A former lawyer hailing from Ngapuhi and Ngati Hine, Denese Henare, has been sworn in as a District Court judge in Auckland on Wednesday.
After becoming a member of the New Zealand bar in 1974, Judge Henare has appeared in the Waitangi Tribunal, Maori Land Court, High Court and Court of Appeal.
She was the principal legal adviser to Waikato Tainui in their Treaty settlement negotiations on fisheries, raupatu lands and the Waikato River and from 1997 to 2000 she was a Law Commissioner.
Denese Henare was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1997, and is the niece of the late Sir James Henare, a renown Tai Tokerau kaumatua.
