Three new District Court Judges

The Minister of Justice, Hon D.A.M. Graham, today announced the appointment of Christchurch Barrister and Solicitor June Johnston as a District Court Judge to exercise jurisdiction in the Family Court.

Judge Johnston will be sworn in at Christchurch District Court on 23 January and will sit in Wellington from 23 February 1998.

Judge Johnston graduated LLB from the University of Canterbury in 1970 and was admitted to the Bar in 1971. She worked for a Christchurch legal firm for six years and has been in sole practice since 1976.

She has been a member of the Canterbury District Law Society's Disciplinary Tribunal since 1992 and was Chairperson from 1993 till this year. She is also a member of its Cost Revision Committee.

Judge Johnston was a faculty member of the NZ Law Society's litigation skills course for four years, she was on the Family Law Committee in Canterbury for seven years and convened it for three years.

She served on the Ministerial Inquiry into Mental Health Services in 1995-96.

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New District Court Judge
The Minister of Justice, Hon D.A.M. Graham, today announced the appointment of Dunedin Barrister and Solicitor Grant Alistair Fraser as a District Court Judge to exercise jurisdiction in the Family Court.

Judge Fraser will be sworn in at the Dunedin District Court on 16 January and will sit in Palmerston North from 9 February 1998.

Judge Fraser graduated LLB from the University of Otago in 1975 and was admitted to the Bar the same year. He has been a partner in a Dunedin law firm since 1988. Prior to that he worked for two Dunedin legal firms and spent three years as Senior Advocate with the Otago Southland Employers Association.

Judge Fraser is a member of the NZ Law Society's Disciplinary Tribunal and Chairperson of the Otago District Law Society's Family Courts Committee.

He is a former member of the ODLS's Common Law Sub-committee and a former executive member of its Family Courts Committee.

Judge Fraser is Chairperson of the Otago District Legal Services Committee. He is a former Deputy Chairperson of the Dunedin Family Courts Association, Chairperson of the Dunedin Care and Protection Resource Panel and Chairperson of the Dunedin Child Protection Team.

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Appointment to District Court
The Minister of Justice, Hon D.A.M. Graham, today announced the appointment of Timaru Barrister and Solicitor Ian Grant Mill as a District Court Judge to exercise jurisdiction in the Family Court.

Judge Mill will be sworn in at the Timaru District Court on 15 January and will sit in Wellington from 9 February 1998.

Judge Mill graduated LLB from Canterbury University in 1973 and was admitted to the Bar in 1974. He has been a partner in a Timaru law firm since 1990. Prior to that he worked for legal firms in Timaru and Christchurch.

He is a former president, treasurer and secretary of the South Canterbury Law Society and the former South Canterbury representative on the Canterbury District Law Society.

He is a former chairman of both the Timaru Child Protection Team and Timaru Family Courts Association.

Judge Mill is currently the Residential Tenancy Adjudicator for South Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury and North Otago.