diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/util/GitDateFormatterTest.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/util/GitDateFormatterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a818107f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.test/tst/org/eclipse/jgit/util/GitDateFormatterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2011, Robin Rosenberg
+ * and other copyright owners as documented in the project's IP log.
+ *
+ * This program and the accompanying materials are made available
+ * under the terms of the Eclipse Distribution License v1.0 which
+ * accompanies this distribution, is reproduced below, and is
+ * available at http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php
+ *
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
+ * without modification, are permitted provided that the following
+ * conditions are met:
+ *
+ * - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+ *   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+ *
+ * - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+ *   copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+ *   disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+ *   with the distribution.
+ *
+ * - Neither the name of the Eclipse Foundation, Inc. nor the
+ *   names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote
+ *   products derived from this software without specific prior
+ *   written permission.
+ *
+ * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND
+ * CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
+ * INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
+ * OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+ * ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
+ * CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+ * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
+ * NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
+ * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
+ * CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
+ * STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
+ * ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
+ * ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+ */
+
+package org.eclipse.jgit.util;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import org.eclipse.jgit.junit.MockSystemReader;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.PersonIdent;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.util.GitDateFormatter.Format;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class GitDateFormatterTest {
+
+	private MockSystemReader mockSystemReader;
+
+	private PersonIdent ident;
+
+	@Before
+	public void setUp() {
+		mockSystemReader = new MockSystemReader() {
+			@Override
+			public long getCurrentTime() {
+				return 1318125997291L;
+			}
+		};
+		SystemReader.setInstance(mockSystemReader);
+		ident = RawParseUtils
+				.parsePersonIdent("A U Thor <author@example.com> 1316560165 -0400");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void DEFAULT() {
+		assertEquals("Tue Sep 20 19:09:25 2011 -0400", new GitDateFormatter(
+				Format.DEFAULT).formatDate(ident));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void RELATIVE() {
+		assertEquals("3 weeks ago",
+				new GitDateFormatter(Format.RELATIVE).formatDate(ident));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void LOCAL() {
+		assertEquals("Tue Sep 20 19:39:25 2011", new GitDateFormatter(
+				Format.LOCAL).formatDate(ident));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void ISO() {
+		assertEquals("2011-09-20 19:09:25 -0400", new GitDateFormatter(
+				Format.ISO).formatDate(ident));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void RFC() {
+		assertEquals("Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:09:25 -0400", new GitDateFormatter(
+				Format.RFC).formatDate(ident));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void SHORT() {
+		assertEquals("2011-09-20",
+				new GitDateFormatter(Format.SHORT).formatDate(ident));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void RAW() {
+		assertEquals("1316560165 -0400",
+				new GitDateFormatter(Format.RAW).formatDate(ident));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void LOCALE() {
+		assertEquals("Sep 20, 2011 7:09:25 PM -0400", new GitDateFormatter(
+				Format.LOCALE).formatDate(ident));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void LOCALELOCAL() {
+		assertEquals("Sep 20, 2011 7:39:25 PM", new GitDateFormatter(
+				Format.LOCALELOCAL).formatDate(ident));
+	}
+}
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/util/GitDateFormatter.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/util/GitDateFormatter.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2f9a8ddc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/util/GitDateFormatter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2011, Robin Rosenberg
+ * and other copyright owners as documented in the project's IP log.
+ *
+ * This program and the accompanying materials are made available
+ * under the terms of the Eclipse Distribution License v1.0 which
+ * accompanies this distribution, is reproduced below, and is
+ * available at http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php
+ *
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
+ * without modification, are permitted provided that the following
+ * conditions are met:
+ *
+ * - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+ *   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+ *
+ * - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+ *   copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+ *   disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
+ *   with the distribution.
+ *
+ * - Neither the name of the Eclipse Foundation, Inc. nor the
+ *   names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote
+ *   products derived from this software without specific prior
+ *   written permission.
