shopping, she’s grateful to wear clothes from her sister, Adrienne Winkelmann, a high-end fashion designer who once made her black vinyl hotpants but now does a fine dark suit.

One of the important parts of Winkelmann’s role is to speak up about issues of access to justice but that covers more than just how much it costs to get a case into court, or having the money for a lawyer.

It’s also about having court decisions publicly accessible so people understand their options on issues like pay parity, residential tenancies, and ACC.

‘‘We need to write decisions clearly so the general public understands their rights without having to go to a lawyer. If you know your rights you don’t have to go to a lawyer, you can say, ‘Back off’.’’

Access to civil justice is not straightforward. The court system is set up for people to have a lawyer on civil matters. ‘‘Once you’re in a dispute zone the law becomes a complex thing.’’

And at the top of the legal tree the establishment of the Supreme Court in 2004 itself improved access to justice, especially for family law, environmental and criminal cases that rarely reached the Privy Council in London when it was still the ultimate court.

In her new role Winkelmann heads the Supreme Court, as well as the judges generally, there’s more administration and more variety, but she still enjoys sitting down and writing judgments.

Not enjoyed is public speaking. For all her achievements since being a very shy child, she has yet to become comfortable with it.

‘‘I used to speak extremely quickly so people would look at me for less time, and I had to slow it down.’’

Like her predecessor, Winkelmann intends to accept invitations to speak, to groups in the community and connected to the legal profession, but she might share the job more.

‘‘It doesn’t just have to be the chief justice who speaks for the judiciary, there are many, many experienced judges who have valuable perspectives and are skilled communicators.’’

The varied nature of the new job, with all its challenges, will suit her, she says.

‘‘The challenges will change. And if things aren’t changing they’re going backwards.’’