Thomas Eichelbaum

Infobox_Officeholder
name=Sir Thomas Eichelbaum
order=11^th Chief Justice of New Zealand
term_start=1989
term_end=17 May 1999
predecessor=Sir Ronald Davison
successor=Dame Sian Elias
birth_date=Birth date and age|1931|5|17|mf=y
birth_place=Konigsberg, DEU
death_date=
death_place=
spouse=
religion=

The Right Honourable Sir Johann Thomas Eichelbaum, GBE, QC (艾俊彬爵士) (born May 17 1931) was the eleventh Chief Justice of New Zealand.

Early life

He was born in Konigsberg, Germany, and his family emigrated to Wellington, New Zealand in 1938 to escape the persecution of Jews.For instance, on one occasion Eichelbaum was attacked by a group of other schoolchildren, and even the adult who stopped the assault abused him, calling him ‘a bloody Jew’. cite book
editor=James N. Bade and James Braund (Eds)
title = Out of the Shadow of War: The German Connection with New Zealand in the Twentieth Century
year = 1998
publisher = Oxford University Press
location = Auckland
id = ISBN 0-19-558363-9] He was educated at Hutt Valley High School, then attended Victoria University of Wellington graduating with a LL.B in 1954.

Judge of the High Court of New Zealand

Sir Thomas was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1978. He was President of the New Zealand Law Society in 1980-1982. He was appointed a judge of the High Court of New Zealand in 1982.

Chief Justice of New Zealand

In 1989 he was appointed the Chief Justice of New Zealand. He retired from the Bench in 1999.

Retirement

Since retiring as a judge, Sir Thomas has conducted investigations on a number of controversial topics. He chaired the 2000-2001 "Report of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification". He also investigated the reasons for New Zealand losing co-hosting rights to the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Following his report, the chairman and the CEO of the New Zealand Rugby Union both resigned.

In 2001, he conducted a ministerial inquiry reviewing children's evidence in the controversial Peter Ellis case. His report, which has been widely criticised cite journal
last = Francis | first = Ross
year = 2007 | month = November, December
title = New Evidence in the Peter Ellis case
journal = New Zealand Law Journal
url = http://www.peterellis.org.nz/2007/2007_francis_new_evidence.pdf
accessdate = 2008-03-25 ] , upheld the guilty verdicts and stands in contrast to an earlier report by retired High Court judge, Sir Thomas Thorp. A New Zealand Law Journal editorial has stated that Eichelbaum had either not read all the children's statements (reviewing only those allowed by the trial judge) or that, "with respect, his judgement is at fault."cite journal
last = Robertson | first = Bernard
year = 2002 | month = February
title = Editorial: The Ellis case
journal = New Zealand Law Journal | pages = 1 | id = ISSN 0028-8873
url = http://www.menz.org.nz/News%20archive/nzljedfeb02.pdf
accessdate = 2006-04-27 ]

He was knighted a Knight Grand Cross of the British Empire (GBE) in 1989 and became a Privy Councillor in 1989. Eichelbaum is (May 2008) a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong SAR Court of Final Appeal and a part-time member of the Fiji Court of Appeal.

He is married with three sons.

References

External links

* [http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/organisms/royal-commission-gm/index.html "Report of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification"]
* [http://www.executive.govt.nz/MINISTER/hobbs/genetics/members.htm Profiles of Royal Commission members, including Eichelbaum]
* [http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2001/ellis-report/index.html Report on Ellis Case]
* [http://www.justice.govt.nz/pubs/reports/2001/ellis-report/appendix-e.html Eichelbaum's curriculum vitae]