Anthony David Ford (1942 – 31 January 2020) was a New Zealand lawyer and jurist. He served as a judge of the

Employment Court of New Zealand The Employment Court of New Zealand (Māori: Te Kooti Take-a-mihi o Aotearoa) is a specialist court for employment disputes. It mainly deals with issues arising under the Employment Relations Act 2000. The Employment Court is a court of record and ...

and Chief Justice of the Kingdom of

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 ...

Biography

Ford was born on 8 May 1942 in

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of . ...

on the West Coast of the South Island, and was educated at

Hari Hari Hari Hari (sometimes spelled Harihari) is a small rural settlement in the south west of the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. The name has a Maori meaning, from Te Aka Maori/English Dictionary, as "to take/carry joy" or, as loc ...

Primary School, St Bede's College in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and 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 ...

. Between 1963 and 1967, he worked in the legal section of the

Department of Maori Affairs Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

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 ...

. In 1970, he was admitted to the bar in Auckland and in July the same year he joined the law firm

Bell Gully Bell Gully is a major New Zealand law firm. Founded in 1840 it is one of New Zealand's largest law firms, and along with Chapman Tripp and Russell McVeagh it is considered to be one of the "big three". Bell Gully is a full-service law firm. M ...

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 ...

. He specialised initially in personal injury work and then in employment law, commercial litigation and defamation cases. Ford was a partner in Bell Gully between 1974 and 2000. He was a life member of the New Zealand Sporting Clubs' Association (SCANZ) and of the New Zealand Licensing Trusts Association, and a former trustee of the Halberg Trust. In July 2000, Ford was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Tonga. From 2005 to 2007, he also served as a judge on the Fijian Court of Appeal. In September 2006, Ford was appointed Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga and President of the Tonga Court of Appeal. In those capacities he carried out significant reforms of the Kingdom’s judicial system and in June 2008 he received international recognition for his work when he was invited to travel to New York to be presented with the World Bank’s Reformer of the Year award on behalf of the Tongan judiciary. In November 2007, Ford was Convenor of the 17th Biennial Pacific Judicial Conference in Nuku’alofa which was attended by over 50 judges from around the Pacific, including 21 chief justices. In August 2008, Ford was made a Knight Commander of the

Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III The ''Most Illustrious'' Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III is a knighthood order of the Kingdom of Tonga. History The Order was established on 28 June 2008 by His Late Majesty King George Tupou V to commemorate the grand figure of his grandmot ...

by the King of Tonga,

George Tupou V George Tupou V ( Tongan: Siaosi Tupou, full name: Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou; 4 May 194818 March 2012) was the King of Tonga from the death of his father Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV in 2006 until his own death six years later. ...

. On 25 March 2010, Ford was appointed to the position of judge of the Employment Court of New Zealand, although he did not take up that position until the expiration of his Tongan contract in September 2010. In the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were 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 ...

, Ford was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

, for services to Tonga and the judiciary. Ford was married to Valda and they had seven children. He died on 31 January 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Tony 1942 births 2020 deaths New Zealand judges on the courts of Fiji New Zealand judges on the courts of Tonga People from Hokitika Chief justices of Tonga 21st-century New Zealand judges 20th-century New Zealand lawyers Companions of the Queen's Service Order People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch University of Auckland alumni Knight Commanders of the Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III