Nationality New Zealand Occupation Lawyer | Name Peter Williams Role Lawyer | |
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Full Name Peter Alderidge Williams Born 1 December 1934 ( 1934-12-01 ) Ohakune, New Zealand Died June 9, 2015, Ponsonby, New Zealand Books Petals of Memory: Sailor, Poet, Protestor, Nemesis to Prejudice: Spoken Essays 1996 to 1999 | ||
Sir Peter Alderidge Williams (1 December 1934 – 9 June 2015) was a New Zealand lawyer and penal reform advocate.
Williams was born in 1934 and educated at Feilding High School. He studied at Auckland University College, graduating LLB in 1960. A noted defence lawyer, Williams represented high-profile clients including Terry Clark, Ronald Jorgensen, Arapeta Awatere and Winston Peters, and was involved in having the conviction of Arthur Allan Thomas for the murders of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe overturned. During his 60-year career, he appeared in over 100 murder trials.
Williams was a long-time advocate for the humane treatment of prisoners in New Zealand, and served as the head of the Auckland branch of the Howard League for Penal Reform. He was the foundation president of the Auckland Criminal Bar Association.
Williams was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1987. In 1990 he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in the 2015 New Year Honours Williams was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the law. A private investiture was held at his home as it was feared that he would not live until the scheduled investiture on 6 May 2015 at Government House in Wellington. He died from prostate cancer at his home in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby on 9 June 2015.
Published works
Williams wrote a number of books including: