Background
David Baragwanath was born in Auckland in 1940. His father was The Very Rev Owen Baragwanath, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand.
David Baragwanath was born in Auckland in 1940. His father was The Very Rev Owen Baragwanath, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand.
He attended Auckland Grammar School, followed by University of Auckland Law School, as well as a Rhodes Scholar who earned a Bachelor of Civil Law from Oxford University.
He assumed the tasks of prosecution and defense in major criminal cases, notably complicated murder and fraud trials. Judge Baragwanath was appointed Queen"s Counsel in 1983 and is a former president of the New Zealand Law Commission. At the time of his appointment to the Court of Appeal, he was the second longest serving High Court Judge based at the High Court at Auckland, behind Justice Williams.
Baragwanath joined to the United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon in March 2009.
In October 2010, it was announced Justice Baragwanath was appointed one of four appeal judges to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Judge Baragwanath became elected President of the Tribunal on 10 October 2011, following the retirement of Judge Antonio Cassese on grounds of ill health.
He is an overseas bencher of the Inner Temple in London. In addition to his judicial work, Justice Baragwanath published articles on both national and international human rights issues, constitutional matters, the rule of law, and international judicial cooperation.
He also taught at Cambridge University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Hong Kong, University of Manitoba and the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies as a visiting scholar.
David Baragwanath began his law career as a member of the lawyers’ syndicate in New Zealand. Judge Baragwanath is also a New Zealand member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. He has also been a member of the Court of Appeal of Samoa.
