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Quentin Wilson Publishing and Scorpio Books warmly welcome you to the launch of A Life Forensic: a meandering, scarcely credible, thoroughly unreliable memoir by Nigel Hampton, CNZM OBE KC.The book will be launched by His Worship the Honourable Andrew Little, Mayor of Wellington. A lawyer by profession, Andrew has had a distinguished career as a union leader, Labour Party Member of Parliament, Party Leader and senior Cabinet Minister. He has worked closely with Nigel over many years on a range of significant issues facing our country.
All welcome, this is a free event. Refreshments provided from 5.30pm for a 6pm start. Please send in your RSVP.
About the book
“Every page reveals Nigel’s brilliance in lateral thought, a perfectly calibrated moral compass, a fierce independence and an unyielding drive for justice regardless of the power or standing (and sometimes because of it) of the parties on the other side.” – HW Hon Andrew Little
“I had the sense not simply of having read about a distinguished advocate, but of having experienced a man whose humanity is the deepest thread in his life.” - Katherine Dalziel
The moral panic of the Hulme-Parker murder case; the many injustices of the Peter Ellis trials; the question of accountability in the CTV building collapse; the tragedy of the Pike River mine explosion and the demand for regulatory responsibility – from a childhood in rural Canterbury and the mud of the rugby field to the panelled walls of courtrooms, King’s Counsel Nigel Hampton’s needle-sharp, compelling memoir spans some of New Zealand’s most significant cases.
After more than six decades in the legal profession, including terms as Chief Justice in the Kingdom of Tonga and commissioner with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, this consummate storyteller offers a forensic examination of a career ‘striving to achieve right, correcting wrongs, through the law’.
His tale, with every deft twist and turn, reveals the heart, humour and acuity of one of New Zealand’s most respected defence lawyers who has influenced major changes in the legal profession. Underpinning his story is a clear thread: a conviction that the law matters most when it improves lives and strengthens justice – as such, A Life Forensic describes a career in which ‘the promptings of humanity’ are writ large.
About the author
Kings Counsel Nigel Hampton CNZM, OBE is one of New Zealand’s leading criminal defence lawyers, with over six decades in the law and expertise ranging from high-profile criminal defence trials – among them Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis v R – to major inquiries including Pike River, the CTV building collapse and the Christchurch mosque shootings. From 1995 to 1997, he served as Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga, the first New Zealander to occupy this position.
His advocacy work has helped to shape the legal landscape in New Zealand. His support for a voluntary duty solicitor scheme in the early 1970s – to address the uneven state of legal representation – was the beginning of his criminal law reform efforts; these efforts culminated in the establishment, in 2020, of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Te Kāhui Tātari Ture to investigate and rectify miscarriages of justice.
In addition to acting as chair of the New Zealand Law Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, Nigel Hampton has built an international reputation in his efforts to support professional standards and trust in the legal profession, becoming the first Disciplinary Commissioner of Counsel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2007.
Nigel Hampton lives in Christchurch with his wife, Jennifer, and finds sanctuary at their place in Kawatea Okains Bay, on Banks Peninsula.
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Event venue
Scorpio Books, Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford St, Christchurch Central, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand, Christchurch
Tickets
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