Rotorua District Court Judge James Weir has died after an accident in his home in Tihotonga, Rotorua.

Judge Weir was found dead by a family member on Sunday, 10 January 2016.

Rotorua Police say his death is not being treated as suspicious and has been referred to the Coroner.

Judge Weir, 65, had presided over the Rotorua District Court for 15 years before being appointed chair of the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority in April 2015.

He graduated LLB(Hons) from Canterbury University in 1972 and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1977. After his admission Judge Weir practised criminal and family law, and became a partner and founding member of the Hamilton firm Fistonich Hemara and Weir in 1980. 

During the 1990s he specialised in employment law and was a member of the New Zealand Law Society Employment Law Committee. He went into practice as a barrister sole in 1998.

Judge Weir was appointed a District Court Judge in 2000. He was sworn in on 14 April and began sitting in Rotorua from 15 May 2000.