Court Martial Judge appointed

Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson today announced the appointment of Judge Heemi Taumaunu as a Judge of the Court Martial. Judge Taumaunu was sworn in at Auckland on 21 June 2012.

Judge Taumaunu is of Ngāti Porou and Ngai Tahu descent. He was appointed to the District Court bench in 2004. He holds warrants for the general, jury and youth jurisdictions and also sits in Rangatahi Courts regularly.

He is a resident judge of the Waitakere District Court. Judge Taumaunu previously worked in Gisborne as a barrister and solicitor and focussed on criminal, Family Court and Youth Court work. Prior to his legal career, Judge Taumaunu was a Webb Class Regular Force Cadet (Waiouru) and from 1985-1988 he was a Lance Corporal in the RNZ Signals Corp.