BACKGROUND --- B A C K G R O U N D --- BACKGROUND

Here is a summary of the events in the Milton courtroom as reported
in Canada's the Toronto Star. June 26, 2002, by Cal Millar - staff
reporter - in an item headed by: ' "Angry father tried to arrest
judge" Spousal support dispute leads to assault charge'. The report
apparently is based largely on information presented at a bail
hearing held in Milton, Ontario on June 25.

Peter Cornakovic is an accountant. He has been engaged in a
seven-year legal battle since separating from his wife in 1995, A
15-minute recording of the civil proceedings showed Cornakovic tried
to convince Mr. Justice Terrance O'Connor he had been treated
unfairly and that the money owing in arrears for support should be
dismissed. According to the article in the Star, Cornakovic made his
way toward the front of the court, calling out for someone to get a
police officer. He is heard on the recording saying, "I'm placing
you under citizen's arrest for crimes against humanity," as the
judge and court staff warn him to stay back.

Crown Attorney Andrew Goodman read reports from witnesses indicating
the man grabbed Judge O'Connor by his upper right arm. Judge
O'Connor struggled and attempted to pull away but couldn't wriggle
free. Three men grabbed the attacker, but he continued holding the
judge's arm until court security staff responded to a panic alarm
pressed by a clerk. Apparently, Cornakovic can be heard telling
security "there's no need for violence" and explaining he wants the
judge arrested for crimes against humanity and he cites gender bias.
Cornakovic was arrested June 13 by Halton Regional police after
trying to arrest Judge O'Connor.

Although Jufge O'Connor was not injured, Goodman asked to have
Cornakovic held in jail until his trial. Goodman claimed O'Connor
was badly shaken by the incident. Cornakovic was released on $50 000
bail by Justice of the Peace Barbara Marko after spending 12 days in
jail.

Cornakovic's defence lawyer Walter Fox said outside the court his
client has been handling his own legal matters at the civil
proceeding, and wanted to highlight what he perceives to be unfair
treatment for men in family law. The Star article reports that Fox
said Cornakovic "rightly or wrongly" believed the judge could be
charged under a section of Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War
Crimes Act that makes it an offence to persecute or commit an
inhumane act or omission against any identifiable group.

BACKGROUND --- B A C K G R O U N D --- BACKGROUND

ARE JUDGES IMMUNE?

In spite of claims of judicial immunity, judges were tried at the
Nuremberg trials after WW II for crimes against humanity. Ten were
found guilty and four were found not guilty.

Here is an except from the decision of the court at the trial of the
judges at Nuremberg.

U.S.A. v. ALSTOETTER ET AL (The Justice Cases)

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/Alstoetter.htm#U.
S.A.
v. ALSTOETTER ET AL (The Justice Cases):

Again, in determining the degree of guilt the Tribunal has
considered the entire record of his activities, not alone under the
head of racial persecution but in other respects also. Despite
protestations that his judgments were based solely upon evidence
introduced in court, we are firmly convinced that in numberless
cases Rothaug's opinions were formed and decisions made, and in many
instances publicly or privately announced before the trial had even
commenced and certainly before it was concluded. He was in constant
contact with his confidential assistant Elkar, a member of the
criminal SD, who sat with him in weekly conferences in the chambers
of the court. He formed his opinions from dubious records submitted
to him before trial. By his manner and methods he made his court an
instrumentality of terror and won the fear and hatred of the
population. From the evidence of his closest associates as well as
his victims, we find that Oswald Rothaug represented in Germany the
personification of the secret Nazi intrigue and cruelty. He was and
is a sadistic and evil man. Under any civilized judicial system he
could have been impeached and removed from office or convicted of
malfeasance in office on account of the scheming malevolence with
which he administered injustice. ...

Here is a short extract from an opinion on the people who commit
crimes against humanity

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/nurembergACCOUNT
.html

The Nuremberg Trials, By Doug Linder (c) 2000

No trial provides a better basis for understanding the nature and
causes of evil than do the Nuremberg trials from 1945 to 1949.
Those who come to the trials expecting to find sadistic monsters are
generally disappointed. What is shocking about Nuremberg is the
ordinariness of the defendants: men who may be good fathers, kind to
animals, even unassuming--yet who committed unspeakable crimes.
Years later, reporting on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, Hannah Arendt
wrote of "the banality of evil." Like Eichmann, most Nuremberg
defendants never aspired to be villains. Rather, they
over-identified with an ideological cause and suffered from a lack
of imagination or empathy: they couldn't fully appreciate the human
consequences of their career-motivated decisions. ...