Maurice Casey (judge)

Rt Hon Sir Maurice Eugene Casey (28 August 1923 – 19 January 2012) was a New Zealand Court of Appeal judge.

Casey was born in Christchurch in 1923. His parents were Eugene and Beatrice Casey. He received his education at St Patrick's College in Wellington, and at Victoria University College (1940–1946) from where he graduated LLL (Hons).^[1]

Casey was admitted to the bar in 1946 and practised in Lower Hutt, Blenheim, and from 1950 in Auckland. He was appointed as a judge in 1974 at the Supreme Court, which became the High Court in 1980.^[1] He became a household name in New Zealand when his injunction prevented the planned All Blacks tour to South Africa in 1985.^[2] The New Zealand Rugby Union held an unofficial tour in 1986 in response, known as the New Zealand Cavaliers.

In March 1986, Casey was appointed to the Court of Appeal. In the following year, he was appointed privy councillor. He retired from the Court of Appeal in August 1995.^[1] After his retirement, he sat on appellate courts of various Pacific Island nations.^[1] He was part of the Fijian Court of Appeal that found that the interim government installed after the 2000 Fijian coup d'état was unconstitutional.^[2]

He married Stella Katherine Wright in 1948, and the pair had nine^[1] or ten^[2] children. His wife was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1991 New Year Honours "for services to the community".^[3] Half a year later, Justice Casey was made Knight Bachelor in the 1991 Birthday Honours.^[4]

Dame Stella Casey died in 2000. Sir Maurice died on 19 January 2012 in Auckland.^[1]

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