Justice Joe Williams becomes first Māori Supreme Court judge

Justice Joseph Victor Williams has become the first Māori judge of the Supreme Court. Photo / File

Justice Joseph Victor Williams has become the first Māori judge of the Supreme Court.

Justice Williams, of Ngāti Pūkenga and Te Arawa (Waitaha, Tapuika), replaces current Supreme Court judge Justice Sir William Young, who is chairing the Royal Commission of Inquiry Christchurch mosque attacks.

In 1988, Justice Williams established the first unit specialising in Māori issues in a major New Zealand law firm at Kensington Swan.

He became a partner there in 1992, before leaving in 1994 to co‑found Walters Williams & Co in Auckland and Wellington.

In 1999 Justice Williams was appointed Chief Judge of the Māori Land Court.

The following year, he was appointed acting Chairperson of the Waitangi Tribunal and was permanently appointed in 2004.

He was appointed as a judge of the High Court in 2008 and a judge of the Court of Appeal in 2018.

Attorney-General David Parker announced the appointment today, as well as Wellington Queen's Counsel David Goddard becoming a judge of the High Court and the Court of Appeal.