Obituary: Judge Karina Williams

Williams described herself as an extremely ordinary person who had been fortunate to have had extraordinary opportunity and support.

Judge Karina Williams. Died aged 42

Judge Karina Raewyn Roimata Williams was known as the Rainbow judge.

She was appointed to the Manukau District Court bench in 2003, as one of a series of appointments of Maori, Samoan, Indian and female judges which changed the previously monocultural face of the judiciary forever. She died on September 2, just over a month after being diagnosed with cancer.

Judge Williams, who was of Tuhoe, Te Whakatohea, Tainui, Te Aupouri and Ngaitai descent, was deeply proud of being Maori.

In her early days at St Cuthbert's College she was regarded as a rebel because of her advocacy for tangata whenua. Typically, however, she ended up as head girl.

Judge Williams' schoolteacher parents, Tom and Kaa Williams, instilled in her a strong work ethic and desire for success.

She was expected not only to study, sing and play sport, but to excel at all these activities. And she did. She played representative sport, and coached and composed for kapa haka groups.

Judge Williams was politically astute and deeply attuned to the poverty and disadvantage faced by her clients. At law school, and in many years of work in South Auckland, she blazed a trail for other Maori, other women and - most important - other Maori women.

Her strength and support came from her close friends, her Maori and Samoan female colleagues.

Judge Williams was able to empathise with those who appeared before her, because she knew what it was like to be discriminated against because she was Maori.

Last year she sentenced a young man charged with a criminal offence after he reacted angrily to a racist taunt made to him. She told him that he had to find a better way to deal with his pain.

"You're looking at a judge of ethnicity and of colour," Karina Williams said, as she stared straight at him.

When she was at law school and drove a cheap, old car, she was repeatedly stopped by police who assumed that the vehicle would not be registered or warranted.

Later, when she could afford a better car, she was constantly stopped by police who assumed that a Maori driving such a car must have stolen it.

Judge Williams, who was only the second Maori woman appointed as a district court judge, touched the lives of everyone she encountered, charming with her warmth, helpfulness, and the twinkle in her eyes.

She was humane and endowed with deep humility, describing herself last year as an extremely ordinary person who had been fortunate to have had extraordinary opportunity and support.

The respect in which she was held was demonstrated by the fact that the Manukau and Waitakere courts were left with minimal staff during her funeral on the Manurewa Marae, attended by more than 1000 people. Everyone from court staff to judges, police, lawyers and probation staff attended, both as a mark of respect and out of love.

Judge Williams' proudest achievement, however, was being a mother. Her precious daughter Kataraina was the light of her life.

Karina Judge Williams is survived by her partner Richard Te Hunia and her daughter.

- Catriona MacLennan is a South Auckland barrister and long-time colleague of Judge Williams