Sir Graham Davies Speight (21 July 1921 – 17 July 2008) was a New Zealand High Court

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

. He served as the acting

Queen's Representative The King's Representative is the official representative of , as Monarchy in the Cook Islands, of the realm of New Zealand, in the Cook Islands. The office of King's Representative is established by the Constitution of the Cook Islands. They a ...

in the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

in 1984. Speight was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

on 21 July 1921. He was educated at Newmarket School, Auckland Grammar School and Auckland University College, where he earned his

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

in 1942. After graduating, he served in the

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

from 1942 until 1946. He married Elizabeth Muriel Booth in 1947, and the couple went on to have two children. Speight served as the Crown solicitor in Auckland from 1959 until 1966, when was appointed a High Court judge. He later served as the Chief Justice of the

and the President of the Court of Appeal of Fiji from 1982 until 1988. In 1976 the Auckland Star quoted Justice Graham Speight as saying, in relation to the immigration of Pacific Islanders to New Zealand, ‘one must have the gravest anxiety as to the placement of these unsophisticated people in an environment which they are totally unfitted to cope with.’ Which has now come to be seen as perpetuating anti-Pacific Islander racism and xenophobia during the period of the dawn raids. In the

1983 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, Speight was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

, in recognition of his service as a High Court judge. Speight died in Auckland on 17 July 2008, at the age of 86. He was survived by his wife, son and five grandchildren.

References

1921 births 2008 deaths Queen's Representatives in the Cook Islands Chief justices of the Cook Islands New Zealand judges on the courts of the Cook Islands New Zealand judges on the courts of Fiji People educated at Auckland Grammar School High Court of New Zealand judges New Zealand Knights Bachelor Lawyers from Auckland University of Auckland alumni New Zealand Army personnel New Zealand military personnel of World War II Chancellors of the University of Auckland {{NewZealand-law-bio-stub