William Young (judge)
{{Short description|New Zealand judge (born 1952)}}
{{For|other judges of this name|William Young (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Sir William Young
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|KNZM|KC|size=100%}}
| image = William Young 2020 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Young in 2020
| office = Justice of the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts
| term_start = 27 July 2022
| term_end = 9 August 2022
| order1 = Justice of the Supreme Court
| term_start1 = 1 July 2010
| term_end1 = 14 April 2022
| order2 = President of the Court of Appeal
| term_start2 = 2006
| term_end2 = 2010
| predecessor2 = Sir Noel Anderson
| successor2 = Mark O'Regan{{Cite web |url=https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-supreme-court-judge-and-court-appeal-president-announced |title=New Supreme Court judge and Court of Appeal President announced |publisher=Beehive |author=Chris Finlayson |author-link=Chris Finlayson |date=9 June 2010}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|4|14|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand
| death_date =
| death_place =
| spouse = {{marriage|Susan Mary Young|1979}}
| relations = Neville Young (brother)
| alma_mater = University of Canterbury
University of Cambridge
| successor1 = Stephen Kós
}}
Sir William Gillow Gibbes Austen Young {{post-nominals|country=NZL|KNZM|KC}} (born 14 April 1952) is a New Zealand judge.
He served on the Court of Appeal from 2004 to 2010, including as President from 2006. In 2010 he joined the Supreme Court of New Zealand. After retiring in 2022, Young has accepted appointments to international courts, including the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in 2025.{{Cite web |title=Appointment of non-permanent judge from another common law jurisdiction of Court of Final Appeal |url=https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202505/08/P2025050800594.htm |access-date=10 May 2025 |website=www.info.gov.hk}}
Early life, family, and early career
Born in Christchurch on 14 April 1952,{{cite book |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=Alister |editor-link=Alister Taylor |title=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001 |year=2001 |publisher=Alister Taylor Publishers |location=Auckland |issn=1172-9813 |page=971}} Young was educated at Christ's College, University of Canterbury (LLB (Hons) in 1974){{cite news |last1=Bayer |first1=Kurt |title=Exclusive: New Zealand judge Sir William Young resigns from Dubai judges job after pressure over human rights |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/exclusive-new-zealand-judge-sir-william-young-resigns-from-dubai-judges-job-after-pressure-over-human-rights/OJEWT6DRLF2EPCQOTHOZFV6TGY/ |access-date=19 August 2022 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=19 August 2022}} and University of Cambridge (PhD in 1979) in the United Kingdom with a thesis Duress and abuse of inequality of bargaining position.{{cite web |last=Young |first=William Gillow Gibbes Austen |date=1979 |title=Duress and abuse of inequality of bargaining position |url=https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=44CAM_ALMA21431217490003606&vid=44CAM_PROD&search_scope=SCOP_CAM_ALL&tab=cam_lib_coll&lang=en_US&context=L |access-date=11 May 2025 |website=idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk}} In 1979, he and his wife, Susan, were married, and they went on to have three children.
After obtaining his PhD, Young worked in the Christchurch law firm R A Young Hunter & Co, before moving to the independent bar to become a barrister sole in 1988. Young was made a Queen's Counsel in 1991 and acted in several high-profile cases, including the Winebox Inquiry of the 1990s.
Judge
Young was appointed a High Court Judge in Christchurch in 1997, a Court of Appeal Judge when the Supreme Court was created in 2004, and to the position of President of the Court of Appeal in January 2006.{{Cite web|url=http://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/about/appeal/judges/|title=The Judges of the Court of Appeal |work=Courts of New Zealand|publisher=Ministry of Justice |accessdate=29 October 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603222520/http://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/about/appeal/judges.html |url-status=dead|archivedate=3 June 2010}} Sitting on the Court of Appeal, Young in 2006 in R v Wanhalla described model jury directions in a criminal trial on the standard of proof required.
