Rule of Law or Ruler’s Law?

It’s been a huge week for NZ Police, and not for reasons anyone should celebrate. Abuse of power, cover-ups, lies, corruption, scandals, and alleged coordinated criminal activity have dominated the headlines. Story after story, interview after interview, has exposed the deep failures of some of the country’s most trusted leaders. Those tasked with upholding the law instead acted as a law unto themselves—misusing power, abandoning accountability, and leaving real human victims in their wake.

This week has reminded us why power must be limited, and why those in positions of authority must be held accountable through transparent frameworks. We’ve witnessed the human tendency toward self-interest - especially when power is unchecked. We’ve seen both the best of our democracy and the very worst of our leadership.

At the same time, abuses of power have been exposed to the public, and we’ve been reminded of the importance of the rule of law, the antidote to abuses of power. 

Evil has been rightly condemned, and accountability carried out in the open. This is good.

In case you missed it: The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) found serious failings in how New Zealand Police senior leadership handled complaints against then-Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming. Allegations included sexual misconduct allegations by a woman he had a relationship with. The IPCA determined that investigations were delayed, improperly framed and influenced in ways that prioritized his career prospects and made him out to be the victim rather than the criminal. McSkimming later resigned and pleaded guilty to possessing objectionable material including child-sex exploitation and bestiality imagery on work devices. Former Commissioner Andrew Coster was named in the report for actively failing to disclose and covering up key information during McSkimming’s promotion process and attempting to shape the investigation.  

But let’s take a quick step back in history for some perspective.

At the end of the American Revolution, George Washington could have chosen to be king, to seize power and choose REX LEX – the rule of the king. But that’s not what Washington chose.

In a historically pivotal moment, Washington chose LEX REX, the rule of law. No one is above the law. Washington could have chosen to be the supreme power, but did not, he chose to submit his authority to an even higher authority, the law.  

For most of history people lived under REX LEX, rule of the king, by strongman, by monarch, by whoever held power. In those systems, law enforcement served the ruler first and the public second…and of course abuse abounded.

So in our case this week we are reminded that Police’s legitimacy comes from consent, not coercion - the Rule of Law builds our trust in the institution is the foundation of this consent.

Police and law enforcement authorities play a critical role in the functioning of a liberal democracy, and we must ensure that they are operating within the frameworks of trust, transparency and accountability because a loss of trust in the police will be destructive. 

In a time when some radical voices call to defund the police, we say the real fight is to strengthen the institution by demanding greater accountability and radical transparency. This week, we’ve stood up to call for a full rethink of laws (like the HDCA and the under-16 social media ban) that would force police into impossible roles and ultimately erode public trust in both policing and our democracy. We refuse to accept laws that undermine the very foundations of justice and community safety.

What we’ve witnessed this past week has been tragic in many ways, but the response has been exceptional. The public’s overwhelming condemnation of abuse of power, the integrity and courage of those who spoke out, and the demand for transparency and accountability all reveal something powerful about who we are.

This week, the law ruled.

In the grand scheme of history this accountability for those in power is the exception, not the norm. This is a culture and system that we, in New Zealand, have inherited and must be immensely grateful for. One way we express this gratitude for the liberal frameworks we’ve inherited is by preserving it. This is what we aim to do here at PILLAR, to protect individual life, liberty and rights. 

This is one of the quiet blessings of our democracy and one we must never take for granted. George Washington’s refusal to become a king set his nation on a path where the law, not personalities, would reign. It’s a legacy that reminds us what’s worth defending today.