Sir Edmund Walter Thomas (born 1934) is a New Zealand jurist. He is a retired judge of the

Court of Appeal of New Zealand The Court of Appeal of New Zealand () is the principal intermediate appellate court of New Zealand. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rathe ...

and a former acting judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

Biography

Born in 1934, Thomas was educated at Feilding Agricultural High School and Victoria University College graduating with a BA and LLB in 1956, and the

higher doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

LLD in 2009. He was admitted to the bar as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

(later the High Court) of New Zealand. Following many years as a partner at New Zealand law firm Russell McVeagh, he became a barrister sole and was appointed

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1981. In 1989 and 1990, he was President of the New Zealand Bar Association, and in 1990 he was appointed to the bench of the High Court of New Zealand. In 1995 he was elevated to the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

. He retired from the appellate bench in 2001. As a judge some saw him as a proponent of

judicial activism Judicial activism is a judicial philosophy holding that courts can and should go beyond the applicable law to consider broader societal implications of their decisions. It is sometimes used as an antonym of judicial restraint. The term usually ...

. He was also noted for his frequent dissenting judgements, particularly after 1996. In 2002 Thomas was visiting fellow at the Research School of Social Sciences, The

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

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. From August 2004 he has been serving as
Distinguished Visiting Fellow
The

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

. He was appointed a director of the

Reserve Bank of New Zealand The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) () is the central bank of New Zealand. It was established in 1934 and is currently constituted under the ''Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 2021''. The current acting governor of the Reserve Bank, Christian ...

in 2003, for a five-year term. Justice Thomas was brought out of retirement to become an acting Judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand from 2005. He is a noted author, his works including ''The Judicial Process: Realism, Pragmatism, Practical Reasoning and Principles'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, 2005).

Honours and awards

In 1990, Thomas was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1996. In the 2002 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as a judge of the Court of Appeal. Following the re-introduction of titular honours by the New Zealand government, he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Notable judgments

* '' Re Taylor'' (1992) 4 NZBLC 102,875. * ''Livingston v. Roskilly''

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as far south as Germany and Korea. Euro ...

3 NZLR 230

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Ted 1934 births Living people Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit 20th-century New Zealand judges Victoria University of Wellington alumni High Court of New Zealand judges Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges Supreme Court of New Zealand judges New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom New Zealand King's Counsel People educated at Feilding High School 21st-century New Zealand judges