By Jake Beleski
Greytown’s Sir Ron Young said he “never imagined in a million years that something like this would happen”.
That was the reaction of the former judge on Thursday after an investiture ceremony at Government House, where he received the insignia of a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the judiciary.
He was given the award by fellow Greytown resident, the new Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy.
The honour comes following a challenging few months, after his son Ben Young was killed in a car crash earlier this year.
The ceremony had had been a special occasion to share with his family, he said.
“It’s such a fantastic honour – it was a lovely ceremony.
“It was very touching and I know my family will be very touched by it as well.”
Mr Young had his wife, daughter, son and two daughters-in-law present to celebrate the occasion.
It was a privilege to be honoured on such a prestigious stage, he said.
“It’s fantastic, when you start off in a job in your twenties you never imagine in a million years that something like this would happen, so I’m very honoured.”
Mr Young was Chief District Court Judge from 1993 until 2001, and was responsible for the effective and efficient running of the 112 judges from family and youth, criminal and civil court jurisdictions.
He also sat on the Divisional Courts of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand and is a judge of the Vanuatu Court of Appeal.
When asked to pick out career highlights, he said there were a couple that stood out.
“Being president of the Electoral Commission was a great experience, and I guess I did a lot of difficult appeals in the Court of Appeal over the years.
“There were a number of cases that were, at the time at least, in the media and they were all interesting.”
He retired as a judge of the High Court in 2015, but remains on the Vanuatu Court of Appeal.
