Fiji and New Zealand re-establishes strong links as two new supreme court judges are sworn in at the State House

In the bid to re-establish and build stronger links between the Fiji and New Zealand governments and further strengthen Fiji's judiciary, two new Supreme Court Judges were sworn in at the State House yesterday.

The new appointees, Sir Terence Arnold and Dame Lowell Patricia Goddard both from New Zealand were sworn in by President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere in the presence of Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo, Chief Registrar, Tomasi Bainivalu and Solicitor General Ropate Green.

Before this appointment, Sir Arnold served as Solicitor-General and appeared for the Crown in numerous important cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal, Privy Council and Supreme Court.

In 2006, Sir Arnold was appointed to the Court of Appeal and June 2013 to the Supreme Court.

He was knighted in 2016 and retired as a permanent judge of the supreme court in April 2016 but continued as an Acting Judge until 2022, only when his services are required.

Sir Arnold graduated with Bachelor in Law from Victoria University and from New York University.

He was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law degree by Victoria University-TeHerenga Waka in May 2018 and is a distinguished fellow at the Law facility.

Meanwhile, Goddard was admitted as Barrister and Solicitor in 1975 and in 1988 she was appointed as Queen's Counsel.

She served as Deputy Solicitor-General for New Zealand from 1995 to 2015.

Goddard has worked in a variety of legal fields throughout her legal career - as a litigator in both civil and criminal cases, a Crown prosecutor, a law officer, a Judge of the High Court and a member of divisions of the Court of Appeal, conducting public inquiries, chairing an independent Crown Entity, and serving as an independent expert for a United Nations human rights agency.