Two New Supreme Court Judges Sworn In At State House

Two new Supreme Court Judg­es from  New Zealand were sworn in at the State House yesterday (31/07/2023) to re-establish and build stronger links with the Fijian Ju­diciary.

With these new appointments, the ties between New Zealand and Fiji, which were long standing, has been re-established and treasured.

The new appointees, Honourable Sir Terence Arnold and Honour­able Dame Lowell Patricia Goddard were sworn in by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Fiji Ratu Wiliame Maivalili Katoni­vere in the presence of the Honour­able Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo, Chief Registrar Tomasi Bainivalu and Solicitor General Ropate Green.

Prior to this appointment, Sir Ar­nold served as Solicitor-General and appeared for the Crown in numerous important cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal, Privy Council and Supreme Court of New Zealand.

In 2006, Sir Arnold was appointed to the Court of Appeal and in June 2013 to the Supreme Court.

He was knighted in 2016 and re­tired as permanent judge of the Supreme Court in April 2016 but continued as an Acting Judge until 2022, only when his services are re­quired.

Sir Arnold graduated with Bach­elors in Law from Victoria Univer­sity and from New York University.

He was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law degree by Victoria University TeHerenga Waka in May 2018 and is a distinguished fel­low at the Law facility.

Honourable Dame Lowell Godd­ard graduated from the University of Auckland with an LLB in 1974 and was admitted as Barrister and Solicitor in 1975. During her legal career, Dame Lowell undertook a broad range of work in a number of roles -including criminal and civil litigation, public inquiries, human rights, and administrative and con­stitutional legal issues. She com­menced practice as a barrister sole in 1977. In 1988, she was appointed Queens Counsel -one of the first two women to be appointed in New Zealand. She was Deputy Solicitor General from 1992 to 1995. She was appointed a High Court judge from 1995 to 2015 (20 years). She also sat regularly as a member of the Civil and Criminal Appeal Division of the Court of Appeal.

Source: High Court of Fiji

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