Yesterday, New Zealand attorney-general Judith Collins announced the appointment of Hermann Retzlaff to the Dunedin District Court, a role that will begin following his official swearing in on May 19.
Mr Retzlaff was admitted to the bar in 2003, beginning his career as a Crown prosecutor in Auckland before joining the Public Defence Service.
In 2016, he was appointed as attorney-general of Samoa, and his subsequent four-year tenure featured some high-profile challenges for the country’s justice system.
Shortly after taking on the role, the country’s director of public prosecutions Mauga Precious Chang had driving charges laid against her — eventually being discharged without conviction.
In August 2016, the police commissioner Fuiavailili Egon Keil was accused of perjury, unlawful detention, providing false statements and disorderly conduct over the arrest of a man by armed police the previous year.
The charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.
After returning to New Zealand, Mr Retzlaff worked as a senior Crown prosecutor before being appointed as public defender of Waitakere.
Since last year, he has been employed as the national public defender of New Zealand.
Mr Retzlaff has served as president of the Pacific Lawyer’s Association and carries the chiefly matai titles from his family in Samoa of Lemalu from Safato’a Lefaga, and a bestowed chiefly title of Mua’utasi from Puipa’a Faleata.
It is understood Mr Retzlaff will be replacing Judge Michael Turner, who is retiring.
He joins a Dunedin bench with Judges Dominic Flatley, Emma Smith and David Robinson.
