High notes of a judge’s life
In the quiet of a courtroom Justice Raynor Asher seemed the archetypal judge – measured, polite, and big brained.
Having reached what Court of Appeal president Stephen Kos called the ‘‘statutorily deemed age of senility’’ of 70, when judges must retire, Asher left the Court of Appeal bench yesterday, basking in the warm glow of reminiscences of the windsurfing, skiing, guitar-playing dreamer whom the court-going public would never have seen.
There were testaments to his intellect and decision-making abilities but also to his strange dreamy quality that nevertheless led to clear, concise and ‘‘on the button’’ judgments, first in the High Court from 2005 and for the past three years in the Court of Appeal.
And the time he drove to go windsurfing, no more than curious about the repeated honking from the car behind him, only to find when he got to the shore that the family cat was clinging to the windsurfer on top of his car.
His generous contribution to colleagues and the profession generally was praised but not his ability with technology which was said to be ‘‘totally useless’’.
When it was his turn to reply, whether to the praise or the unjudge-like enthusiasms, he said ‘‘I think you have got the wrong bloke’’. Although he has reached retirement age for a judge, Asher is not retiring.
He will return to working as a lawyer in Auckland, and to his adored 165 rose bushes.