10 November 2003 Media Statement

Appointments to the Supreme Court

Attorney-General Margaret Wilson announced today the appointment of The Right Honourable Thomas Munro Gault, The Right Honourable Sir Kenneth James Keith, The Right Honourable Peter Blanchard and The Right Honourable Andrew Patrick Charles Tipping as Judges of the Supreme Court. All are members of the Privy Council.

The Supreme Court will come into being on 1 January 2004 and hearings will commence on 1 July.

The Rt Hon Justice Gault graduated from Victoria University of Wellington and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1984. He was appointed a Judge of the High Court in 1987 and a Judge of the Court of Appeal in 1991. He was appointed President of the Court of Appeal in 2002.

The Rt Hon Justice Sir Kenneth Keith graduated from Victoria University of Wellington and Harvard University in the United States. He was Professor of Law at Victoria University between 1974 and 1991 and he is a past member of the United Nations Secretariat. He was appointed directly to the Court of Appeal in 1996.

The Rt Hon Justice Blanchard graduated from the University of Auckland and from Harvard University. He is a former partner from Simpson Grierson Butler White. He was appointed a member of the Law Commission in 1990 and was appointed a Judge of the High Court in 1992. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 1996.

The Rt Hon Justice Tipping graduated from Canterbury University and is a former partner of Wynn Williams & Co. Justice Tipping was appointed to the High Court in 1986 and to the Court of Appeal in 1997.

ENDS

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