New Zealand Court of Appeal: 1958-1996

This book examines the judges and the work of New Zealand’s premier local court during a significant period in its modern history. The period begins in 1958 with the emergence of the New Zealand Court of Appeal as a separate court composed of permanent appellate judges, and it ends with the retirement of Lord Cooke as President of the court in early 1996.

This work aims to present the Court of Appeal and its work in its truest form, with particular emphasis on its essential humanity. The book is based on written records and interviews with the judges, barristers, and litigants whose lives helped to shape the court and its work. This book is aimed primarily at the legal community in New Zealand, but it will be of interest to non-lawyers in New Zealand and to overseas readers as well.

The introductory chapter outlines the court’s historical context and overall development. Part One, Judges of the Court, conveys a sense of the court’s human dimension and the imprint that the judges’ personalities left on their judicial work. Part Two, Work of the Court, presents the general features of the court’s work, the range of processes, interactions, and elements that lay behind the court’s judgments, and the New Zealand legal identity that emerged in the court.

Historical Introduction

Part One: Judges of the Court

Court of Appeal BenchGresson, North, and Cleary Turner and McCarthy Richmond and Woodhouse Cooke and Richardson McMullin, Somers, and Casey Bisson, Hardie Boys, and Gault McKay, Henry, and Thomas.

Part Two: Work of the Court

Jurisdiction Process Bar and Bench Factors in Decision-Making: Facts and Law Factors in Decision-Making: Realities, Justice, and Value Judgments Law-Making Relationship with Privy Council Conclusion: Development of a New Zealand Legal Identity.