New Zealand: The ICJ mourns passing of Commissioner Lord Cooke of Thorndon

Sep 1, 2006 | News

The ICJ today mourned the passing of one of its Commissioners, Lord Robin Cooke of Thorndon, from New Zealand.

Lord Cooke was a highly-respected New Zealand jurist. He was elected to the ICJ in 1993 and was re-elected for two additional terms. Lord Cooke served as Lord of Appeal in the United Kingdom House of Lords from 1996, and was a member of the Privy Council from 1977. His prestigious career also included service as President of New Zealand’s Court of Appeal from 1986 to 1996, as a judge of that court from 1976 to 1986, and as a judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand from 1972 to 1976. Lord Cooke retired in 2001.

On numerous occasions, Lord Cooke also sat as an Appellate Justice in a number of Asia-Pacific jurisdictions, among them, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, the Fiji Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal of Samoa and Kiribati. He was a life member of Law Asia, the American Law Institute, the English Bar, and the International Bar Association.

An experienced and well-respected international lecturer, Lord Cooke contributed to furthering the mission of the ICJ, including by writing and lecturing on the importance for upholding the rule of law of an independent judiciary, and, on the role of the judiciary in upholding human rights and democracy.

The ICJ expressed its condolences to the family of Lord Cooke.