Honourable Justice Derek Wood
Supreme and National Courts of Papua New Guinea
Justice Derek Wood was appointed as a Judge of the National Court and Supreme Court in December 2023 in Papua New Guinea. He was previously a partner with Ashurst Lawyers in Port Moresby, having arrived in Papua New Guinea in 2004. Whilst at Ashurst, Justice Wood practiced in a number of areas, including commercial litigation, employment law, defamation law and mining law.
Prior to working in PNG, Justice Wood was a solicitor with Blake Dawson Waldron (now known as Ashurst) in Melbourne.
Justice Wood is an accredited mediator in Papua New Guinea and has conducted mediations across a broad spectrum of matters in National Court disputes. He is a member of the National Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, which committee was responsible for the drafting of the first ADR Rules, which were introduced into the National Court in early 2010. The ADR Rules provide the mechanism for the referral of National Court disputes to mediation.
Justice Wood is the Judge Administrator of the newly formed Resources, Environment and Climate Change Track within the National Court.