+ *
+ * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND
+ * CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
+ * INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
+ * OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+ * ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
+ * CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+ * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
+ * NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
+ * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
+ * CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT,
+ * STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
+ * ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
+ * ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+ */
+
+package org.eclipse.jgit.util;
+
+import java.text.DateFormat;
+import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
+import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.TimeZone;
+
+import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.PersonIdent;
+
+/**
+ * A utility for formatting dates according to the Git log.date formats plus
+ * extensions. <p< The enum {@link Format} defines the available types
+ */
+public class GitDateFormatter {
+
+	private DateFormat dateTimeInstance;
+
+	private DateFormat dateTimeInstance2;
+
+	private final Format format;
+
+	/**
+	 * Git and JGit formats
+	 */
+	static public enum Format {
+
+		/**
+		 * Git format: Time and original time zone
+		 */
+		DEFAULT,
+
+		/**
+		 * Git format: Relative time stamp
+		 */
+		RELATIVE,
+
+		/**
+		 * Git format: Date and time in local time zone
+		 */
+		LOCAL,
+
+		/**
+		 * Git format: ISO 8601 plus time zone
+		 */
+		ISO,
+
+		/**
+		 * Git formt: RFC 2822 plus time zone
+		 */
+		RFC,
+
+		/**
+		 * Git format: YYYY-MM-DD
+		 */
+		SHORT,
+
+		/**
+		 * Git format: Seconds size 1970 in UTC plus time zone
+		 */
+		RAW,
+
+		/**
+		 * Locale dependent formatting with original time zone
+		 */
+		LOCALE,
+
+		/**
+		 * Locale dependent formatting in local time zone
+		 */
+		LOCALELOCAL
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Create a new Git oriented date formatter
+	 *
+	 * @param format
+	 */
+	public GitDateFormatter(Format format) {
+		this.format = format;
+		switch (format) {
+		default:
+			break;
+		case DEFAULT: // Not default:
+			dateTimeInstance = new SimpleDateFormat(
+					"EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss yyyy Z", Locale.US);
+			break;
+		case ISO:
+			dateTimeInstance = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss Z",
+					Locale.US);
+			break;
+		case LOCAL:
+			dateTimeInstance = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss yyyy",
+					Locale.US);
+			break;
+		case RFC:
+			dateTimeInstance = new SimpleDateFormat(
+					"EEE, dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss Z", Locale.US);
+			break;
+		case SHORT:
+			dateTimeInstance = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd", Locale.US);
+			break;
+		case LOCALE:
+		case LOCALELOCAL:
+			Locale locale = SystemReader.getInstance().getLocale();
+			dateTimeInstance = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(
+					DateFormat.DEFAULT, DateFormat.DEFAULT, locale);
+			dateTimeInstance2 = new SimpleDateFormat("Z", locale);
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Format committer, author or tagger ident according to this formatter's
+	 * specification.
+	 *
+	 * @param ident
+	 * @return formatted version of date, time and time zone
+	 */
+	@SuppressWarnings("boxing")
+	public String formatDate(PersonIdent ident) {
+		switch (format) {
+		case RAW:
+			int offset = ident.getTimeZoneOffset();
+			String sign = offset < 0 ? "-" : "+";
+			int offset2;
+			if (offset < 0)
+				offset2 = -offset;
+			else
+				offset2 = offset;
+			int hours = offset2 / 60;
+			int minutes = offset2 % 60;
+			return String.format("%d %s%02d%02d",
+					ident.getWhen().getTime() / 1000, sign, hours, minutes);
+		case RELATIVE:
+			return RelativeDateFormatter.format(ident.getWhen());
+		case LOCALELOCAL:
+		case LOCAL:
+			dateTimeInstance.setTimeZone(SystemReader.getInstance()
+					.getTimeZone());
+			return dateTimeInstance.format(ident.getWhen());
+		case LOCALE:
+			TimeZone tz = ident.getTimeZone();
+			if (tz == null)
+				tz = SystemReader.getInstance().getTimeZone();
+			dateTimeInstance.setTimeZone(tz);
+			dateTimeInstance2.setTimeZone(tz);
+			return dateTimeInstance.format(ident.getWhen()) + " "
+					+ dateTimeInstance2.format(ident.getWhen());
+		default:
+			tz = ident.getTimeZone();
+			if (tz == null)
+				tz = SystemReader.getInstance().getTimeZone();
+			dateTimeInstance.setTimeZone(ident.getTimeZone());
+			return dateTimeInstance.format(ident.getWhen());
+		}
+	}
+}