Dame Lowell Patria Goddard, DNZM, KC (born 25 November 1948) is a former New Zealand High Court judge, from 1995 to 2015.

In 2010 she was elected as an independent expert to the United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) and served in that capacity until 2016.

She was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to the law.

[3][12] The British Home Secretary, Theresa May, described her as highly respected and an outstanding candidate with experience in challenging authority in this field.

Goddard said she was honoured to lead the inquiry and was aware of the scale of the undertaking, saying that "the many, many survivors of child sexual abuse, committed over decades, deserve a robust and thorough investigation of the appalling crimes perpetrated upon them.

"[13] In August 2016, she tendered her resignation from the child abuse inquiry in a letter to the Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Claims of racism and bullying made in British newspapers, more than two months after her resignation, were "strenuously denied" by her.