Sir Thomas Munro Gault ( zh, c=高禮哲, 31 October 1938 – 19 May 2015) was a New Zealand jurist. He was 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 ...

and a member of the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

as well as a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong. He was also a justice of the Supreme Court of Fiji. Gault attended Wellington College and graduated 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 ...

degree from

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 ...

. After graduation, he was a member of the law firm A J Park & Son for 20 years. In 1981, he began practising as a barrister sole, and in 1984 he was appointed a

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 ...

. His first appointment to the bench was as a Judge of the High Court in 1987, followed three years later by being made a member of 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 President of the Court of Appeal in May 2002. In the 2001 New Year Honours, Gault was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the judiciary. In the 2009 Special Honours, he accepted re-designation as 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 ...

following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government. A keen golfer, Gault won the New Zealand Universities' Championship, and was awarded

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

by both Victoria University and the

University of New Zealand A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. Moving into the administration of the game, he was President of the New Zealand Golf Association from 1987 to 1996 and as an Advisory Member of the Rules of Golf and Amateur Status Committees from 1978 to 1996. He was referee for

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

from 1993 to 1998. He joined

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...

in 1994, and was made its first New Zealand captain in September 2005. Gault died at home in Auckland in 2015.

References

External links

Supreme Court Judges
Retrieved 7 March 2006.
First Captain from New Zealand drives in
, 22 September 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gault, Thomas 1938 births 2015 deaths Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges People educated at Wellington College, Wellington Golf administrators High Court of New Zealand judges 20th-century New Zealand judges Supreme Court of New Zealand judges Victoria University of Wellington alumni Justices of the Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong) New Zealand judges on the courts of Hong Kong New Zealand judges on the courts of Fiji Supreme Court of Fiji justices Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand King's Counsel Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 21st-century New Zealand lawyers