COOPER, The Honourable Mark Leslie Smith, KC. For services to the judiciary
Citation: The Honourable Mark Cooper (Ngāti Mahanga, Waikato-Tainui) was President of the Court of Appeal from April 2022 to November 2024, having been a Court of Appeal Judge from 2014 and a High Court Judge from 2004.
While a High Court Judge, Mr Cooper was appointed chairperson of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Building Failure caused by the Canterbury Earthquakes. He chaired 33 public hearings and led the Commission to deliver four reports under intense time pressure and public scrutiny, navigating high volumes of technical material. The detailed findings and recommendations avoided delay to the Canterbury rebuild and provided a sense of resolution to the community.
He chaired the Council of Legal Education from 2018 to 2024 and was founding Chair of the judiciary’s open justice committee Huakina kia Tika. Before joining the bench, he was a leader in resource management and local government law. He wrote the annotated text “Cooper on Local Government”, published as a companion volume to Salmon on the Resource Management Act.
He advised on the integration of thirteen territorial authorities into one Auckland-based Council and six territorial authorities into one North Shore based Council. He served on the establishment board of Metrowater Limited, the Museum of Transport and Technology Board and the Auckland Observatory and Planetarium Trust Board. For 20 years, Mr Cooper served on the controlling executive of the Cancer Society of New Zealand Auckland Division.
