UC Honours Contribution Of Former High Court Judge

Sir Graham Panckhurst, who chaired the Pike River Mine inquiry before his retirement as a High Court Judge, will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Canterbury.

Sir Graham KNZM KC graduated from Canterbury College, now Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC), with an LLB (Hons) in 1969. He went on to preside over some of New Zealand’s most high-profile legal trials during an illustrious career. He will be awarded a Doctor of Laws in recognition of his outstanding service and dedication to the field of law at an upcoming UC graduation celebration on 9 April.

After being admitted to the bar in 1970, Sir Graham rose through the legal ranks in Canterbury, garnering a reputation as a formidable courtroom opponent. He became the Crown Solicitor for Christchurch and the West Coast in 1985, a Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 1994, and was appointed to the High Court bench in 1996. He heard the retrial of David Bain in 2009, which heard from 150 witnesses, and the following year, was appointed to head the Royal Commission into the Pike River Mine disaster.

A West Coaster by birth, Sir Graham was the youngest of six children and could have followed three of his siblings into teaching, but during the summer between high school and university, he had a change of heart and decided to study law.

He looks back at his university years fondly, saying the city campus and nearby cinema and cafes were a source of entertainment and fun times. However, he acknowledges the profound differences between studying in the 1960s to the present day.

“It was a different world when I studied in the late Sixties, New Zealand was prosperous - it was easy to get a job. Now legal practice is so hugely competitive,” Sir Graham says.

Students were paid to go to university, and there were less than five women in his graduating class. While men dominated law practice and study, he believes the profession is better-off for having equal numbers of women entering the profession.

Describing his time as Crown Solicitor, he says he thrived in the courtroom environment and gained considerable experience, particularly with jury trials.

This was particularly helpful when he became a Judge. “I loved jury trials, engaging with jurors and empowering them to make sensible decisions,” he says.

“This was attainable with the help of court staff who, especially in Christchurch, were experienced, competent, and a pleasure to work with as a team.”

As a barrister, he appeared before the Court of Appeal in the Peter Ellis case and acted as counsel in high-profile cases, including the Fortex Fraud trial and the Winebox Commission of Inquiry.

“To become a QC, it is something you want to achieve as a lawyer, but it happened a lot sooner than I thought it would,” he says.

He also served as Chair and one of three Commissioners of the 2010–2012 Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy, investigating the disaster that killed 29 men.

Throughout his career, he was committed to contributing to the legal field; he was a member of the Crimes Consultative Committee in 1989 and in 1992 became the President of the Canterbury District Law Society.

Sir Graham served as a High Court Judge for 18 years before retiring in 2014. The following year he was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the judiciary, an honour he dedicated to his wife Jill and their children.

“Jill is the backbone of our family. During my career, she did more than her fair share of caring for our four children. The honour was for the family, not just me.”

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