Sir Edmund Walter Thomas (born 1934), widely known as Ted Thomas, is a New Zealand jurist. He is a retired judge of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand and a former acting judge of the

Supreme Court of New Zealand The Supreme Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Mana Nui, lit=Court of Great Mana) 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 re ...

Biography

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

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation#Plural forms, abbrev ...

in 2009. He was admitted to the bar as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner 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 ...

of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. 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 Russell McVeagh is a New Zealand law firm with offices in Auckland and Wellington. It is one of New Zealand's largest law firms and is ranked highly by law firm ranking guides such as ''The Legal 500'' and ''Chambers and Partners''. History Jo ...

, he became a barrister sole and was appointed a QC 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 A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

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

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. From August 2004 he has been serving as
Distinguished Visiting Fellow
The University of Auckland. He was appointed a director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in 2003, for a five-year term. Justice Thomas was brought out of retirement to become an acting Judge of the

from 2005. He is a noted author, his works including ''The Judicial Process: Realism, Pragmatism, Practical Reasoning and Principles'' ( Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005).

Honours and awards

In 1990, Thomas was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. He was made a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in 1996. In the

2002 New Year Honours New Years' Honours are announced on or around the date of the New Year in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supplements to the London Ga ...

, 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 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Notable judgments

'' Re Taylor'' (1992) 4 NZBLC 102,875. ''Livingston v. Roskilly'' 9923 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