Bill Hastings (judge)

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Bill Hastings

| honorific_suffix =

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = William Kenneth Hastings{{cite web |url=https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2002-go5019 |title=Appointment of Chief Censor of Film |date=1 August 2002 |website=New Zealand Gazette |publisher=Department of Internal Affairs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213070421/https://www.gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2002-go5019 |archive-date=13 February 2016 |access-date=24 November 2020}}

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1957}}

| birth_place = Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = Lord Roberts Public School

| alma_mater = Midland Avenue Collegiate Institute

| office = 10th Chief Censor of New Zealand

| term_start = October 1999

| term_end = July 2010

| predecessor = Kathryn Paterson

| successor = Andrew Jack

| office1 = Chief Justice of Kiribati

| term_start1 = August 2021

| term_end1 = 2022

| predecessor1 = Sir John Muria

| successor1 = Tetiro Semilota

| signature = Bill Hastings signature.png

| signature_alt =

}}

William Kenneth Hastings (born 1957) is a Canadian-born judge who served as the tenth Chief Censor of New Zealand from October 1999 to July 2010. He was chairman of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal from July 2010 until February 2013, and is currently a District Court Judge. He was the chair of the Broadcasting Standards Authority from October 2018 until August 2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.bsa.govt.nz/about-us/who-we-are/ |title=Who we are |website=Broadcasting Standards Authority |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117064759/https://www.bsa.govt.nz/about-us/who-we-are/ |archive-date=17 January 2020 |access-date=25 November 2020}} He was sworn in as the tenth Judge of the Court Martial of New Zealand on 20 July 2021.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} On 9 August 2021, Hastings was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Republic of Kiribati, a position he held until 8 December 2022.{{citation |title=Kiribati Chief Justice Appointed |date=10 August 2021 |url=https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/media-and-resources/kiribati-chief-justice-appointed/}} He was a member of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of Vanuatu from July 2023 to June 2024.

Biography

Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada in 1957, he attended Lord Roberts Public School, and graduated from Midland Avenue Collegiate Institute. He holds a BA from the University of Trinity College, University of Toronto; law degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School, the London School of Economics, and Duke University;[https://judicialstudies.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2018-MJS-Bios-Photos.pdf MJS Bios] judicialstudies.duke.edu and was a practising barrister. He moved to New Zealand in 1985.{{cite web|url=http://www.censorship.govt.nz/censorship/censorship-structure-and-staff.html#bill|title=The structure and staff|date=6 April 2010|publisher=Office of Film and Literature Classification|accessdate=4 July 2010|archive-date=3 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603044926/http://www.censorship.govt.nz/censorship/censorship-structure-and-staff.html#bill|url-status=dead}} Before becoming Chief Censor, he was Deputy and Acting Chief Censor from December 1998 to October 1999, Senior Lecturer in Law (teaching Legal System and International Law), Deputy Dean of Law, and a member of the governing Council, at Victoria University of Wellington. He was also the Video Recordings Authority in 1994, a member of the Indecent Publications Tribunal from 1990 to 1994 and Deputy President of the Film and Literature Board of Review from 1995 to 1998. In 2010 he stood down as Chief Censor when he became a District Court Judge and Chair of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal.{{cite web|url=http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new+chief+censor+be+appointed|title=New Chief Censor to be appointed|last=Guy|first=Nathan|date=21 June 2010|publisher=New Zealand Government|accessdate=4 July 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712060722/http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new%2Bchief%2Bcensor%2Bbe%2Bappointed|archivedate=12 July 2010|url-status=live}} He was succeeded as Chief Censor by Andrew Jack, whose doctoral work he had supervised.{{Cite thesis |title=Cultural Relativity, Human Rights and the International Regulation of Broadcasting |url=https://openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz/articles/thesis/Cultural_Relativity_Human_Rights_and_the_International_Regulation_of_Broadcasting/16958440/1 |publisher=Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington |date=1992-01-01 |degree=Doctoral |language=en |first=Andrew Robert |last=Jack}}

Role as Chief Censor

In 1998, he was appointed Deputy Chief Censor at the Office of Film and Literature Classification by the Governor-General of New Zealand on the recommendation of the Jenny Shipley-led National coalition government. In 1999, he was appointed Chief Censor by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Helen Clark-led Labour coalition government for a three-year term in 1999, a two-year term in 2002, another three-year term in 2004 and a third three-year term late in 2007.

In 2002, Hastings appeared in the public eye when he made censorship decisions on highly controversial films, particularly Baise-moi and Visitor Q, both of which were scheduled for screening at the Beck's Incredible Film Festival. In 2003, Hastings again appeared in the public eye when the computer game Manhunt was banned by his office, making its possession in New Zealand illegal. Following a meeting in Toronto on 22 December 2003 between Hastings and officials from the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Services, Manhunt became the first computer game in Ontario to be classified as a film and restricted to adults in February 2004.

