The District Court of New Zealand has two new judges.
Alan Mina Wharepouri and Kevin Donald Kelly have been appointed to the District Court bench, according to a notice from Attorney-General David Parker published in the New Zealand Gazette.
Wharepouri became New Zealand’s first Tongan-born judge to sworn in when he was appointed acting District Court judge in June 2016, the
New Zealand Law Society said. Admitted in October 1995, the judge previously worked at Kensington Swan,
Russell McVeagh, and Meredith Connell. He became a barrister Sole in 2012.
Kelly, who was appointed an acting District Court judge in May 2016, was the deputy secretary treaty and the director of the Office of Treaty Settlements at the
Ministry of Justice. He was also chief legal advisor of the New Zealand Police from 2009 to 2012. He has also held senior positions in Land Information New Zealand, the Ministry of Economic Development, the State Services Commission, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
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