List of King's and Queen's Counsel in New Zealand

The office of King's Counsel was established in New Zealand in 1907.^[1] It recognises excellence in court advocacy and other outstanding contributions to the law in New Zealand. During the reign of a male sovereign, appointees are called King's Counsel. They are also informally called "silks", in reference to office holders being permitted to wear silk robes instead of standard wool and cotton robes and new appointees are described as "taking silk".

Appointments in New Zealand are governed by the Lawyers and Conveyancers (Lawyers: King's Counsel) Regulations 2012.^[2] They are made by the Governor-General acting on behalf of the sovereign. Recommendations are made by the Attorney-General with concurrence by the Chief Justice.^[2] King's Counsel may be appointed at any time. The Attorney-General calls for applications from time to time, generally on annual basis,^[2] although ad hoc appointments are also made in special cases - generally in relation to the current Attorney-General or a current or incoming Solicitor-General. The Attorney-General is required to consult with the New Zealand Law Society and the New Zealand Bar Association prior to making a recommendation for appointment.^[2]

The criteria for appointment of King’s Counsel are set out in the Guidelines for Candidates, published by Crown Law. The overarching requirement is excellence Successful candidates possess qualities such as superior knowledge, skill in oral and written advoacy, leadership, contribution to the profession, promoting access to justice, and integrity and honesty. The rank is only available to those practising as barristers sole.^[3] Unlike the United Kingdom, which has the rank of King's Counsel (Honoris Causa), there is no distinction between those in New Zealand appointed under the standard process and under the "extraordinary contribution" criterion.

During the reign of a male sovereign, appointees are called King's Counsel, and this applied from 1907 to 1952 during the reign of Edward VII (1907–1910),^[4] George V (1910–1936),^[5] Edward VIII (1936),^[6] and George VI (1936–1952).^[7] During Elizabeth II's reign (February 1952 – September 2022), new appointees were called Queen's Counsel and living King's Counsel became Queen's Counsel.^[8] Forty-three King's Counsel had been appointed before 1952.^[9] When King Charles III ascended the throne on 9 September 2022 (New Zealand time), living Queen's Counsel automatically became King's Counsel.

Following the appointment of the incoming Solicitor-General Anna Adams as King's Counsel in March 2026, there have been 379 warrant holders. Of the 119 years since 1907 (as of 2026), there have been 42 years in which no appointments were made.^[10] There were no appointment rounds in 2020 and 2023, both being election years.

The first women appointed to the office were Sian Elias and Lowell Goddard in 1988.

When the first ten appointments were made in June 1907 by Chief Justice Sir Robert Stout, two were from Auckland, four were from Wellington, two were from Christchurch, and two were from Dunedin.^[11] The first King's Counsel to die was Thomas Joynt on 5 September 1907, less than three months after his appointment;^[12] Joynt had been the senior member of the bar in the country.^[11]

The following is a complete list of the office holders. This is based on the list published by the Crown Law Office in May 2023^[13] as well as appointments made 2024 to 2026 and two omissions from the Crown Law list: Claude Weston who, according to the Law Society, is missing on the official list,^[10] and Hon Warwick Gendall, who took silk in June 1996^[14] and was appointed to the High Court later that year.^[15]