Judges get away with Net porn

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand says it won't take any action against six judges and a court official who logged onto Internet sex sites using their work computers.

Attorney General Margaret Wilson said in a statement on Tuesday that four of the district court judges accessed the sexually explicit material for work-related reasons, while access by the fifth was an accident and brief.

The government ordered an inquiry on Monday after a routine computer scan by the Department of Courts found four judges, later revised to six judges plus one official, appeared to have accessed Internet sex sites while at work.

The case rippled through to the higher levels of the government, with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark telling reporters that it was a "very worrying constitutional issue."

"What I have to signal is that the upholding of the law by people with the responsibility for the highest standards is important to the public," she told Wellington's The Evening Post newspaper.

'I am satisfied'

Following the accusations, Chief District Court Judge David Carruthers sought an explanation from the five judges under his control.

After talking to him, Wilson said she had decided no further action was necessary.

"I am satisfied with the information provided by the Chief District Court Judge and am not intending to take any further action in relation to these judges," Wilson said in her statement.

In New Zealand the judiciary is independent of the executive, but a judge can be forced to stand down if the majority of parliament votes in favor.

The minority Labour Party-led government must garner support from opposition parties for a majority in the 120-seat house.

Wilson told Reuters news agency that though she planned to meet Chief Justice Sian Elias later Tuesday to discuss a High Court judge accessing sexually explicit movies over the Internet, she had already ruled out taking further action.

She said an inquiry found there was no unlawful behavior by the High Court judge and as such there were no grounds to seek a parliamentary vote forcing him to resign.

"It is up to the judiciary to handle," she said.

It is not clear which sites they had visited.