In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours, Young was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as president of the Court of Appeal.{{cite web |date=4 June 2007 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2007 |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2007 |accessdate=26 February 2020 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet}} In 2009, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government, he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion.{{cite news |author=Eames, David |date=1 August 2009 |title=Arise Sir Russell – 72 accept revived knighthoods |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10587961 |accessdate=3 December 2011 |work=The New Zealand Herald}} In 2013, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in laws from the University of Canterbury.{{cite web |date=24 July 2023 |title=Doctor of Laws |url=https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/about-uc/why-uc/our-alumni/honorary-doctorates/sir-william-young |access-date=11 May 2025 |website=University of Canterbury}}
Young was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court with effect from 1 July 2010.{{Cite web |title=The Judges of the Supreme Court — Courts of New Zealand |url=http://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/about/supreme/judges |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160726033639/http://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz:80/about/supreme/judges |archive-date=26 July 2016 |access-date=11 May 2025 |website=www.courtsofnz.govt.nz |language=en-nz}}{{cite news |date=9 June 2010 |title=New Supreme Court judge appointed |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10650733 |accessdate=3 December 2011 |work=The New Zealand Herald |agency=NZPA}} During his tenure he chaired from 2019 to 2020 the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch mosque shootings. He remained a permanent member of the Supreme Court until 2022.{{cite news |last=Nightingale |first=Melissa |date=13 April 2022 |title=Justice William Young retires from Supreme Court |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/empathy-critical-to-role-says-retiring-supreme-court-judge/DJ7PIKYBD6KRE4XMHOFKNLRGA4/ |access-date=11 May 2025 |work=NZ Herald}} Thereafter he sat as an acting judge of the Supreme Court until 2024.{{cite web |date=18 February 2025 |title=The Hon Sir William Young KNZM, KC, FAMINZ (Arb) |url=https://bridgeside.co.nz/the-hon-sir-william-young-knzm-kc-faminz-arb/ |access-date=11 May 2025 |website=Bridgeside Chambers}} On 3 April 2024, Young was granted retention of the title The Honourable, in recognition of his service as a judge of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court.{{cite news |date=5 April 2024 |title=Retention of the title "The Honourable" |url=https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2024-vr1544 |access-date=12 April 2024 |work=New Zealand Gazette}}
Following his retirement from the New Zealand Supreme Court, Young has accepted five international judicial appointments. He was appointed a judge of the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts in July 2022, but resigned less than a month later citing the risk of 'adverse perceptions' in light of concerns raised by human rights campaigners about foreign judicial appointments allegedly being used to legitimise the United Arab Emirates political regime.{{cite web | last=Bayer | first=Kurt | title=Exclusive: NZ judge resigns from Dubai post after human rights furore | website=The New Zealand Herald | date=19 August 2022 | url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/exclusive-new-zealand-judge-sir-william-young-resigns-from-dubai-judges-job-after-pressure-over-human-rights/OJEWT6DRLF2EPCQOTHOZFV6TGY/ | access-date=24 August 2022}} In August 2022 he was appointed an ad-hoc justice in the Court of Appeal of the Seychelles.{{cite web |date=5 August 2022 |title=Appointment of Ad-hoc Justices of Appeal |url=https://www.statehouse.gov.sc/news/5611/appointment-of-ad-hoc-justices-of-appeal |access-date=11 May 2025 |website=State House Seychelles}} On 7 November 2022 he was sworn in as a judge of the Court of Appeal of Samoa.{{cite web |url=https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/100466 |title=New Court of Appeal Justice sworn-in |publisher=Samoa Observer |author=Matai'a Lanuola Tusani T – Ah Tong |date=7 November 2022 |access-date=7 November 2022}} In October 2023 he was sworn to the Supreme Court of Fiji.{{cite web |last=Kumar |first=Rashika |date=3 October 2023 |title=NZ judge appointed to the Supreme Court of Fiji |url=https://www.fijivillage.com/news/NZ-judge-appointed-to-the-Supreme-High-Court-of-Fiji-54x8fr/ |access-date=11 May 2025 |website=Fijivillage}} On 8 May 2025, the Hong Kong government announced that Young would join the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal as a foreign non-permanent judge after receiving the endorsement of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
Non-judicial involvement
While a barrister, Young was involved with the New Zealand Law Society educational programme and, since appointment to the bench, with the Institute of Judicial Studies, being the primary author of its Criminal Jury Trials Bench Book. He wrote "Summing Up to Juries – What Jury Research says about Current Rules and Practice" [2003] Crim LR 665 and co-authored a chapter in Witness Testimony: Psychological, Investigative and Evidential Perspectives (Oxford University Press 26 October 2006).[http://www.aminz.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=1155 "2009 Conference Presenters"] AMINZ Inc. Retrieved 22 September 2010
References
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Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Category:Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges
Category:Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Category:University of Canterbury alumni
Category:20th-century New Zealand judges
Category:People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
Category:Supreme Court of New Zealand judges
Category:New Zealand King's Counsel
Category:21st-century New Zealand judges