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Kenneth Keith

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For the British businessman and banker, see Kenneth Keith, Baron Keith of Castleacre.

The Right Honourable
Sir Kenneth Keith
ONZ KBE KC PC
Keith in 2007
Personal details
Born (1937-11-19) 19 November 1937 (age 87)
Auckland, New Zealand
RelativesJudi Keith-Brown (daughter)
Alma materVictoria University College
Harvard University
University of Auckland
ProfessionLawyer, judge

Sir Kenneth James Keith ONZ KBE KC PC (born 19 November 1937)[1] is a New Zealand judge. He was elected to the International Court of Justice in November 2005, serving a nine-year term during the years 2006 through 2015.[2]

Keith was educated at the Auckland Grammar School and studied law at the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, and Harvard Law School. He was a faculty member of Victoria University from 1962 to 1964 and from 1966 to 1991. He served in the New Zealand Department of External Affairs during the early 1960s, and as a member of the United Nations Secretariat from 1968 to 1970. After this, he was Director of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs[3][4] and later became President of the New Zealand Law Commission. He was also a member of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System which was key in changing New Zealand's electoral system. In 1993 he was a member of the Working Party on the Reorganisation of the Income Tax Act 1976 which was instrumental in launching a fundamental reform the way New Zealand tax legislation was written.

From 1996 to 2003, Keith was a Judge of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand and was a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. He was subsequently one of the inaugural appointments to the new Supreme Court of New Zealand which replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as from 1 July 2004. Prior to his appointment to the International Court of Justice, he sat (as required) as a Judge of Appeal in Samoa (since 1982), the Cook Islands (since 1982) and Niue (since 1995), and Judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji. He has also sat as the chair of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Tribunal (UPS v Canada).

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In 1961, Keith was admitted to the New Zealand Bar, and in 1994 appointed a Queen's Counsel.[5] In 1996 Keith was appointed as a Judge of High Court of New Zealand and the Court of Appeal of New Zealand[6] On 21 May 1998 Keith was appointed to the Privy Council[7] and in 2004 was appointed to the Supreme Court of New Zealand.[8]

Keith is the first New Zealander to be elected to the International Court of Justice (2006–2015), having previously presented as a member of the New Zealand legal team in the Nuclear Tests cases before the International Court of Justice in 1973, 1974 and 1995.[9]

He recently served as a Judge ad hoc in two cases before the ICJ, appointed by Azerbaijan. He resigned from these positions on April 21, 2023, and was replaced by Judge Abdul G. Koroma. [10]

Honours and awards

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In the 1988 Queen's Birthday Honours, Keith was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to law reform and legal education,[11] and in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours he was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand.[12][13]

Lectures

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Notes

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  1. ^ "The Supremes – who's who on NZ'S highest court". The New Zealand Herald. 30 March 2005. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  2. ^ "All Members | International Court of Justice".
  3. ^ www.victoria.ac.nz Archived 29 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ The New Zealand Institute of International Affairs Archived 21 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Appointment of Queen’s Counsel" (6 October 1994) 101 New Zealand Gazette 3001 at 3021.
  6. ^ "Appointment of Judge of High Court and Court of Appeal" (15 February 1996) 13 New Zealand Gazette 421 at 443.
  7. ^ "Appointments to the Privy Council" (28 May 1998) 74 New Zealand 1613 at 1644.
  8. ^ "Appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court" (20 November 2003) 157 New Zealand Gazette 4333 at 4357.
  9. ^ "New Zealand at the International Court of Justice". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Solemn declarations of Judge ad hoc Koroma | International Court of Justice" (PDF). www.icj-cij.org. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  11. ^ "No. 51367". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 11 June 1988. p. 34.
  12. ^ "The Queen's Birthday Honours 2007" (13 June 2007) 63 New Zealand Gazette 1657.
  13. ^ Johnston, Martin (4 June 2007). "Heroes in word and deed". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of International Court of Justice
2006–2015 		Succeeded by
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