Helen Winkelmann

Dame Helen Diana Winkelmann (born 1962) is the 13th and current chief justice of New Zealand – head of the New Zealand judiciary – having been sworn in on 14 March 2019. She is the second woman to hold the position, following her immediate predecessor, Sian Elias.

Early life and family Winkelmann was born in 1962 to Kathleen Winkelmann (née Papich), of Croatian descent, and her husband Douglas Winkelmann. She was raised in the Auckland suburb of Blockhouse Bay, and educated at Lynfield College. She went on to study history and law at the University of Auckland, with a focus on commercial law, and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts in history.

Early judicial career Winkelmann began work as a law clerk with Auckland firm Nicholson Gribbin (later Phillips Fox, now DLA Piper). In 1988, at age 25, Winkelmann became the first female partner and one of the youngest partners ever in the firm's then 117-year history. She remained at that firm until May 2001 when she began practice as a barrister sole specialising in insolvency, commercial litigation and medical disciplinary litigation.

Winkelmann was appointed a High Court judge in July 2004 and she was appointed as Chief High Court Judge with effect from 1 February 2010. She remained in that position until her appointment to the Court of Appeal in 2015.

She has spoken regularly on issues concerning the just and efficient operation of the Courts, and access to justice. This was the topic of her 2014 Ethel Benjamin address, ‘Access to justice, who needs lawyers?’

In 2011, following the devastating Canterbury earthquakes, Winkelmann worked with Justice Miller to set up the Earthquake List in Christchurch. The objective of that List was to enable proceedings flowing out of the Christchurch earthquake to be dealt with promptly and in a time frame that met the needs of the community. Winkelmann was jointly awarded the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration Award for Excellence in 2013, for her work in judicial administration flowing out of the Christchurch earthquake.

Rulings In the high-profile case where US authorities were seeking to have Kim Dotcom arrested and extradited, Winkelmann ruled on 28 June 2012 that the warrants used to seize Dotcom's property were illegal because they were too broad. "These categories of items were defined in such a way that they would inevitably capture within them both relevant and irrelevant material. The police acted on this authorization. The warrants could not authorize seizure of irrelevant material, and are therefore invalid." Winkelmann also ruled that the handing of hard drives seized by New Zealand police in the raid to the FBI was in breach of extradition legislation, and the FBI's removal from New Zealand of cloned data from them was unlawful. becoming the second woman to hold the office.

In the 2019 Special Honours, in preparation for her taking up the role of Chief Justice, Winkelmann was appointed a Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Administrator of the Government Winkelmann (right), as Administrator of the Government, and Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan plant a kauri in the grounds of Government House, Wellington, on 16 May 2022, to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Vice-regal consort, Richard Davies is standing in the background. An important role of the Chief Justice is Administrator of the Government, when the Governor-General is unable to perform their duties (due to a vacancy in the position, illness, absence from New Zealand or some other cause). Winkelmann has filled this position six times: when the governors-general Patsy Reddy and Cindy Kiro were overseas and during the interregnum between the two governors-general.