Judge Joanne Wickliffe (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa) has been announced as a new District Court judge by Attorney-General Judith Collins and will be based in Rotorua.
Judge Wickliffe began her law studies at the University of Auckland at age 30 and was admitted to the bar in 1999.
She has specialised in criminal law all her career and has more than 23 years experience as a criminal defence advocate, according to a profile for Pōhutukawa Chambers in Auckland, of which she was a founding member in November 2022.
Early in her career, Judge Wickliffe worked as a law clerk for King’s Counsel Marie Dyhrberg and then as a junior lawyer for now District Court Judge Richard Earwaker.
Judge Wickliffe spent nine years as a barrister sole, including two years as a prosecutor for the Auckland SPCA, followed by seven years with the Public Defence Service where she led a team of lawyers, before returning to the private bar eight years ago and founding Pohutukawa Chambers with two other female barristers.
Before studying law, Judge Wickliffe worked as a legal secretary, an administrator at the local freezing works and a reporter/photographer at a community newspaper.
Judge Wickliffe will be sworn in on 2 August.
