Anita Killeen

Barrister

anita.killeen@xtra.co.nz
+64 9 377 5070

Profile

Anita Killeen is a Barrister at Quay Chambers specialising in financial crime and fraud, civil and criminal litigation, and governance and decision-making. She has decision-making experience at board, executive and statutory levels. Ms Killeen is the former Chief Prosecutor of the Serious Fraud Office New Zealand and holds a variety of governance roles in the legal, financial, local government, education, health and not for profit sectors including having served as a Visiting Justice, a member of the New Zealand Legal Aid Tribunal, a member of Engineering New Zealand’s Disciplinary Tribunal, an Adjudication Panel Member for the Commission for Financial Capability, as Chair of the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Board, Chair and National President of Fertility New Zealand, and as a Director of the SPCA Auckland, UNICEF NZ, the Ex-Vietnam Service Association (Neville Wallace Memorial) Children's & Grandchildren's Trust, and New Zealand Career College. She established and is the Chair of the Pro-Bono Panel of Prosecutors for the SPCA Auckland. In October 2012 she received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee SPCA Volunteer Medal from the Governor General in recognition of the meritorious volunteer services she has provided to the SPCA and to the animals of New Zealand. The Pro-Bono Panel of Prosecutors initiative has received accolades nationally and internationally for its leadership, positive animal welfare outcomes, service to the community and innovation in establishing a fully pro bono model of prosecuting animal welfare cases.

Admitted to the bar in 1998 she has practised both criminal and civil litigation. She is a former Judges’ Clerk of the Auckland High Court, and assisted the late Justice Morris as counsel appointed to assist with the Ministerial Review of the Killing of Cadet Grant Bain and has undertaken secondments to London and New York to obtain work experience in fraud prosecution, extradition and proceeds of crime. She is a regularly published author nationally and internationally, a faculty member of the New Zealand Law Society Litigation Skills Programme, a member of the New Zealand Law Society’s Cost Assessors Panel, a Mediation Panel member of Financial Services Complaints Ltd, an international member of the American Bar Association Animal Law Committee, a member of the International Association of Prosecutors, an External Moderator and Standards Assessor in the areas of Trial Preparation, Interviewing and Advocacy for the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, a former member of the Chief Legal Advisors’ Forum, a former member of the Organised and Financial Crime New Zealand (OFCANZ) Policy Action Group and a former executive member of the Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association.

She is an alumna of the Auckland University School of Law, the Harvard Business School, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Institute for Strategic Leadership and is a Patron of the Auckland Theatre Company and the Silo Theatre. She is also a member of Global Women. 

Professional History

2010 –Barrister Sole

Boards and Committees I have served on:

  • Visiting Justice in Northern Prisons.
  • Member, New Zealand Legal Aid Tribunal.
  • Member, Engineering New Zealand Disciplinary Tribunal.
  • Adjudication Panel Member, Commission for Financial Capability.
  • Panel of Legal Advisors, Dental Council Professional Conduct Committee.
  • Chair, Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Board.
  • Independent Director, Domain Name Commission Ltd.
  • Director, SPCA Auckland.
  • Chair, The Pro Bono Panel of Prosecutors for the SPCA Auckland.
  • Director, UNICEF NZ.
  • Chair and National President, Fertility New Zealand.
  • Deputy Chair, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Commercial Investment Board.
  • Visiting Diplomat, Kansas University School of Law (March 2018).
  • Manuscript Reviewer, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies.
  • Advisory Board Member, New Zealand Career College.
  • Mediation Panel Member, Financial Services Complaints Ltd.
  • Panel Member, New Zealand Law Society Litigation Skills Programme.
  • Panel Member, New Zealand Law Society Costs Assessor.
  • Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association Sexual Harassment Panel Member.
  • Mentor, Auckland University School of Law Women’s Mentoring Programme.
  • International Member, American Bar Association Animal Law Committee.
  • External Moderator and Standards Assessor for the Institute of Professional Legal Studies.
  • Member, Ex-Vietnam Service Association (Neville Wallace Memorial) Children's & Grandchildren's Trust.
  • Member, Organised and Financial Crime New Zealand (OFCANZ) Policy Action Group.
  • Member, Chief Legal Advisors’ Forum NZ.
  • Executive Committee member, Auckland District Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee.
  • Executive Committee Member, Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association.
2003 - 2010Chief Prosecutor, Serious Fraud Office



This work experience included secondments to the United States Attorney’s Office in New York in 2004 and to the Crown Prosecution Service in London in 2006. In 2005 I assisted The Hon D S Morris as counsel appointed to assist the Ministerial Review into “Allegations of Abuse at the Waiouru Regular Force Cadet School from 1948 to 1991 and Events Surrounding the Killing of Cadet Grant Bain in 1981”.
2001 - 2003Judges’ Clerk, High Court at Auckland
1999- 2000Commercial Litigator, Phillips Fox, Auckland

Professional Memberships

New Zealand Law Society; Auckland District Law Society; New Zealand Bar Association; Global Women; New Zealand Legal Research Foundation; Law and Economics Association of New Zealand; International Association of Prosecutors; Auckland Women Lawyers Association; American Bar Association; Institute of Directors New Zealand.

