Harbour Chambers barrister Kevin Riordan has been appointed Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces, Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson QC announced yesterday.
Riordan has been Deputy Judge Advocate General and Deputy Chief Judge of the Court Martial since October 2013.
Previously, he has been head of the legal team of the New Zealand Defence Force for over a decade, and has over thirty years’ experience in legal practice, which has seen him deployed to South East Asia, Bougainville, the Middle East, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan.
In 2009 he led a review of the military justice system which resulted in significant legislative change to bring military justice into line with international and domestic human rights standards.
The Judge Advocate General is responsible for ensuring the proper administration of armed forces law, with responsibilities such as investigating complaints by the members of the armed forces, appointing judge advocates to sit in courts-martial and considering and reporting on the proceedings of courts-martial.
He takes over from Christopher Hodson QC, who is retiring, and will take up his appointments on 4 August.
