Patrick John Keane is a retired New Zealand judge. In December 2022, he was appointed

Chief Justice of the Cook Islands The Chief Justice of the Cook Islands is the head of the Cook Islands judiciary. They preside over the High Court of the Cook Islands and serve as a member of the Cook Islands Court of Appeal. The office was established by the Cook Islands Co ...

, replacing

Hugh Williams Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (6 March 1904 – 7 December 1969) was a British actor and dramatist of Welsh descent. Early life and career Hugh Anthony Glanmor Williams (nicknamed "Tam") was born at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex to Hugh Dafydd Anth ...

. Keane was educated 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 with a BA in 1968, and an

LLB 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) in 1969. He then worked for as a lawyer for Izard Weston and later as a Crown Solicitor for Rudd Watts and Stone from 1977 to 1979. He was a legal adviser to the New Zealand government from 1980 to 1985, and a Crown Counsel for the

Crown Law Office The Crown Law Office (Crown Law) ( Māori: ''Te Tari Ture o te Karauna'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on legal affairs, representing the government in appellate cases, and overseeing the pr ...

from 1985 to 1987. In 1987, he was appointed a judge of the

District Court of New Zealand The District Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti ā Rohe) (formerly the district courts before 2016) is the primary court of first instance of New Zealand. There are 59 District Court locations throughout New Zealand (). The court hears civil cl ...

and to the Taxation Review Authority. From 2001 to 2003 he was a member of the

New Zealand Law Commission New Zealand's Law Commission was established in 1986 by the Law Commission Act 1985. The Commission is an independent Crown entity as defined in the Crown Entities Act 2004. The main objective of the Law Commission, as declared in its founding ...

. In 2003, he was appointed a judge of the

High Court of New Zealand The High Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Matua o Aotearoa) is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration ...

. He retired in 2016, and was then appointed to the High Court of the Cook Islands. In the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 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 were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

he was appointed a

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 (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

(CNZM) for services to the judiciary.

References

Living people Victoria University of Wellington alumni District Court of New Zealand judges High Court of New Zealand judges Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Chief justices of the Cook Islands New Zealand judges on the courts of the Cook Islands Year of birth missing (living people) {{NewZealand-law-bio-stub