Thomas Gault

Who is Thomas Gault?

Sir Thomas Munro Gault KNZM QC PC is a New Zealand judge who was a Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand and is a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom as well as a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong. He has also been a justice of the Supreme Court of Fiji.

Gault attended Wellington College and graduated with a Master of Laws degree from Victoria University of Wellington. After graduation he was a member of the law firm A J Park & Son for 20 years. In 1981, he began practicing as a barrister sole, and in 1984 he was appointed a Queen's Counsel.

His first appointment to the bench was as a Judge of the High Court in 1987, followed three years later by being made a member of the Court of Appeal. He was appointed President of the Court of Appeal in May 2002.

In 2001 he was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to the judiciary. In the Special Honours 2009 Gault redesignated his DCNZM to a Knight Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit.

Gault is a keen golfer, winning the New Zealand Universities’ Championship. He was awarded Blues by both Victoria University and the University of New Zealand.