About
Commissions of inquiry
In 1995 Mr Hughes-Johnson KC was appointed by the Solicitor-General of New Zealand to act as counsel to assist the Commission of Inquiry into the Collapse of a Viewing Platform at Cave Creek, near Punakaiki on the West Coast, involving a lengthy hearing and the preparation and presentation of a report to the House of Representatives.
High Court and appeal courts
Recent cases in which Mr Hughes-Johnson has been involved have included a claim for damages against a local authority alleging breaches of duties in nuisance and negligence and acting as senior counsel for a board chairman in Property Ventures Limited (In Receivership and Liquidation) and others v Forbes and others CIV-2012-409-002486, involving alleged breach of directors’ duties and alleged auditor’s negligence.
Mr Hughes-Johnson has wide experience in professional ethics/disciplinary matters. He was a member of the Canterbury District Disciplinary Tribunal for a period and has advised practitioners in relation to a range of ethical matters. Mr Hughes-Johnson acted as counsel for a practitioner before the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal and later in the High Court the appeal which followed in Withers v Standards Committee No.3 of the Canterbury Westland Branch of the New Zealand Law Society [2014] NZHC 611.
Mr Hughes-Johnson was appointed by the Crown to act as senior counsel in the appeal before the Court of Appeal in Van Soest v Residual Health Management Unit [2000] 1 NZLR 179, involving issues of negligence, medical treatment and damages.
Mr Hughes-Johnson has appeared in a number of successful appeals in the appellate courts including acting for the Association of Dispensing Opticians of New Zealand Inc. in Association of Dispensing Opticians of New Zealand Inc v Opticians Board [2000] 1 NZLR 158, acting as senior counsel in an appeal against a refusal to grant judicial review in Just One Life Limited v Queenstown Lakes District Council [2004] 3 NZLR 226 and as senior counsel in the Supreme Court appeal Cashmere Capital Limited v Carroll and others [2010] 1 NZLR 577.
Environment Court
Mr Hughes-Johnson has extensive experience in handling appeals in the Environment Court. Notable cases have included acting as counsel for the Christchurch City Council in Shirley Primary School v Telecom Mobile Communications Limited [1999] NZRMA 66, acting as counsel for the Buller District Council in the long-running appeal Wood and others v The West Coast Regional Council and others (Decision No. C 22/99), acting as senior counsel for Canterbury Too Good to Waste Inc in the appeal relating to the Kate Valley landfill Transwaste Canterbury Limited v The Canterbury Regional Council and others (Decision No. C 29/2004) and acting as senior counsel for the appellant in an important groundwater appeal in Lynton Dairy Limited v Canterbury Regional Council (C108 /05).
Local authority hearings
Mr Hughes-Johnson has represented a number of local authorities, and in particular the former Waimairi District Council and later the Christchurch City Council, in a wide range of resource management and local government matters.
Mr Hughes-Johnson has appeared as counsel in numerous hearings before local authorities, including hearings affecting the formulation of planning instruments and applications for resource consents.
Hearings commissioner
Mr Hughes-Johnson has acted as a commissioner in important environmental law cases. This has included appointment by the Christchurch City Council to act as chairman of a panel which heard applications for consents to establish and maintain an ocean outfall pipeline and appointment by the Waimakariri District Council to act as chairman of the panel that heard the applications relating to the outfall pipeline in the Waimakariri District.
Other
For some time Mr Hughes-Johnson acted for The Christchurch Press in relation to defamation matters and was junior counsel in the leading case Christchurch Press Co Limited v McGaveston including the appeal reported at [1986] 1 NZLR 610.
For a number of years Mr Hughes-Johnson acted for the University of Canterbury on a range of matters including administrative law/disciplinary matters.
Mr Hughes-Johnson was appointed by the Accident Compensation Corporation to review its handling of a compensation case. The inquiry took several months and resulted in an extensive report to the Corporation.