Simon Moore appointed chair of Electoral Commission

The New Zealand government has announced that the House agreed to the appointment of Justice Simon Moore as chair of the Electoral Commission. He has a five-year term of appointment beginning on 18 November. 

“Justice Moore brings with him a high level of legal acumen and decision-making ability, strategic planning skills and unquestionable personal integrity and independence,” said Paul Goldsmith, New Zealand’s justice minister, in a news release. 

Moore was a law clerk at Meredith Connell in Auckland. He then became a staff solicitor in 1982 and a partner at the firm in 1985. He served as Meredith Connell’s chairman of partners from 2003–14. 

He accepted an appointment as a judge of the High Court of New Zealand in February 2014 and retired from the High Court bench in October last year. However, he remains on an acting warrant, which lasts until December 31 this year.  

“I’d like to thank outgoing Chair Dame Marie Shroff for her years of service not only to the Commission, but to our public service,” Goldsmith said in the government’s news release. 

More on Moore 

Moore graduated with an LLB from Auckland University in 1980, according to a news release of the New Zealand government back when he was appointed as a High Court judge in Auckland. He was appointed Crown solicitor for Auckland in June 1994.  

In March 2000, the British government appointed Moore as public prosecutor for Pitcairn Island, as per the New Zealand government’s news release. In 2004, he was responsible for prosecuting 12 men on Pitcairn Island for historical sexual offences. 

He was appointed senior counsel in 2008 and named Queen’s counsel when the title was restored in 2012, the government’s news release said.