The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards in particular has accused Hastings of being a "gay activist" promoting homosexuality and promiscuity by giving too liberal classifications to films.{{citation |url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0511/S00115.htm |title=Chief Censor Misuses Living Word |date=15 November 2005 |accessdate=1 November 2007 |periodical=Scoop.co.nz| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930033731/http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0511/S00115.htm| archivedate= 30 September 2007 | url-status= live}} This estimation is contradicted by examination of the appeals against classifications; the Film and Literature Board of Review found classifications too liberal in only 3.5% of cases under Hastings – in contrast to 27% under his predecessor, Kathryn Paterson{{cite web |url=http://laws179.blogspot.com/2006/11/censorship-appeal-stats.html |title=Censorship-appeal stats |date=10 November 2006 |website=Victoria – University of Wellington |access-date=25 March 2021}} – and has upheld 82% of OFLC decisions made under Hastings.{{cite web |url=http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2006/11/censorship_stats.html |title=Censorship Stats |date=12 November 2006 |website=Kiwiblog |access-date=25 March 2021}}

Apart from his professional role, some have taken issue with one aspect of his personal life in particular: Hastings is openly homosexual.{{citation |title=Lobby group slams Censor's 'gay agenda' |website=GayNZ.com |date=14 October 2007 |url=http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_5094.php |accessdate=1 November 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015143222/http://gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_5094.php |archivedate=15 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}

Judicial career

On 21 June 2010, Hastings was appointed a District Court Judge and Chair of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. Hastings was sworn in at Wellington on 9 July 2010.{{citation |title=New District Court Judge and Chair of Immigration and Protection Tribunal Appointed |date=21 June 2010 |url=http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new+district+court+judge+and+chair+immigration+and+protection+tribunal+appointed |accessdate=24 June 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727195841/http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new%2Bdistrict%2Bcourt%2Bjudge%2Band%2Bchair%2Bimmigration%2Band%2Bprotection%2Btribunal%2Bappointed |archivedate=27 July 2010 |url-status=live }} In April 2013 he was succeeded as Chairperson of the Tribunal by Judge Carrie Wainwright and began sitting full-time as a District Court judge.{{cite web|url=http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-immigration-and-protection-tribunal-chair-appointed |title=New Immigration and Protection Tribunal Chair appointed |publisher=beehive.govt.nz |date=27 February 2013 |accessdate=27 June 2014}}

From 2015 to 2021 he presided over the Special Circumstances Court in Wellington,{{citation |title=Special Circumstances Court |date=27 July 2021 |url=https://www.districtcourts.govt.nz/criminal-court/criminal-jurisdiction/specialist-criminal-courts/court-of-special-circumstances/ |accessdate=27 July 2021 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127100510/https://www.districtcourts.govt.nz/criminal-court/criminal-jurisdiction/specialist-criminal-courts/court-of-special-circumstances/ |archivedate=27 January 2021 |url-status=live}} a therapeutic court aiming to address the underlying causes of offending,{{citation |title=Inside a court targeting the cause not just the crime |date=29 May 2021 |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/125124625/inside-a-court-targeting-the-cause-not-just-the-crime}} an approach that underpins the Te Ao Mārama vision{{cite web | url=https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/key-initiatives/te-ao-marama/ | title=Te Ao Mārama | New Zealand Ministry of Justice }} of the New Zealand District Court.{{citation |title=Vision of a new District Court where everyone's words are heard |date=18 January 2021 |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/123723401/vision-of-a-new-district-court-where-everyones-words-are-heard}}

On 9 August 2021, Hastings was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Republic of Kiribati.{{citation |title=Kiribati Chief Justice Appointed |date=10 August 2021 |url=https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/media-and-resources/kiribati-chief-justice-appointed/ |accessdate=10 August 2021 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813050435/https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/media-and-resources/kiribati-chief-justice-appointed/ |archivedate=13 August 2021 |url-status=live}} Chief Justice Hastings was seconded from the District Court of New Zealand for a period of three and a half years. He is the first openly gay person to become the Chief Justice of any country.

On 11 November 2021, Chief Justice Hastings overturned the Kiribati government's attempt to limit the term of another Kiribati High Court judge, Justice Lambourne, declaring the Government's actions unconstitutional.{{Cite web |title=Republic v Lambourne [2021] KIHC 8; Civil Case 16 of 2021 (11 November 2021) |work=Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute |url=http://www.paclii.org/ki/cases/KIHC/2021/8.html}}

On 30 June 2022, just as he was about to hear an appeal relating to further actions by the Kiribati government with respect to Justice Lambourne, he was abruptly suspended from his functions of Chief Justice by order of the President of Kiribati Taneti Maamau, creating a constitutional crisis.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/01/kiribati-faces-constitutional-crisis-after-government-suspends-both-high-court-justices | title=Kiribati faces constitutional crisis after government suspends both high court justices | website=TheGuardian.com | date=July 2022 }} After the Court of Appeal upheld Chief Justice Hastings' judgment, all three of its members were also suspended. Hastings resigned as Chief Justice of Kiribati on 6 December 2022.

On 3 July 2023, Hastings was sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Vanuatu, a position he held until the end of June 2024.