Her criminal law experience includes stints as Crown prosecutor, defence counsel
Attorney-General Chris Bishop has announced the appointment of Kerryn Beaton – whose practice has focused on serious crime and public inquiries – as a judge of the District Court in Dunedin, to be sworn in on 2 July 2026 in Christchurch.
Beaton holds a King’s Counsel designation, received in 2021. She acted as senior counsel assisting New Zealand’s Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care from 2019–24.
In 2018, she co-founded Walker Street Chambers in Christchurch. With a focus on criminal law, the members of the chambers offer strategic advice and representation to clients across the country.
Beginning in 2016, Beaton has worked as a barrister sole. From 2014–16, she served as a legal officer and investigator in the United Nations Khmer Rouge trials.
In 2012, she became founding deputy public defender in Christchurch when the Public Defence Service launched an office in that city. In that position, she led a team of lawyers and helped develop quality standards for criminal defence representation.
As defence counsel, Beaton has handled cases involving homicide, abuse, and vulnerable individuals. She has also dealt with commissions of inquiry and coronial proceedings. She has been an approved provider of criminal and civil legal aid.
From 2011–12, she served as counsel appointed to assist the Pike River Royal Commission.
For nearly a decade, Beaton worked as a Crown prosecutor at Raymond Donnelly in Christchurch. She served in secondments to the Crown Law Office as Crown counsel.
The government’s news release and her online profile provide information regarding Beaton’s professional experience and organisational activities.
At the beginning of her legal career, she worked at Eagles, Eagles & Redpath and at Preston Russell Law in Invercargill. She earned admission to the New Zealand bar in 1995.
Beaton has been a member of the Legal Aid Provider Criminal Selection Committee, the New Zealand Bar Association Criminal Law Committee, and the panel of specialist advisors to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (Te Kāhui Tātari Ture).
She has also been a legal aid auditor, appointed by the justice secretary. She has taught advocacy skills, mentored junior lawyers, and presented regularly on criminal law issues.
