Peter Blanchard

Who is Peter Blanchard?

Sir Peter Blanchard KNZM PC is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand.

In 1968 Blanchard received a Master of Laws degree from the University of Auckland Law School. He was then awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and a Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship from Harvard Law School where he received a masters degree in Law. He specialized in commercial, insolvency and property law as a partner at the Auckland law firms of Grierson Jackson & Partners and Simpson Grierson.

In 1992 Blanchard was appointed as a judge of the High Court of New Zealand and in 1996 appointed as a judge of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand.

In 1998 Blanchard was appointed as a New Zealand member of the Privy Council and in 2004 was appointed to the Supreme Court of New Zealand. Appointment to the Privy Council grants the right to use the style of The Right Honourable so Blanchard became The Right Honourable Justice Blanchard.

In the New Year Honours 2005 Blanchard was appointed a Distinguished Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit "for services to the Judiciary" which in 2009 was re-designated a Knight Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit.