Sheriffs in New Zealand

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Sheriffs in New Zealand are officers of the Superior Courts and function as the executive arm of these courts.[1] They are responsible for serving court processes like summonses and subpoenas in the same way that Bailiffs serve the court processes of the District Court of New Zealand.[2] They play an important role in the execution of court orders of the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of New Zealand. Sheriffs are forbidden from acting as barristers, solicitors, or acting as agent of a law firm while employed in the role of Sheriff.[3]

Sheriffs in New Zealand have had various different roles and responsibilities in different eras of the country and today Sheriffs have a dramatically diminished role compared to the past.

Today

Today the role of Sheriff and court Registrar are a dual position where the role of sheriff is automatically given to anyone who has gained the position of Registrar, as the Senior Courts Act 2016 states that each "Registrar is also a Sheriff for New Zealand". Deputy Registrars and other officials may also be appointed as Deputy Sheriffs to help and assist Sheriffs. [4]

Sheriffs have the powers to serve the court such as summonses, to enforce the orders of the court and the power to arrest a person in accordance with an order of the High Court.[1] Sheriffs can ask Deputy Sheriffs, Bailiffs, any Sheriff's officers that they employ to help them in their duties, however in practice, the police often carry out the functions of sheriffs on their behalf.[5]

The duties of Sheriffs can extend from selling properties owned by indebted people on the behalf of the High Court (like a like an apartment block) or performing constitutionally required ceremonial duties like escorting the Chief Justice when they are opening a new session of the New Zealand Parliament.[6][7]

History

Sheriff Charles Simeon's reward poster offering a £50 reward for the capture of James Mckenzie after he escaped from gaol published in the Lyttelton Times in May 1855

At the beginning of New Zealand's colonial history, sheriffs were appointed by the governor to enforce orders of the court, starting with Sheriff James Coates, who was appointed by Governor William Hobson to be the "Sheriff of the Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies" in July 1841.[8][9] Sheriffs at this time had the responsibility of upholding capital punishments by finding a willing executioner and organising the execution event, as was first overseen by Coates in 1842.[10] After Coates was joined by other individuals appointed as sheriff in 1842, he was alternatively referred to as the "High Sheriff" in order to show his seniority compared to the other "Sub-Sheriffs".[11]

Further, between 1840 and 1853 they had the additional responsibility of building and running local gaols (jails) and hire gaolers (jailers) to manage the prisoners. The underfunded and overcrowded gaols were of such poor condition that responsibility for running these gaols were handed over to the recently established provincial governments in 1853.[12] For a period of time the responsibility for funding the local sheriff's offices was also handed over to the various provincial governments throughout the country,[13] although outlaw James McKenzie was still able escape from Lyttelton Gaol on at least two occasions due to the poor condition of the gaol in 1855.[14]

Alexander McDonald resigned from the job of sheriff of Nelson in 1843 after only a few months after he received a letter from the Colonial Secretary reminding him that his job was to conduct the business of the courts and to not organise public meetings and engage in other endeavours that were not in the job description.[15]

After 1853, with the signing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, sheriffs also acted as the returning officers in both provincial and national elections.[16] In July 1861, Sheriff Shafto Harrison created controversy when he was elected to the Wellington Provincial Government while also being employed as the Sheriff of Wanganui who had electoral overseeing duties.[17]

To help with these increased duties, a number of sheriffs in 1859 were given the assistance of a deputy sheriff to help them complete matters of the sheriff's office.[18]

In 1866 there was considerable scandal when the former sheriff of Otago, Robert Henry Forman, was arrested on board a ship leaving for Sydney shortly after he resigned and was charged with unlawfully taking money for his own use. Further scandal was created when he was granted a discharge without conviction.[19] Further scandal came in 1872 with the appointment of William Henry Eyes as sheriff of Marlborough, who was a convicted rapist and got caught engaging in adultery not long after he became sheriff.[20][21]

Lists of sheriffs

New Ulster and New Munster

Sheriff Shrievalty Office Assumed office Left office
James Coates New Zealand Auckland July 1841 January 1842
Thomas Beckham North New Ulster Russell January 1842 March 1844
James Coates Central New Ulster Auckland January 1842 September 1843
Michael Murphy Southern New Ulster Wellington January 1842 January 1843
Henry St. Hill Southern New Ulster Wellington January 1843 1853
Alexander McDonald North New Munster Nelson March 1843 October 1843
Percival Berrey Central New Ulster Auckland September 1843 1853
F. Marshall North New Munster Nelson December 1843 April 1845
Joseph Dixon North New Ulster Russell March 1844 February 1845
Donald Sinclair North New Munster Nelson April 1845 February 1848
John Tinline North New Munster Nelson February 1848 December 1852
Alfred Rowland Chetham-Strode South New Munster Dunedin August 1850 1853
Edward Wright Central New Munster Lyttelton April 1851 July 1853

Auckland

Sheriff Shrievalty Assumed office Left office
Thomas Beckham Auckland 1853 January 1855
Loughlin O'Brien Auckland January 1855 March 1865
Henry Colin Balneavis Auckland March 1865 August 1876

