Chair Judge Colin Doherty

His Honour Judge Colin Doherty was appointed Chair of the Authority in August 2017 for a five year term. 

Judge Doherty came to the Authority from his position as the National Executive Judge of the District Court of New Zealand. He was appointed a District Court judge in 1997, following 20 years as a practising lawyer.

Judge Doherty is also an Alternate Judge of the Environment Court and a Justice of the High Court of the Cook Islands. Judge Doherty previously served as an Associate Judge of the High Court of New Zealand and a Justice of the Supreme Court of Samoa.

Over the past 15 years he has held a number of senior administrative positions in the District Court judiciary. Judge Doherty is the Chair of the District Court's International Framework for Courts Excellence (IFCE) Committee and oversaw the implementation of New Zealand's first IFCE assessment in 2012 and its second assessment in 2015.

Judge Doherty previously chaired the Judicial Reference Group established in the wake of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, for which he was a recipient of the 2013 Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration AIJA Award for Excellence.