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
Keith in 2007
Personal details
Born (1937-11-19) 19 November 1937 (age 87)
Auckland, New Zealand
Spouse
​
(m. 1961)​
RelativesJudi Keith-Brown (daughter)
Alma mater
Profession

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

Early life and family

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Keith was born in Auckland on 19 November 1937, and educated at Auckland Grammar School.[1] He went on to study law at the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1961 and a Master of Laws degree in 1964, before undertaking further study at Harvard Law School from 1964 to 1965.[1][2]

In 1961, Keith married Jocelyn Margaret Buckett, and the couple went on to have four children, including architect Judi Keith-Brown.[1]

Career

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Admitted to the New Zealand Bar in 1961,[3] Keith was employed by the Department of External Affairs from 1962 to 1964.[1] He was a faculty member of Victoria University of Wellington from 1962 to 1964, and from 1966 to 1991, rising to become a full professor in 1974, and serving as dean of law between 1977 and 1981.[1] He was a member of the United Nations Secretariat from 1968 to 1970, and director of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs from 1972 to 1974.[1]

From 1982, Keith sat (as required) as a judge of appeal in Samoa and the Cook Islands.[1]

In 1991, Keith became president of the New Zealand Law Commission,[1] and he was a member of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System that was key in changing New Zealand's electoral system.[3] 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 of the way in which New Zealand tax legislation was written.[citation needed]

Keith was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1994.[4] From 1995, he sat as appeal in Niue.[3] In 1996, he was appointed to the bench in New Zealand as a judge of both the High Court and the Court of Appeal,[5] and on 21 May 1998, he was appointed to the Privy Council.[6] From 2003, Keith served a judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji, and he has also sat as the chair of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) tribunal (UPS v Canada).[3]

In 2004, Keith was one of the inaugural appointments to the new Supreme Court of New Zealand,[7] which replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as New Zealand's highest court from 1 July 2004.

In 2006, Keith became the first New Zealander to be elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), having previously presented as a member of the New Zealand legal team in the Nuclear Tests cases before the ICJ in 1973, 1974 and 1995.[8] He served until 2015.[9] Keith subsequently served as a judge ad hoc in two cases before the ICJ, appointed by Azerbaijan. He resigned from these positions on 21 April 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] In 1990, he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[1] In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand.[12][13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 211. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
  2. ^ "NZ university graduates 1870–1961: I–K". Shadows of Time. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Press release from the International Court of Justice at the Wayback Machine (archived 12 November 2006)
  4. ^ "Appointment of Queen's Counsel" (6 October 1994) 101 New Zealand Gazette 3001 at 3021.
  5. ^ "Appointment of Judge of High Court and Court of Appeal" (15 February 1996) 13 New Zealand Gazette 421 at 443.
  6. ^ "Appointments to the Privy Council" (28 May 1998) 74 New Zealand 1613 at 1644.
  7. ^ "Appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court" (20 November 2003) 157 New Zealand Gazette 4333 at 4357.
  8. ^ "New Zealand at the International Court of Justice". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  9. ^ "All Members | International Court of Justice".
  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. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of International Court of Justice
2006–2015 		Succeeded by