rules-of-court process contempt-of-court
Can non-witnesses legally refuse to answer questions from judge?
<p><a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/35908/is-the-judge-allowed-to-ask-about-your-nationality-or-citizenship-during-a-speed?answertab=active#tab-top">It appears</a> that a judge in their courtroom can ask anyone any questions. A quick search shows that it is not uncommon for persons refusing to answer judges' questions to be prosecuted for contempt of court, but most of those persons (if not all) are subpoenaed witnesses.</p>

<p>This question is about everyone else in the courtroom apart from the witnesses (and let's exclude the defendant too to avoid being sidetracked by self-incrimination laws e.g. The Fifth Amendment): <strong>prosecutors/plaintiffs, lawyers, experts, members of the public etc.: do they break any laws if they refuse to answer a question from the judge?</strong></p>

<p>So far I have found that, in the US, <a href="https://blogs.findlaw.com/fifth_circuit/2017/05/lawyer-sanctioned-for-refusing-to-answer-judges-yes-or-no-question.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">lawyers can be fined</a> for that. </p>

<p>In New Zealand, the relevant upcoming law deals with disobeying "<a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/member/2018/0039/latest/whole.html#LMS24822" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Certain court orders and undertakings</a>" but it does not look like arbitrary questions asked by judges fall into that bucket.</p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_court" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Contempt of court</a> generally makes it an offence for anybody to show disrespect for the judge, or to disobey a lawful order (which would presumably include refusing to answer a lawful question). This is an intrinsic part of the court's authority, and does not depend on statute. Non-legal questions, or questions that go beyond the judge's authority, presumably should not incur the penalty, but the fact remains that the judge is supreme in his courtroom, and if he orders you to be sanctioned for contempt, the sanction will take effect.</p>

<p>(I make no claim to be an authority on the law of contempt, certainly in New Zealand; but I was in an adjacent courtroom some twenty years ago when an English Deputy Judge, feeling he was being shown insufficient respect on his first day, ordered a barrister taken to the cells for contempt in turning his back on the judge without asking permission. The Court of Appeal, hastily convened that afternoon, did not overrule the order, since only those present could know whether sufficient respect had been shown. It did, however, decide that an apology to the Appeal Court was sufficient to purge the contempt and allow release.)</p>

<p>If you recall a few months back when the US Olympic Gymnastics doctor was being sentanced for molesting his female patients, one father of two victims decided to jump the barrier between the audience and the floor... not sure of the technical term... and attempt to assault the doctor.  A baliff quickly restrained him, and while she ultimately did not press the matter given the nature of the motivations of the man, she did point out it was contempt of court and that she wouldn't press the matter if he never returned to the court room during this particular case (she did allow him to watch from the overflow room that had been set up for the press).</p>

<p>In the U.S. at least, Contempt of Court is a rather unusual in the crime in that it is a bench trial offense (meaning the Judge tries the case), making the Judge in your contempt case triple hated as the Judge, Jury, and Complaining Witness to the crime.  And U.S. Judges are notoriously territorial about their courtrooms.</p>
