Judge Mark Williams was appointed to the role in July but started officially in the position this week.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday, he said while he was still settling in, he was looking forward to the challenge.
"It was an honour to be appointed a judge — there’s no doubt about it.
"A lot of trust is placed in you, in the role and I know a lot of judges that I’ve obviously got to know over the years, so it’s been an honour to join their ranks and I hope to fulfil the role well."
Judge Williams has had an extensive career and experience in different areas of law.
His first university-level qualification was a bachelor of science (first-class hons) from the University of Exeter where he had the opportunity to take some law classes as part of his degree.
"I had the opportunity to spend a few days with some barristers close to where I was at university and I thought, ‘actually, I quite like this’ and I thought I could do quite well at it."
After that experience, he decided to follow his passion and gained his legal qualifications in the UK from the Inns of Court School of Law in 1996.
He was then admitted to the bar in New Zealand in 2010.
His early legal career began in 1997 and he began legal practice in London, becoming a member of Argent Chambers with a practice focused on criminal law, both as a prosecutor and defence counsel.
"I still remember the very first case that I ever did and that was a drunk-driving case years and years ago. I still remember that as a very fresh young lawyer out of law school and I was then able to appear in court on my own.
"I learned the importance of preparation, being confident and knowing what your case was ... Being ready for whatever could come up in court — and those sort of skills have always stayed with me."
In 2010, he and his partner decided to emigrate to New Zealand.
In the same year, after qualifying as a lawyer in the country, he was admitted to the bar and worked as a mediator with Dispute Resolution Services in Auckland.
He then joined Meredith Connell as an associate in 2011 where he worked for about three years.
Between 2014 and 2016 Judge Williams was General Counsel for the NZ Serious Fraud Office before joining the Crown Solicitor’s office in Manukau as a principal prosecutor from 2017 to 2021.
Most recently he has been the Public Defender for Manukau with the Public Defence Service.
Judge Williams believed his extensive experience in different areas of law would be very beneficial to his new role.
"Obviously each role has different responsibilities depending on what side of the court you sit on. The judge has a very different role to play and that’s the role that I now need to fulfill.
"I’m fortunate enough that I’ve got background in both prosecution and defending in the criminal field [so] I can understand both sides and appreciate what both sides are going through."
While he was still settling into the new role, Judge Williams was excited to live in the deep south and said the community and the court staff had"gone out of their way" to make him feel very welcome.
He hoped he could give back to the community.
"I hope I bring a degree of calmness to the role ... an inclusive approach to matters and I hope to serve the community well ... I want to engage with the community, I want to know it, I want to understand it and I want to be part of it.
"That’s the journey that I’ve just started, but I’m incredibly excited to be here and to start this role."
