Ngāti Porou
Chief Judge Dr Caren Fox was appointed to the Māori Land Court on 1 October 2000 and was later appointed as Deputy Chief Judge on 20 February 2010. On 5 July 2023, Judge Fox was appointed Chief Judge of the Māori Land Court. Chief Judge Fox is the first wāhine Māori appointed as a Chief Judge. She was also confirmed as the Chairperson of the Waitangi Tribunal on 1 September 2023.
She is one of the resident Judges for the Tairāwhiti District of the Māori Land Court, hearing cases in Gisborne.
Before becoming a Judge, Chief Judge Fox was a Lecturer in law at Victoria University and a Senior Lecturer in law and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Waikato. In addition, she acted as legal counsel for Treaty claimants and Māori land clients. She also holds a LLM in law and a PhD covering the Ngāti Porou legal system.
A specialist in international human rights, Chief Judge Fox was a Harkness Fellow to the USA from 1991 to 1992 and a Pacific Fellow in Human Rights Education employed by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation 1997-1999. For her work in human rights, she won the NZ Human Rights Commission 2000 Millennium Medal.
Chief Judge Fox has also been the presiding officer for the Waitangi Tribunal on the Aquaculture claims, the Te Arawa Mandate and Settlement claims, Central North Island Stage 1 claims, the Te Kōhanga Reo claims and the Te Rohe Pōtae claims. She is currently the presiding officer for the Porirua ki Manawatū claims and the Constitutional Kaupapa Inquiry.
Chief Judge Fox was also appointed as an Alternate Environment Court Judge in 2009.