Michael Mika | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Mika in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Judge of the District Court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed office 8 March 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Michael Alaifatu Mika 24 July 1968 Lower Hutt, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Otago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Lawyer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 114 kg (252 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Michael Alaifatu Mika (born 24 July 1968) is a New Zealand District Court judge and former Samoan rugby union international. He played as a prop.
Mika was born in Lower Hutt, and first played for Samoa during the quarter-finals against South Africa during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Although he was part of the 1999 Rugby World Cup roster, playing three matches in the tournament, [2] with his last international cap being during the match against Wales, at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
Mike Mika played for Otago and was a member of the Otago team that defeated the British and Irish Lions in 1993. [3] [4] Mike Mika played for Otago between 1992 and 1997, then for Southland in 1997 and 1998, He also played for the Highlanders between 1996 and 1998. Between 1999 and 2003 Mike Mika played for Coventry RFC. [5] He also represented New Zealand Universities in 1992, 1993 and 1995. [6]
Currently, he works as lawyer at Preston Russell Law, based in Invercargill. [7] He is a SANZAAR Judicial Technical Advisor and performs the same role on the World Rugby Judicial Panel. He is also a Judicial Officer of the Oceania Rugby Judicial Panel. [8]
From 2010 to 2021 he served as deputy president of the Invercargill Licensing Trust board, resigning after being appointed as a district court judge by Attorney-General David Parker. [9]
In April 2021, he became first Pasifika judge appointed to a district court outside Auckland, as a resident judge at the Hutt Valley District Court in Lower Hutt. [10]