The court will hold a special ceremonial sitting at the Auckland Employment Court
The Employment Court has announced the retirement of Judge Mark Perkins from the bench.
Perkins has served as a judge for 21 years. He first ascended to the bench in 1999 as a judge of the District Court in Napier. Three years later, he transferred to the Auckland District Court.
During his tenure as District Court judge, he acted as a temporary Employment Court judge over the periods of 2006-2007 and 2009-2011. In 2013, he was appointed as a permanent judge at the Employment Court in Auckland.
In December 2017, Perkins was elected as acting judge of the court for 12 months; he was re-appointed to the role a year later. On 28 December 2019, the governor-general retained him in the position for a third 12-month term.
Prior to becoming a judge, Perkins was a litigation partner at Macalister, Mazengarb, Parkin & Rose in Wellington early in his legal career. Subsequently, he joined the partnerships of Cairns Slane and Hesketh Henry in Auckland.
He was admitted to the bar in 1970, and received his LLB from the Auckland Law School at the University of Auckland in 1971. He also studied for his LLM at the Victoria University of Wellington Law School while at Macalister, Mazengarb, Parkin & Rose, graduating in 1984.
Employment Court Chief Judge Christina Inglis said that a special ceremonial sitting of the court will be held on 27 November to say farewell to Perkins. The sitting will take place at the Auckland Employment Court at 4pm, and Inglis invited counsel to robe if they so wished.
In August, the Employment Court welcomed Kathryn Beck as a new judge. She became part of the court’s first all-women bench to preside over a hearing alongside Inglis and Judge Joanna Holden.
