Hon Judith Collins KC
Attorney-General

Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Simon Mount KC as a High Court Judge.

Justice Mount graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Laws in 1996 and a Master of Laws in 2000, having been a High Court judges’ clerk from 1995-1996.

From 1997-1999 Justice Mount was a Teaching Associate with Columbia Law School in New York, also graduating with a Master of Laws from Columbia Law School in 1999. Between 2001 and 2015 Justice Mount was a Teaching Fellow with the University of Auckland.

Justice Mount joined Auckland firm Meredith Connell as a Crown prosecutor in 2000, and was seconded to Crown Law as a Crown Counsel from2008-2009.

Justice Mount has practised out of Bankside Chambers in Auckland as a Barrister sole since 2010, specialising in public law, criminal and regulatory law, including health and safety, professional discipline and public inquiries. He was a Visiting Justice from 2011 to 2018, a District Inspector of Mental Health from 2012 to 2018, and the Senior Advisory District Inspector from 2023 until present.

He is admitted to practise law in the Cook Islands and has been Attorney-General of the Pitcairn Islands since 2015, serving as the principal legal adviser to the Governor of Pitcairn. He was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 2017.

Justice Mount’s appointment as a High Court Judge will take effect on 1 June 2025, and he will sit in Auckland.

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