Anthony Ford

Who is Anthony Ford?

Anthony David Ford is a Judge of the Employment Court of New Zealand and a former Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga. He was born in Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand in 1942 and educated at Hari Hari Primary School, St Bedes College in Christchurch and Auckland University.

Between 1963 and 1967 he worked in the legal section of the Maori Affairs Department in Auckland. In 1970 he was admitted to the bar in Auckland and in July the same year he joined the law firm Bell Gully in Wellington. He specialised initially in personal injury work and then in employment law, commercial litigation and defamation cases. Ford was a partner in Bell Gully between 1974 and 2000. He is a Life Member of the New Zealand Sporting Clubs' Association and of the New Zealand Licensing Trusts Association and a former Trustee of the Halberg Trust.

In July 2000 Ford was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Tonga. From 2005 to 2007 he also served as a Judge on the Fijian Court of Appeal. In September 2006, Ford was appointed Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga and President of the Tonga Court of Appeal.