Taranaki

Tilte Sheriff Shrievalty Assumed office Left office
Sheriff Josiah Flight New Plymouth 1853 April 1868
Deputy Samuel Popham King New Plymouth August 1859

Hawke's Bay

Sheriff Shrievalty Assumed office Left office
Henry Robert Russell Napier October 1857

Wellington

Sheriff Shrievalty Assumed office Left office
Henry St. Hill Wellington 1853 May 1854
William Fox Wellington May 1854 1855
Henry St. Hill Wellington 1855 January 1864
Henry Shafto Harrison Wanganui July 1857 July 1861
Herbert Samuel Wardell Wairarapa October 1863 April 1885
Thomas Harper Wanganui July 1861 November 1870
Charles Dudley Ward Wellington January 1864 January 1866
James Coutts Crawford Wellington January 1866 July 1878
Walter Lawry Buller Wanganui January 1871 July 1873

Nelson

Sheriff Shrievalty Assumed office Left office
Benjamin Walmsley Nelson March 1853 January 1862
Maxwell Bury Nelson November 1861 April 1863
William Wells Nelson April 1863 May 1863
Benjamin Walmsley Nelson May 1863 February 1870
Joseph Giles Westland North April 1868 January 1876
Thomas Brunner Nelson February 1870 February 1872
Lowther Broad Nelson February 1872 December 1875

Marlborough

Sheriff Shrievalty Assumed office Left office
Thomas William Downes Picton November 1861 October 1866
Dr Stephen Lunn Muller Blenheim July 1866 February 1872
William Henry Eyes Blenheim February 1872 May 1873
Cyrus Goulter Blenheim May 1873 January 1879

Canterbury

Sheriff Shrievalty Assumed office Left office
Charles Simeon Lyttelton November 1853 August 1855
Henry Tancred Lyttelton August 1855 May 1856
Charles Christopher Bowen Lyttelton May 1856 December 1856
John Hall Lyttelton December 1856 January 1862
Alexander Back Christchurch November 1861 January 1878
George Samuel Sale Westland November 1865 September 1866
Gerard George Fitzgerald Westland County September 1866 February 1878

Otago

Sheriff Shrievalty Assumed office Left office
Alfred Rowland Chetham-Strode Dunedin 1853 June 1857
John Gillies Dunedin June 1857 June 1863
Robert Henry Forman Dunedin June 1863 January 1866
Alfred Rowland Chetham-Strode Dunedin January 1866 January 1868
Alfred William Smith Dunedin January 1868 May 1868
Isaac Newton Watt Dunedin May 1868 August 1878

Southland

Sheriff Shrievalty Assumed office Left office
Matthew Price Invercargill February 1863 October 1865
H. McCullock Invercargill October 1865

References

  1. ^ a b "Senior Courts Act 2016 no 48 s 36 - New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office". legislation.govt.nz.
  2. ^ "District Court Act 2016 no 49 s 68 - New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office". legislation.govt.nz.
  3. ^ "Senior Courts Act 2016 no 48 s 37 - New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office". legislation.govt.nz.
  4. ^ "Senior Courts Act 2016 no 48 s 35 - New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office". legislation.govt.nz.
  5. ^ "Senior Courts Act 2016 no 48 s 39 - New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office". legislation.govt.nz.
  6. ^ "High Court forces sale of controversial Ranolf St flats". nzherald.co.nz.
  7. ^ "Opening of Parliament - Courts of New Zealand". courtsofnz.govt.nz.
  8. ^ New Zealand Government Gazette. 7 July 1841. p. 1. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ "New Zealand". The Australasian Chronicle. 17 August 1841. p. 3.
  10. ^ British Parliamentary Papers. Colonies: New Zealand, pages 196 & 197
  11. ^ "Sales by auction". Daily Southern Cross. Vol. I, no. 10. 24 June 1843. p. 1. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  12. ^ "Early prisons, 1840–1879 - Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand". teara.govt.nz.
  13. ^ "What is the public service? - Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand". teara.govt.nz.
  14. ^ "Mckenzie's country: a folk hero is born". New Zealand Geographic.
  15. ^ "Untitled". The Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle. Vol. II, no. 84. 14 October 1843. p. 334. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  16. ^ WELLINGTON INDEPENDENT, VOLUME VIII, ISSUE 807, 6 JULY 1853, PAGE 3
  17. ^ WELLINGTON INDEPENDENT, VOLUME XVI, ISSUE 1598, 9 JULY 1861, PAGE 5
  18. ^ NEW ZEALANDER, VOLUME XV, ISSUE 1382, 16 JULY 1859, PAGE 2
  19. ^ OTAGO DAILY TIMES, ISSUE 1278, 1 FEBRUARY 1866, PAGE 5
  20. ^ "Sydney". Hawkesbury Courier and Agricultural and General Advertiser. Vol. 2. Windsor, NSW. 18 July 1844. p. 1. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  21. ^ MARLBOROUGH PRESS, VOLUME XIV, ISSUE 835, 15 JANUARY 1873, PAGE 2
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