Hon Judith Collins KC
Attorney-General

Attorney-General Hon Judith Collins today announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges.

The appointees, who will take up their roles in July and August at the Manukau, Rotorua and Invercargill courts, are:

Matthew Nathan

Judge Nathan was admitted to bar in New Zealand in 2021, having previously been admitted in Queensland, Australia, in 2001. He was born in New Zealand but moved to Australia with his family as a child.

He studied law at Queensland University of Technology before starting work with the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions in 2001, before becoming a Crown Prosecutor in 2004 and Senior Crown Prosecutor in 2007.

Judge Nathan moved to Darwin in 2008 as Senior Crown Prosecutor, taking silk in 2015 after he was appointed Senior Counsel of the Northern Territory Supreme Court before becoming Deputy Director Public Prosecutions from 2017 to 2021. In 2019 he was elected President of the Australian Association of Crown Prosecutors.

He returned to New Zealand in 2021, joining Meredith Connell as Special Counsel and becoming a partner in that firm in 2023.

Judge Nathan will be based at Manukau and will be sworn in on 10 August.

Joanne Wickliffe

Judge Wickliffe was admitted to the bar in 1999 following graduation from Auckland University; before that she had worked as a legal secretary, an administrator at the local freezing works and a reporter/photographer at a community newspaper.

She spent nine years as a barrister sole, followed by seven years with the Public Defence Service, before returning to the private Bar eight years ago and becoming a founding member of Pohutukawa Chambers in Auckland. She has specialised in criminal law all her career.

Judge Wickliffe will be based in Rotorua and will be sworn in on 2 August.

Mark Williams

Judge Williams was born in Singapore and moved to the UK as a child. His first university level qualification was a BSc (First Class Hons) from the University of Exeter. He subsequently gained his legal qualifications in the UK (Inns of Court School of Law) in 1996 and was admitted to the bar in New Zealand in 2010.

His early legal career began in 1997 and he commenced legal practice in London, becoming a member of Argent Chambers with a practice focussed on criminal law, both as a prosecutor and defence counsel.

Following his move to New Zealand he initially worked as a mediator with Dispute Resolution Services in Auckland, before joining Meredith Connell as an associate in 2011. Between 2014 and 2016 Judge Williams was General Counsel for the NZ Serious Fraud Office before joining the Crown Solicitor’s office in Manukau as a principal prosecutor from 2017 to 2021. Most recently he has been the Public Defender for Manukau with the Public Defence Service.

Judge Williams will be based in Invercargill and will be sworn in on 25 July.

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