New Zealand | New Chief Ombudsman appointed

On 18 August Judge Boshier was appointed as Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand. He will succeed Dame Beverley Wakem and take up that role and terminate his position as Law Commissioner on 10 December this year.

Judge Peter Boshier is a Law Commissioner with the New Zealand Law Commission and is also a Family Court Judge.

He was born and educated in Gisborne, attended Victoria University of Wellington and obtaining a Bachelor of Laws with Honours Degree in 1975. After a period of practice in Wellington he was appointed as a District Court Judge with a specialist Family Court warrant in 1988.

Judge Boshier has a long association with Pacific judicial issues and was seconded to undertake judicial training there, based in Suva in 2002 and 2003. Judge Boshier travels regularly to Pacific Island countries to undertake workshops on the subject of family violence and youth justice. He holds the Samoan Matai title of Misa which was bestowed in 2000.

In 2004 Judge Boshier was appointed as the Principal Family Court Judge of New Zealand and held that position until December 2012. During that time, Judge Boshier served on the Government’s Family Violence Taskforce. He is now Chair of the White Ribbon Advisory Committee, Patron of the White Ribbon Trust and undertakes a variety of family violence projects each year.

In 2009 Judge Boshier was made distinguished alumni of the Victoria University of Wellington for his contribution to the law.

Judge Boshier is the President of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts based in the United States. He is the first New Zealander to hold this position and does so until July 2016. Judge Boshier is Patron of the Dwell Community Housing Trust in Wellington.

On 18 August Judge Boshier was appointed as Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand. He will take up that role and terminate his position as Law Commissioner on 10 December this year and succeed Beverley A. Wakem, who resigned from her office as President of the IOI after five years in October 2014.

Source: Office of the Ombudsman, New Zealand