Former High Court Justice Hon John Gerard Fogarty, whose retirement sitting was held in the Christchurch High Court on 11 August, has received the Governor-General's approval to retani the title "The Honourable".

The approval is in recognition of his service as a Judge of the High Court of New Zealand.

A LLB(Hons) graduate of Canterbury University, he completed an LLM at the University of Toronto in 1974 and joined Weston Ward & Lascelles in Christchurch. He became a partner in 1978 before starting practice as a barrister sole in 1985 and being appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1990.

He was sworn in as a judge of the High Court on 13 November 2003.