Sir Thaddeus Pearcey McCarthy (24 August 1907 – 11 April 2001) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

jurist. McCarthy was educated at

St Bede's College, Christchurch St. Bede's College is an State-integrated school, integrated Roman Catholic day school, day and boarding school in Christchurch, New Zealand, for boys aged 12 (Year 9) to 18 (Year 13). St. Bede's is the oldest Roman Catholic Boys' College in N ...

, and then studied law at Victoria University College,

and graduated in 1928. He was admitted as a solicitor only in 1929, completed an LLM degree (in 1930), and in 1931 was admitted as a barrister. He practised at the

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

bar for 26 years until his appointment to the bench. McCarthy was in active service overseas during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He prosecuted Walter James Bolton, who was executed in 1957, the last person executed in New Zealand. McCarthy was appointed to 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 ...

bench in 1957, and from 1958 onwards he served periodically as a temporary 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 ...

. He sat in the '' Rees v Sinclair'' case. Sir Thaddeus was President of the Court of Appeal from 1973 to 1976, and was the presiding member of an unprecedented seven

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

s. He was also a Commissioner of Security Appeals. McCarthy had a reputation as a "plain English" judge with an outstanding ability to make complex matters understandable. He 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 the 1964 New Year Honours, and a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

on 3 May 1974. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by Royal warrant (documen ...

, New Zealand's highest civilian honour, on 6 February 1994.

References

1907 births 2001 deaths New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Order of New Zealand New Zealand Knights Bachelor People from Wellington City Victoria University of Wellington alumni High Court of New Zealand judges Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 20th-century New Zealand judges 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand Roman Catholics {{NewZealand-law-bio-stub