Police cordoned off the property of a Bay of Plenty judge after he was found dead in his home.

Rotorua District Court Judge James Weir's body was found in the bathroom of his home when his daughter returned home around midday on Sunday.

Police cordoned off the home of Judge James Weir after his body was found on Sunday. Photo: Benn Bathgate/Fairfaz NZ

It appears the judge had several mini strokes in the days leading to his death, Bay of Plenty Coroner Wallace Bain says in a statement released today.

Wallace says it appears the strokes have gone unrecognised.

'My preliminary view is he had another one which caused him to fall through a glass door.”

The Coroner is ruling the likely cause of death to be loss of blood due to severe lacerations.

Judges Chris McGuire, Jocelyn Munro and Alayne Wills held a special sitting in the Rotorua District Court at 9am today to pay their respects to Judge Weir.

Rotorua lawyer, and the former president of the New Zealand Law Society, Jonathan Temm extended his sympathy to the judge's family and says that like all New Zealand judges, James had a busy caseload.

Police have released a statement saying the 65-year-old's death is not being treated as suspicious.

"The man has been formally identified as Judge James Weir, aged 65, who presided over the courtrooms of Rotorua District Court for 15 years.

"He left his court judge position in April 2015 to take up the role of Chairman of the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority."

It's expected that his funeral will be held in Rotorua later this week.

Additional reporting – Stuff