Stephen Kós

The Honourable Stephen Kós QC
President of the Court of Appeal
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 July 2016
Preceded by	Ellen France
Personal details
Alma mater	Victoria University of Wellington University of Cambridge

Stephen Kós, QC (born 23 January 1959) is a New Zealand judge who has been President of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand since 22 July 2016.

Early life and career

The son of a Hungarian refugee, Kós was born in Mosgiel, Otago, in 1959 and raised in Wainuiomata. He matriculated at the Victoria University of Wellington to study law in 1976 where he later graduated LLB(Hons) in 1981.

After graduating from University of Cambridge in 1985 with an LLM, Kós began a career in commercial litigation. In 1985, he became a partner in Perry Wylie & Page, and later a partner in Russell McVeagh in 1988. He went to the independent bar in 2005 and was appointed as a Queen's Counsel in 2007. He founded Stout Street Chambers, a leading set of barristers, in 2007 with three other QCs.

He is an Honorary Fellow at the Victoria University Law School. He was formerly Pro-Chancellor of Massey University.

Judicial career

In April 2011, Kós was appointed to the High Court of New Zealand. He was elevated to the Court of Appeal in September 2015, and succeeding Ellen France as President of the court in July 2016.

Notable cases

Justice Kós wrote the judgments in a number of notable cases:

Scotch Whisky Association v Mill Liquor Save Ltd [2012] NZHC 3205 (30 November 2012)

Concerning the trade mark registration of a low alcohol whisky “evoking the flavour of the Highlands”.

Discovery Geo Corporation v STP Energy Pte Ltd [2013] NZHC 3549, [2013] 2 NZLR 122 (19 December 2012)

Interim measures and jurisdiction in support of an international arbitration.

Woodward v Smith [2015] NZHC 1260 (5 June 2015)

Prospective costs orders in trusts litigation.

Shailer v R [2017] NZCA 38, [2017] 2 NZLR 629 (3 March 2017)

Confirming life imprisonment sentences for the manslaughter of 3 year old Moko Rangitohereri.

Wilaci PTY Ltd v Torchlight Fund No 1 LP [2017] NZCA 152, [2017] 3 NZLR 293 (2 May 2017)

A judgment revising contract law relating to penalties.

Hagaman v Little [2018] NZCA 24, [2018] 2 NZLR 140 (2 November 2017)

Defamation of a dead plaintiff.

Attorney-General v Smith [2018] NZCA 24 (1 March 2018)

Freedom of expression under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act in relation to a prisoner's hairpiece.

Extra-judicial writing

Justice Kós has written in three particular areas:

Civil remedies

As co-author of Butler's Equity and Trusts in New Zealand and Blanchard's Civil Remedies in New Zealand.

Civil and criminal justice reform

In 2016 he advocated a civil law inquisitorial approach for unrepresented litigants, to improve access to justice. In 2018 he gave a speech to Victim Support advocating new approaches to sentencing and corrections, in particular changes to home detention and prison sentencing.

Legal history

Kós has written extensively on connections between legal and political history – on New Zealand's nuclear treaty cases in the International Court of Justice, constitutional law (and the case of Fitzgerald v Muldoon) and on appellate history.