Tonga’s Chief Justice takes up NZ appointment [1]
Tuesday, July 30, 2019 - 21:24
Tonga’s Lord Chief Justice, Owen Paulsen, has been appointed as an Associate Judge at New Zealand's High Court to preside in Christchurch.
New Zealand’s Attorney-General Hon David Parker made the announcement on July 25.
Since 2015, Paulsen has been the Lord Chief Justice of Tonga, President of the Tongan Court of Appeal and Land Court and sat as an advisor to King Tupou VI on the Privy Council in land cases.
He graduated from the University of Canterbury with an LLB in 1986 and began his career as a solicitor at Harman & Co and was admitted to the partnership of Harman & Co in 1991, before leaving in 1998 to travel overseas.
From 2000 to 2001 he was an adjudication and mediation member of the Employment Tribunal, whilst also managing a sole practice as a litigation lawyer, among many others.
Meanwhile, no announcement has been forthcoming yet from Tonga’s side as to the Lord Chief Justice’s departure or on his replacement.