Hampton still a campaigner
He may be identifiable in local courtrooms by his luxuriant beard, but Nigel Hampton QC is one of New Zealand’s few internationally known criminal lawyers.
Already the holder of an OBE, the Christchurch lawyer has now been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the law.
From topping his law graduate class at the University of Canterbury in 1964, Hampton’s 53-year career has seen him chair the New Zealand Law Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, become the first Disciplinary Commissioner of Counsel at the International Criminal Court in 2007, and serve as Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga.
In later years he was counsel for victims’ families of both the Pike River mining disaster and the CTV building collapse. He remains a judicial officer for World Rugby and New Zealand Rugby, is on the boards of charitable bodies, and is New Zealand patron of the Howard League for penal reform.
Linking his work defending criminals and speaking for bereaved families, Hampton said both had required him to represent individuals against the powerful state.
‘‘It’s trying to achieve some balance between the ordinary person against the weight of institutions,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s seeing humanity as individuals who require help with what they are being confronted with.’’
Hampton said in his five decades in law, he had seen the justice system swing back towards a more punitive focus because of demand for deterrent and retribution, rather than concentrating on rehabilitation.
‘‘There should be three legs to the stool. We’re losing the balance.’’
In his experience, people did not consider deterrents while committing crimes, he said.
While acknowledging crime, victims had a right to a voice in court, Hampton said justice must be objective, not subjective or emotive.
‘‘We need to take revenge out of the system. It’s driven by a three-year election cycle. Parties of all stripes are trying to outdo each other with punitive measures. But hopefully the pendulum will correct.’’
Hampton said despite talk of retirement for more than a decade, he would continue working ‘‘while I have my physical health, a reasonable amount of grey matter, and if my memory is not too slippery’’.