Petunia Tupou is a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n lawyer and jurist. Since 2022 she has been a judge of the

Supreme Court of Tonga The Supreme Court of Tonga is the superior court in Tonga. It hears criminal and civil cases and acts as an appellate court for Tonga's inferior courts, the Magistrates' Courts. Jurisdiction The Supreme Court can hear appeals as of right from any ...

. Tupou was educated at the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato), is a Public university, public research university in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand established in 1964. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university perfo ...

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 ...

, graduating in 1996 with a BA and LLB. She was admitted to the bar in New Zealand in 1996, and in Tonga in 1997. In September 2015 she was appointed honorary consul for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. She is also chair of the

Tonga Broadcasting Commission Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC) ( to, Komisoni Fakamafolalea Tonga) is the first and largest broadcasting station in Tonga, solely owned by the government of Tonga. It operates two free-to-air TV channels (Television Tonga and Television Ton ...

. In April 2021 she was appointed to the board of the Tonga Tourism Authority. In September 2020 she was made a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

. In July 2022 she was appointed as a judge of the

, replacing

Laki Niu Laki Niu is a Tongan judge and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. He was the first Tongan to sit on the Supreme Court of Tonga in over a hundred years. Niu is a lawyer and was educated at the University of Auckland in New Zealand ...

. She was the second woman appointed as a judge, after 'Elisapeti Langi. She will be sworn in on 1 August 2022.

Honours

;National honours * Order of the Crown of Tonga - ribbon bar

Order of the Crown of Tonga The Royal Order of the Crown of Tonga ('' Tongan: Fakalangilangi 'o Kalauni 'o Tonga'') is an Order of Merit awarded for exceptional services to Tonga and the Crown of Tonga. History It was established 16 April 1913 by George Tupou II to rewa ...

, Member (6 July 2021).

References

Living people University of Waikato alumni Tongan lawyers 21st-century Tongan women 21st-century Tongan people Honorary consuls Tongan civil servants Tongan women civil servants Supreme Court of Tonga justices Members of the Order of the Crown of Tonga Year of birth missing (living people) {{Tonga-bio-stub