A former Hawke's Bay man and United Nations ambassador for New Zealand has been appointed a high court judge.
Public servant, barrister and solicitor Gerardus van Bohemen, who grew up in Havelock North, had his appoint as a judge of the High Court in Auckland announced by Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson on July 14.
Justice van Bohemen graduated from Victoria University with a BA (English) in 1977 and an LLB (Hons) 1st Class in 1979.
Between 1978 and 1982 he worked for the legal division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before spending four years at the New Zealand Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN) in New York.
In 1987 Justice van Bohemen returned to New Zealand and was the deputy director of the legal division at the Ministry of External Relations and Trade, leaving in 1990 to join Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet & Co in Auckland.