Sir Noel Crossley Anderson (3 January 1944 – 6 October 2021) was a New Zealand judge who was President 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 ...

of New Zealand from 2004 to 2006, before being elevated to 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 ...

. He left office in 2008.

Career

Anderson was born in January 1944 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. He graduated with an

LL.B. 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 ...

from 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 ...

in 1967 and was a partner in the Auckland firm Martelli, McKegg & Adams-Smith until commencing practice solely as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in 1972. He had his first case the same day he was admitted to the bar in 1967 against John Henry, future Court of Appeal judge and

Privy Councillor 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 ...

. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in May 1986, to the High Court in May 1987 and presided for four years in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

before becoming a resident judge in Auckland for 10 years. Justice Anderson presided over hundreds of cases, including the third Plumley-Walker murder trial, the trial of Malcolm Rewa for murder, as well sitting on the inquiries into abortion, contraception and sterilisation, and the Mt Erebus disaster. Justice Anderson became senior judge in Auckland in 1997 before being appointed executive judge in August 2000. In a survey done on the assignment of cases to judges between January 1999 and July 2001 in the High Court, Justice Anderson was one of the judges who heard the predominant number of

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

cases. Justice Anderson was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2001 and the Supreme Court in February 2006. He also acted as the Administrator of the New Zealand Government during

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Dame

Silvia Cartwright Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright (née Poulter; born 7 November 1943) is a New Zealand jurist who served as the 18th Governor-General of New Zealand, from 2001 to 2006. She was the second woman to hold the office, after Dame Catherine Tizard. Early ...

's absence from the country in May 2005. Although Anderson retired as a Supreme Court Justice in 2008, he continued to sit when needed. He also served on the Investment Committee for the Tūhoe Establishment Trust, which manages

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

settlements for the

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning "steep" or "high noon". Tūhoe people also bear the sobriquet ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

. Anderson died on 6 October 2021.

Position on barristerial immunity

In ''Lai v Chamberlains'', Justice Anderson delivered a lone dissenting judgement for retention of barristerial immunity on a five-judge Appeal Court panel. Anderson claimed keeping lawyers immune from accountability to their clients was necessary for the proper administration of

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

, as lawyers owe their primary obligation to the Court and it was argued this may at times conflict with the lawyers obligation to their clients. Justices Hammond,

Glazebrook Rixton-with-Glazebrook is a civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies to the east of Warrington and borders Cadishead, and is largely farmland. It has a railway station at Glazebrook ...

O'Regan O'Regan can refer to: Places *O'Regan's, Newfoundland and Labrador, a village in Newfoundland, Canada People *Brian O'Regan (disambiguation), several people *Daniel O'Regan, New Zealand rugby league player *Danny O'Regan, American ice hockey playe ...

and

McGrath McGrath or MacGrath derives from the Irish surname Mac Craith and is occasionally noted with a space: e.g. Izzy Mc Grath. In Ireland, it is pronounced "Ma Grah". In Australia and New Zealand it is pronounced ''MuhGrah''. Notable people with the su ...

disagreed.

Honours

Anderson was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, he 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 to the judiciary. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, following the reinstatement of titular honours by the New Zealand government, Anderson accepted redesignation 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 ...

References

''National Business Review'', Arise Sir... or Dame... for 70 on honours list
by Nevil Gibson, 1 August 2009 (accessed 8:17PM 1 November 2009)
kiwisfirst.co.nz
Profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Noel 1944 births 2021 deaths Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit High Court of New Zealand judges University of Auckland alumni 20th-century New Zealand judges Supreme Court of New Zealand judges New Zealand King's Counsel People from Auckland 21st-century New Zealand judges