Announcements
New Zealand Chief Justice to Present
2008 Ramo Lecture
When
October 23
5 p.m.
Where
UNM School of Law Forum
The Right Honourable Dame Sian Elias, the first woman chief justice of New Zealand, will present the 2008 Ramo Lecture on International Justice at the University of New Mexico School of Law.
As chief justice, Dame Elias is the presiding judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, and she assumes the role of acting governor-general, New Zealand's de facto head of state, when the governor-general is overseas or the position is vacant.
When she was sworn in as New Zealand’s first woman chief justice in 1999, she emphasized that judges must respond to the community, its values, history and its diverse cultures. She aimed to support a judiciary that was both rigorous and open, holding to what was best in its inheritance, while developing a voice that was truly that of New Zealand.
Prior to her appointment at chief justice, she was counsel for the Màori Council in a landmark case that confirmed the principle of partnership and required Great Britain to take positive action to protect Màori land rights under the Treaty of Waitangi. Returning to private practice, she made frequent appearances in court on behalf of Màori claimants, and took the Manukau Harbour claim to the Waitangi Tribunal. She saw the treaty as cause for real optimism as it was founded on the expectation that justice would be achieved through the law.
Dame Elias was born in London, but moved to New Zealand as a child. She earned an LLB from Auckland University in 1970, obtained a master's in law from Stanford Law School two years later, after which she returned to New Zealand to join a law firm in Auckland. In 1975, she became a barrister.
In 1988, she was one of two New Zealand women appointed as Queen’s Counsel — the first from that country to be so recognized. For five years she was a member of the New Zealand Law Commission, during which time she took on a special project on Company Law and chaired an inquiry into the health consequences of a major chemical fire.
In 1995, she was appointed to the High Court, which was replaced by the Supreme Court in 2004.
The Ramo Lecture on International Justice was established in 2004 through the generosity of Dr. Barry Ramo and Roberta Cooper Ramo, a shareholder with Modrall Sperling. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is designed to offer broad perspectives of international law every other year.
Parking is free in the L lot.
