Mark Leslie Smith Cooper is a New Zealand jurist. He was appointed a High Court judge in 2004, and a judge 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 ...

in 2014. He has been president of the Court of Appeal since 26 April 2022.

Biography

Cooper is of

Ngāti Māhanga Ngāti Māhanga is a Māori iwi (tribe) that is part of the Waikato confederation of tribes (now called Tainui). The tribe's historical lands extended from Whaingaroa Harbour (Raglan Harbour) to the west bank of the Waikato River in the city of Ham ...

descent, an iwi of

Waikato Tainui Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand o ...

. He received his tertiary education at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, graduating with

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 ...

(

Hons Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, or ...

) and

Magister Juris MJur (Magister Juris or Master of Jurisprudence; common abbreviations include MJur, M.Jur., Mag. Jur. and Mag. iur.) is an academic degree in law awarded by some universities. Magister Juris at the University of Oxford The Magister Juris (MJur) ...

(Dist) degrees in 1979. After university, he worked for Butler White & Hanna, where he became a partner in 1983; the law firm merged with

Simpson Grierson Simpson Grierson is a New Zealand commercial law firm founded in 1887; it is ranked in the top legal firms in that country, and the largest by headcount. The firm is a partnership comprising 48 partners and consultants supported by around 160 l ...

where he remained a partner. From 1997, he practised as a barrister sole. He was principal legal advisor for three Auckland territorial authorities:

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...

North Shore City Council The North Shore is part of the large urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the north of the Waitematā Harbour. To the east, has the Hauraki Gulf, to the west, is West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland, to the south, has the Wait ...

, and

Rodney District Council Rodney District was a local government area in the northernmost part of New Zealand's Auckland Region from 1989 to 2010. It included Kawau Island. It was created from the amalgamation of Helensville Borough and Rodney County in 1989. The seat ...

. In the 2000 appointment round, he 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 ...

alongside six others. In 2004, Cooper was appointed a high court judge by the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Margaret Wilson Margaret Anne Wilson (born 20 May 1947) is a New Zealand lawyer, academic and former Labour Party politician. She served as Attorney-General from 1999 to 2005 and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, during the Fifth L ...

, and sat in Auckland from August that year. Following the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, Cooper was appointed by the government to chair the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission; the other commissioners were engineers

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

and Richard Fenwick. He was appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal in 2014, and was named to replace

Stephen Kós John Stephen Kós (born 23 January 1959) is a New Zealand judge on the Supreme Court of New Zealand and the former President of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand. Early life and career The son of a Hungarian refugee, Kós was born in Mosgiel ...

as president of the Court of Appeal from 26 April 2022. Cooper was on the executive of the Auckland Division of the

Cancer Society of New Zealand The New Zealand Cancer Control Trust (NZCCT) was formed in February 2001 with funding support from the Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the bod ...

. He was on the establishment board for

Metrowater Watercare Services (Watercare) is an infrastructure asset management council-controlled organisation (CCO) that manages the drinking water and wastewater services of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Watercare is registered with the New Zeal ...

, which was formed in 1997 and has since been integrated into

Watercare Services Watercare Services (Watercare) is an infrastructure asset management council-controlled organisation (CCO) that manages the drinking water and wastewater services of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Watercare is registered with the New Zeala ...

. Cooper was board member for the

Museum of Transport and Technology The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a science and technology museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has ...

and the Auckland Observatory and Planetarium Trust.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Mark Living people 20th-century New Zealand lawyers University of Auckland alumni Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges High Court of New Zealand judges Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand King's Counsel Ngāti Māhanga people New Zealand Māori judges New Zealand Māori lawyers 21st-century New Zealand judges

Biography

See also

References