Former Sāmoa Attorney-General appointed district court judge in Dunedin

A former Attorney-General of Sāmoa and long-serving legal advocate for Pacific communities has been appointed as a district court judge in Dunedin.

Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, currently New Zealand’s National Public Defender, was named one of three new judges by Attorney-General Judith Collins KC on Thursday.

Retzlaff will be sworn in on 19 May.

Of Sāmoan heritage, Retzlaff carries the chiefly matai titles Lemalu from Safato'a Lefaga and Mua'utasi from Puipa'a Faleata.

He served as President of the Pacific Lawyers Association from 2012 to 2014, and has held leadership roles across both Aotearoa and the Pacific.

Retzlaff was admitted to the bar in 2003 and began his legal career with a scholarship bond in Sāmoa at the National University of Sāmoa.

He went on to serve as a Crown Prosecutor at Meredith Connell and joined the Public Defence Service in 2009, later becoming the Public Defender of North Shore.

In 2016, he was appointed Attorney-General of Sāmoa, a role he held for four years.

He returned to New Zealand in 2020, joining Kayes Fletcher Walker as a Senior Crown Prosecutor, before rejoining the Public Defence Service as Public Defender of Waitakere in 2021.

Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, centre, in 2019 while Attorney-General of Sāmoa, is pictured here with, from left: Sosefina Faamausili, Leotrina Macomber, Galumalemana Loretta Teueli, Retzlaff, Linda Folaumoetui, and Sefo Ainuu in Apia. Photo/Office of Attorney General, Sāmoa

He was appointed National Public Defender in February 2024.

David Laurenson KC, who will serve at the Wellington District Court, and Sacha Nepe, based at the Manukau District Court in Auckland, were also appointed on Thursday.

All three are due to take up their roles in May.