Awards and Scholarships

1998 Auckland University School of Law Senior Scholar Prize in Law

2004 United States Attorney’s Office Training and Development Scholarship.

2012 Queen’s Diamond Jubilee SPCA Volunteer Medal.

2014 New York City Commission on Human Rights Emerging Woman Leader Award.

2015 New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women Margery Toulson

Scholarship for Senior Governance and Leadership.

2015 American Bar Association Public Service Honor Roll Award.

2016 Life Member, SPCA.

2016 Selected as a Member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors Mentoring for Diversity

Programme for 2016.

2018 Visiting Diplomat, Kansas University School of Law.

Published Articles

  • “Imprisonment Imposed for Violent Attack on Dog” [2019] New Zealand Law Journal, 331.
  • “Animal Cruelty and Family Violence” [2018] New Zealand Law Journal, 254.
  • “SPCA CEO Disappointed with Animal Welfare Sentencing Decision” [2017] New Zealand Law Journal, 205.
  • “Prosecuting a Recidivist Animal Welfare Offender” [2017] New Zealand Law Journal, 182.
  • “Legal Consequences of Animal Hoarding in New Zealand”, The United Kingdom Journal of Criminal Law (2016) Vol.80(4) 237-240.
  • “Truth or Truce? The legality of restriction on Olympic athletes’ freedom of speech”, 2015 Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Journal.
  • “Animal Welfare Sentencing: Condign Sentences imposed for Premeditated, Depraved and Sadistic Torture of Animals”, (2015) 26 NZULR 703.
  • “Animal Welfare Sentencing in New Zealand, and the Pro-Bono Panel of Prosecutors for the SPCA, Auckland” (2013) 9 Australian Animal Protection Law Journal, 96.
  • “Animal Welfare Sentencing in New Zealand: Sadistic Torture of Animals” Criminal Law Journal (Australia), (2014) 38 Crim LJ, 380.
  • “The Burning Issue of Combustible Tobacco: The Inconvenient Truth” (2014) Part 2, New Zealand Law Review, 239.
  • “The Mistreatment of Animals in Domestic Violence Situations” [2014] New Zealand Law Journal 71.
  • “Conspiracy to Defraud: A Clarification of the Sentencing Approach” The Journal of Criminal Law (2013) 77 JCL 380-386 (United Kingdom).
  • “The Rule of Law in Prosecuting Big Business and its Application to Regulatory Frameworks” (2013) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 4 October 2013, 14.
  • “Body Weight and Bias” [2013] New Zealand Law Journal 245.
  • “Bribery and Corruption: A Comparative Analysis” Criminal Law Journal Australia (2013) 37 Crim LJ 257.
  • “Fat Prejudice in Health Care: Physicians Build Less Rapport with Obese Patients” [2013] New Zealand Medical Journal, Vol 126 No 1376; ISSN 1175 8716.
  • “Court of Appeal Overturns Steigrad Decision on Directors’ Defence Costs” [2013] New Zealand Law Journal, 134.
  • “Does Body Weight and Gender Influence Jurors’ Perceptions of Guilt and Responsibility”? [2013] Vol 163 New Law Journal, 9 (United Kingdom).
  • “Condign Sentences – a strong message to those who abuse animals” 131 (2010) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 16.
  • “Going it Judge-Alone” 110 (2009) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 14.
  • “Serving the Jury” (2009) 107 New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 18.
  • “In Terrorem – Minimum Non-Parole Periods for Dishonesty Offending” (2009) 105 New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 17.
  • “When is a Miscarriage of Justice”? [2008] New Zealand Law Journal, 143.
  • “Electronic Criminal Disclosure – What Price Progress” [2007] New Zealand Law Journal, 224.
  • "Animal Welfare Sentencing Update: What a Difference a Decade Makes” [2013] New Zealand Law Journal, 125.
  • Bridgecorp – New liability for Issuers and Directors” [2011] New Zealand Law Journal, 289.
  • “The Shrinking World and International Crime” 152 (2011) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 28 January 2011, 12-14.
  • “A second-hand rose?” (2010) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 18 June 2010, Online Edition.
  • "Guideline Judgment on Sentencing for Sexual Violation” 136 (2010) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 12.
  • "A Crisis of Identity” 135 (2010) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 12.
  • “Discounting for Guilty Pleas – the Guidelines” 125 (2009) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 20.
  • “Judge-alone Trials” [2009] New Zealand Law Journal, 291.
  • “Finance Fraud attracts cumulative sentence” 119 (2009) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 18.
  • “Punishing Serious and Cynical Breaches of Trust” 112 (2009) New Zealand Lawyer Magazine, 14.
  • “Hands off my charges” [2006] New Zealand Law Journal, 425.
  • “Sentencing in GST Fraud Cases” [2005] New Zealand Law Journal, 337.
  • “Video Link Evidence in Criminal Proceedings” [2004] New Zealand Law Journal, 313.
  • “Undermining the Grundnorm?” [2001] New Zealand Law Journal, 299.
  • “R v Poumako The Court of Appeal Dodges the Constitutional Issue”[2000] New Zealand Law Journal, 429.
  • “Astley v Autrust Ltd – No Contributory Negligence in Australian Contract Cases” (1999) Vol 8 No.4 Auckland University Law Review, 1253.

