Sir Douglas John White (born 5 September 1945) is a former New Zealand jurist.

Early life and family

White was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in 1945. The jurist Sir John White (1911–2007) was his father, and Charles White, a lawyer and briefly a member of the Legislative Council, was his grandfather. He was educated as a boarder at

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. The school also has ...

from 1959 to 1963, and went on to study law at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, graduating

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 ...

with first-class honours.

Legal career

After practising as a litigation partner and then independent barrister, White was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1988. He sat as a judge of the High Court from 2009 until 2012, when he was appointed to the bench of 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 ...

. He retired in 2015. In 2016, White was appointed to the Cook Islands Court of Appeal.

Other activities

White served on the council of Victoria University of Wellington for 20 years, and was chancellor of the university from 1996 to 1999.

Honours

In the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, White was appointed 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 ...

, for services to the judiciary.

References

1945 births Living people 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand King's Counsel High Court of New Zealand judges Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit 21st-century New Zealand judges People educated at Nelson College People from Wellington City Victoria University of Wellington alumni Chancellors of Victoria University of Wellington {{NewZealand-law-bio-stub