Judge Ida Malosi—BA 1985, LLB 1989

Ida is a beacon for Pasifika men and women in the legal profession.

Judge Ida Malosi is a District Court Judge based at Manukau in South Auckland. She is proud of her Sāmoan heritage and has become a role model for Pasifika men and women in the legal profession and wider community.

After graduating from Victoria University of Wellington she established an all Māori and Pasifika women legal practice in South Auckland—King Alofivae Malosi—which received the Auckland District Law Society’s EEO ‘Most Innovative’ award in 2000.

In 2002, she became New Zealand’s first female Pasifika Judge when she was appointed to the Family Court. Since then, she has sought to implement alternative, culturally appropriate responses to youth offending in her community, working with her Māori Youth Court colleagues on establishing Rangatahi Courts and using this as a model for similar Pasifika Courts. In 2015, the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration awarded the Rangatahi and Pasifika Courts its Award for Excellence in Judicial Administration.

Judge Malosi’s judicial achievements extend beyond New Zealand to Sāmoa, where she served as that country’s first Sāmoan female Supreme Court Judge between May 2013 and July 2014. Since then, two other women have been appointed to the Supreme Court, and two women to the District Court. During her time in Sāmoa she established the Family Court and the Family Violence Court, and implemented judicial settlement conferences. She also laid the groundwork for the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court to be established in Sāmoa by Judge Ema Aitken.