Judge L J Newhook

Judge Laurie Newhook retired as Chief Environment Court Judge in July 2020, having headed the New Zealand Environment Court from August 2011 and been a Judge of the Court from 2001. Before that he was counsel and has over thirty years of advocacy experience, with a focus on environmental matters, land, property, and maritime laws. He graduated LIB (Hons) from Auckland University in 1972.

Judge Newhook was appointed by the Minister for the Environment to be Convenor of Expert Panels under the Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020, for the 3-year life of the Act.

On 7 January 2022, he was appointed by the Minister for the Environment to be Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the freshwater planning processes under the Resource Management Act.

Judge Newhook has presented at national and international conferences on the themes of environmental adjudication and the use of technology in adjudicative settings, and has written papers on the subjects. Judge Newhook has hosted international delegations to his Court from many parts of the World. He chaired and presented at the ‘International Forum for Environment Judges’ in Oslo, Norway in June 2016 and in Auckland in April 2017. He has also chaired and addressed sessions at IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Colloquia, and other international conferences.