Justice Neil Campbell’s rapid judicial trajectory continues with his appointment to the Supreme Court (see below). Justice Campbell’s career has bridged elite academia and senior advocacy. An Auckland and Cambridge LLM graduate, he served as an Associate Professor at Auckland Law School while building a practice at Shortland Chambers.
He took silk as Queen’s Counsel in 2013. While he was originally appointed to the High Court bench in 2020.
The media release announcing the appointment is below –
Attorney-General Chris Bishop today announced the appointment of The Honourable Justice Neil Ross Campbell as a Judge of the Supreme Court and The Honourable David Gary Johnstone as a Judge of the Court of Appeal, commencing on 16 July 2026.
Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Honours) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United Kingdom, where he obtained an LLM (First) from the University of Cambridge and lectured at the University of Nottingham.
Justice Campbell returned to New Zealand in 1995, becoming an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland.
He joined the independent bar in 1998 and practiced part-time alongside his academic responsibilities. In 2008, he moved to fulltime practice as a general civil litigator specialising in contract, property, company, and trust disputes. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2013.
Justice Campbell is the current Chair of the New Zealand Council of Legal Education, nominated by the Chief Justice. He was appointed a High Court Judge in 2020, and a Court of Appeal Judge in 2024.
Justice Johnstone graduated from the University of Auckland in 1991 with a BCom/LLB (Honours) and joined Bell Gully as a solicitor practising in general commercial litigation. During 1993 and 1994 he studied at the University of Cambridge, graduating with LLM (Honours) in 1994. He left Bell Gully in 1996.
In 1998 Justice Johnstone joined the Auckland Crown Solicitor’s firm, Meredith Connell, conducting District Court and High Court jury trials and regulatory prosecutions and civil proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1991. He became a partner in 2005, and focussed on criminal prosecutions and appeals, with a particular speciality in organised crime, corruption, serious fraud and national security.
In 2022 Justice Johnstone joined the independent Bar specialising in criminal law and commercial compliance, investigations and proceedings.
He was appointed a Judge of the High Court in 2023.