Presentations and Conference Papers

  • “D&O Hotspots: Governance, Risk and Compliance,” Legalwise Seminars Webinar, May 2020.
  • “Joining the Judiciary”, Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association, DLA Piper, Auckland, September 2018. Speakers included, Chief District Court Judge Doogue, Justice Courtney and Justice Winkelmann,
    • “Animal Abuse and Domestic Violence”, NZ Animal Law Association, Auckland and Wellington, June 2018.
    • “Contributing to the Profession through Pro Bono Work” New Zealand Law Society Seminar, Auckland, June 2017. Speakers included Michael Wood, Melanie Tollemache, Danielle Duffield, Johanna McDavitt.
    • “Commercial Litigation Skills”, Legalwise Seminars, Auckland, November 2016. Speakers included Ian Gault, Cathy Murphy, Iva Rosic, Andru Isac and Paul Sills.
    • “Criminal Justice Forum on Domestic Violence”, Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association, Simpson Grierson, Auckland, March 2016. Speakers included Solicitor-General Una Jagose, Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue, Natalie Walker Crown Solicitor at Manukau, Tusha Penny Superintendent NZ Police, Member of Parliament for Labour Jacinda Ardern, and Annah Stretton, Entrepreneur
    • “The Rule of Law in Prosecuting Big Business and its Application to Regulatory Frameworks”, International Association of Prosecutors, Moscow, The Russian Federation, September 2013.
    • “The Great Debate – Seven Ways to Improve the Animal Welfare Act”, The 22nd NZ Companion Animal Conference, November 2011, Auckland.
    • “Aspects of International Crime”, International Association of Prosecutors, September 2010, The Hague, The Netherlands.
    • “Applying Information Technology in the work of the Serious Fraud Office”, Chief Legal Advisors’ Forum, March 2010, Wellington.
    • “Leading Beyond Boundaries”, Hillary Leadership Programme, New Zealand Leadership Institute, March 2010, Auckland.
    • “Justice for Animals”, The 20th NZ Companion Animal Conference, October 2009, Auckland.
    • “The Briefing Matrix: Briefing a Serious and Complex Prosecution”, International Association of Prosecutors, September 2009, Kiev, Ukraine.
    • “Linking Technology to Boost Performance”, 2nd NZ Lawtech Summit 2009, August 2009, Wellington.
    • “Demystifying the Regulators”, Auckland District Law Society, CLE, August 2009, Auckland.
    • “The Role of the Serious Fraud Office Prosecutor”, Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association Alternative Career Paths Workshop, September 2007, Auckland.
    • “Fraudulent Cases of Conveyancing”, Brookers Legal Seminars on The Future of Conveyancing: Opportunities and Challenges, September 2006, Christchurch.
    • “Electronic Cigarettes: Opportunity or Threat?”, Tobacco Control Research Turanga Symposium, The University of Auckland Owen Glen Business School, Auckland, March 2015.
    • “Female of the Species: Women in Animal Law”, Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association, Simpson Grierson, Auckland, March 2015.
    • “Realising Prosecutorial Potential and Building Capacity, Particularly with Regard to E Crime”, (Rapporteur), International Association of Prosecutors, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 2014.
    • “On Board”, Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association and Institute of Directors, Northern Club Auckland, March 2014.
    • “The Connection Between Cruelty to Animals and Domestic Violence in New Zealand”, The New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women, Auckland, February 2014.
    • “Animal Welfare Matters: Seeking Views on the Future Direction of Animal Welfare Legislation in New Zealand”, The 24th New Zealand Companion Animal Conference, Auckland, October 2013.

    Contact Anita

    Quay Chambers is located on the corner of Quay Street and Commerce Street in the Britomart precinct. We are a short walk from Britomart Train Station, Britomart Car Park and Downtown Car Park. There are also pay and display car parks nearby.

    Physical Address:
    Level 7, 2 Commerce Street, Auckland 1010

    Postal Address:
    PO Box 106215, Auckland 1143
    DX: CP 18023

    Telephone:
    +64 9 377 5070

    Facsimile:
    +64 9 377 5071

    Email