Sir Andrew Patrick Charles Tipping (; born 22 August 1942) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

jurist who served as a Justice of the

Supreme Court of New Zealand The Supreme Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Mana Nui, lit=Court of Great Mana) is the highest court and the court of last resort of New Zealand. It formally came into being on 1 January 2004 and sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It re ...

from 2004 until his retirement in 2012. He was also a member of the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...

. His tenure as a jurist has been widely acclaimed and his contributions to the shaping of New Zealand law are considered to be substantial and permanent.

Early life

Born in Oxford, England, Tipping came to New Zealand at an early age. He was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

, England, and then at Christ’s College and the University of Canterbury. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree majoring in

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree, and then

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

with first-class honours.

Career

He practiced as a common law partner in the Christchurch firm of Wynn Williams & Co. He was President of the Canterbury District Law Society in 1984 and a council member of the New Zealand Law Society from 1982–1984. In 1986, he was appointed to the High Court. He was promoted to the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

on 1 June 1997, and appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

a year later. In the Court of Appeal he was a member of the court that said the Maori Land Court had jurisdiction to decide the status of the foreshore and seabed in

Ngati Apa v Attorney-General ''Ngati Apa v Attorney-General'' was a landmark legal decision that sparked the New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy. The case arose from an application by eight northern South Island iwi for orders declaring the foreshore and seabed o ...

. From 2004 the Privy Council was replaced as New Zealand’s highest appellate court by a

, with the passage of the Supreme Court Act 2003. Attorney General Margret Wilson was tasked with appointing the entire bench simultaneously, She announced that the appointments would be based on merit and seniority. This meant on 1 January 2004, Tipping became one of the initial members of the new Supreme Court of New Zealand as the most senior Justices on the Court of Appeal were appointed to the new Court. Tipping retired from the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

on 17 August 2012. On 20 September 2012 Tipping was appointed an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court. He retired as an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court in August 2017 upon reaching the statutory retirement age. In the 2006 New Year Honours, Tipping was appointed a

Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services as a judge of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of New Zealand. In the 2009 Special Honours he accepted re-designation as a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

following the re-introduction of titular honours by the New Zealand government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tipping, Andrew 1942 births Living people Supreme Court of New Zealand judges Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Cheltenham College British emigrants to New Zealand People from Oxford People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch University of Canterbury alumni High Court of New Zealand judges Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges