Joe Williams (judge)
Sir Joseph Victor Williams is a judge and the first Māori person appointed to the Supreme Court of New Zealand. He is of Ngāti Pūkenga, and Te Arawa descent.Biography
Williams was educated at Lindisfarne College. In 1986, he graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with an LLB, and later with a LLM first class honours from University of British Columbia in Indigenous Rights Law.
In 1999, at the age of 38, he became the youngest person to be appointed Chief Judge of the Māori Land Court. In 2004, Williams was appointed the Chairperson of the Waitangi Tribunal.
In 2008, he was appointed a Justice of the High Court of New Zealand. In 2017, he became the first Te Reo Māori speaker appointed to the Court of Appeal.
Williams is a former Vice-President of the Māori Law Society, and a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
In the 2020 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the judiciary.
