Robert Chambers (New Zealand judge)

Sir Robert Stanley Chambers KNZM QC (23 August 1953 – 21 May 2013) was a judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

The Honourable

Sir Robert Chambers

KNZM QC
Justice of the Supreme Court
In office
1 February 2012 – 21 May 2013
Personal details
Born
Robert Stanley Chambers

(1953-08-23)23 August 1953
Auckland, New Zealand
Died21 May 2013(2013-05-21) (aged 59)
Wellington, New Zealand
Spouse(s)(1) Claire Taylor (divorced)
(2) Deborah Chambers QC

Biography

After an education at King’s College, Chambers attended the University of Auckland and graduated in 1975 with an LLB (Hons).[1] He was awarded Junior and Senior Scholarships in Law, the AG Davis Scholarship and the Sir Alexander Johnston Scholarship.[1]

Chambers became a clerk to Judges of the Supreme Court (now High Court) before attending Oxford University having been awarded Commonwealth and New Zealand Law Society Scholarships.[1] At Oxford he was Salvesen Fellow at New College, gained High Honours and was awarded his DPhil in 1978.[1]

Chambers returned to New Zealand and lectured in law at the University of Auckland and worked as a lawyer for the firm Wilson Henry Martin & Co.[1] He commenced practice as a barrister sole in 1981 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1992 — one of the few to be appointed under the age of 40.[1][2]

He was a founding member of the Arbitrators’ Institute of New Zealand in 1987, a member of the Law Commission’s Evidence Sub-Committee and a member of the Council of the Legal Research Foundation.[3]

He was a Council member of the Auckland District Law Society from 1992 to 1998, its Vice-President from 1995 to 1997 and President from 1997 to 1998.[1] He was also a Vice-President of the New Zealand Law Society from 1998 to 1999.[1]

Chambers was appointed to the High Court in 1999[4] and in January 2004 appointed to the Court of Appeal.[5] In January 2012 Chambers was appointed to the Supreme Court[6][7] and took up the post on 1 February 2012. On that last appointment the Chief Justice Sian Elias described Chambers as “born for that position”.[1][3]

Chambers created and contributed to guidelines and systems still applicable in the New Zealand courts today, such as flow charts for juries, the New Zealand system for assessing party and party costs (created with Fisher J), the Evidence Act and the New Zealand Law Style Guide.[1][8]

On 21 May 2013, Chambers unexpectedly died in his sleep in Wellington.[9][10] Subsequently, the Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae announced that Chambers was to have been appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours and that, as royal assent had been given to the appointment before Chambers' death, his knighthood took effect from 20 May 2013.[11] His funeral was held at the Auckland Town Hall — the first since the passing of former New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon.

Chambers was married twice: first to Claire Taylor until they parted amicably in 2000 and with whom he had two sons David and Christopher; and then to Deborah Chambers QC (née Tohill, married name Hollings) from 2004 until his death.[12]

On 10 November 2016 the Minister of Justice Amy Adams announced the development of a memorial garden in honour of Chambers to be situated at the High Court in Auckland.[13]

  • Co-editor Salmond and Heuston's Law of Torts (Sweet & Maxwell, 1981).
  • Chapter in "Professional Responsibility" (Legal Research Foundation, 1987).
  • Stephen Todd (ed) The Law of Torts in New Zealand (Brooker's, 1991 (1st ed), 1997 (2nd ed)).
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References
  1. "Chief Justice's eulogy to Sir Robert Chambers". The National Business Review. 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  2. "Queen's Counsel Regulations 1987" (20 August 1992) 130 New Zealand Gazette 2838.
  3. "New Zealand Law Society". www.lawsociety.org.nz. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  4. "Appointment of Judge of the High Court" (20 May 1999) 56 New Zealand Gazette 1317.
  5. "Appointment of Judges of the Court of Appeal" (20 November 2003) 157 New Zealand Gazette 4357.
  6. "Appointment of Judge of the Supreme Court" (12 January 2012) 1 New Zealand Gazette 31.
  7. "Judges of the Supreme Court". Courts of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  8. "Queen's counsel Robert Fisher's tribute to Justice Sir Robert Chambers". The National Business Review. 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  9. Anderson, Jock (22 May 2013). "Death of Justice Robert Chambers". National Business Review.
  10. "Robert Stanley Chambers obituary". New Zealand Herald. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  11. "'Outstanding' judge to be posthumously knighted". New Zealand Herald. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  12. "Powerful legal mind decoded trials for juries". Dominion Post. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  13. "Auckland High Court garden to honour Sir Robert Chambers | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
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