The former president of the NZ Bar Association and ex-Judge of the Court of Appeal, Raynor Asher has been appointed chairman of the New Zealand Media Council.

Mr Asher retired as a Judge of the Court of Appeal earlier this month.

He will take over from Sir John Hansen, who has chaired the Council since 2013, and is due to retire in June. Mr Asher will take up his role on 1 July.

From being a partner at Auckland law firm Kensington Swan, he began practice as a barrister in 1986 before being appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1992. 

A former president of the NZ Bar Association, president of the Auckland District Law Society and vice president of the NZ Law Society, Mr Asher was appointed to the High Court bench in 2005 then appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal in 2016.

For many years, Mr Asher chaired the Media and Courts Committee, a committee set up by the Chief Justice and comprising judges and media executives from New Zealand’s main media organisations.