Sir Joseph Victor Williams (born 1961) is a New Zealand lawyer and judge. He has been a justice of the

Supreme Court of New Zealand The Supreme Court of New Zealand () is the highest court and the court of last resort of New Zealand. It formally came into being on 1 January 2004 and sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It replaced the right of appeal to the Judicial Co ...

since 2019, and is the first

Māori person Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

appointed to the role.

Early life

Williams was brought up in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

by a great-uncle and a great-aunt alongside his cousins. He is of

Ngāti Pūkenga Ngāti Pūkenga is a Māori iwi centred in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Waihi in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in ...

and

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

descent. By 14, he was working in the freezing works to contribute to the family income. Williams won a scholarship and was educated at

Lindisfarne College Lindisfarne College was a private school or independent school. It was founded in 1891 in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex, England. In 1940 Lindisfarne College moved from Westcliff to nearby Creeksea Place, but during the Second World War the building ...

. He went on to study at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, where he first studied

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

and then law. He graduated in 1986 with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree from Victoria, and later with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

with first-class honours in indigenous rights law from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. He had worked as a junior law lecturer at Victoria University before studying his master's degree. In the 1980s, Williams was a musician as a member of the Ngāhiwi Apanui-led band Aotearoa, known for their bilingual

Pacific reggae Pacific reggae is a style of reggae music found in the Pacific. This style is found in Polynesia (including New Zealand and Hawaii), and Melanesia (including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands). Within this genre there are differing styles, ...

song "Maranga Ake Ai" (1985).

Legal career

Williams contributed to the legal team for the 1985

Treaty of Waitangi claim A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

which led to the adoption of te reo Māori as an official language of New Zealand. In 1988 he joined Kensington Swan, where he specialised in Māori issues and environmental law. He became a partner at Kensington Swan in 1992, leaving in 1994 to co‑found Walters Williams & Co. 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 The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on c ...

after acting in that role for several years. In 2008, he was appointed a Justice of the

High Court of New Zealand The High Court of New Zealand () is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration of justice throughout New Zeala ...

. In 2017, he became the first Te Reo Māori speaker appointed 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 was appointed to the Supreme Court of New Zealand in May 2019, succeeding William Young. Williams is the first Māori person to be appointed to the Supreme Court. Williams is a former Vice-President of the Māori Law Society, and a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has written about tikanga Māori and New Zealand law. His future vision for New Zealand law is for a time "when tikanga Māori fuses with New Zealand’s common law tradition to form a hybrid law of Aotearoa that could be developed by judges, case by base." He gave the Ivan Kwok lecture in 2022 where he set out his views on the government's Treaty of Waitangi partnerships with Māori and the struggle of government to give effect to its treaty commitments.

Awards and honours

In the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, he was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

, for services to the judiciary. His investiture ceremony took place in April 2021 at his home marae in the Coromandel town of Manaia.

Selected publications

* Williams, Joe. (July 2001). "The Māori Land Court: A Separate Legal System?" New Zealand Centre for Public Law. https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/public-law/publications/occasional-papers/pdfs/JWilliams-web-paper.pdf * Williams, Joe. (June 2008). "Confessions of a Native Judge: Reflections on the role of transitional justice in the transformation of indigeneity." Native Title Research Unit. Archived at http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/LRightsLaws/2008/3.pdf.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Joe 1961 births 20th-century New Zealand male singers Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges High Court of New Zealand judges Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Living people Māori Land Court judges Members of the Waitangi Tribunal 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand male musicians New Zealand Māori judges New Zealand Māori musicians Pacific reggae People educated at Lindisfarne College, New Zealand Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni Supreme Court of New Zealand judges Ngāti Pūkenga people Te Arawa people Victoria University of Wellington alumni 21st-century New Zealand lawyers