Grace Chidozie Ononiwu

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

is a solicitor and Chief Crown Prosecutor and Director General of Legal Delievery at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the UK.

Life

Ononiwu was born to Nigerian parents and grew up in East London. She was a teenager when she decided to go into law. Ononiwu qualified as a solicitor in 1991 and joined the

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...

. She became Chief Crown Prosecutor for Northamptonshire in April 2005 and Legal Director for North Region, CPS London, before becoming Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for all the London Districts. She was Chair of the National Black Crown Prosecution Association and was awarded a Black Solicitors Network Lifetime Achievement honor. She received an OBE in 2008 and

in 2019 for her services to law and order. She is a visiting professor at the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...

and has been awarded honorary doctorates from Hertfordshire and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

universities. A building at Hertfordshire University was named in her honor in 2022. Ononiwu has been featured in the Power list of the UK's most influential men and women of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage and was one of their Women of the Year 2020. She was appointed as Director General of Legal Services and took up post on Monday 9 June 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ononiwu, Grace Women lawyers Women legal scholars Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Hertfordshire Alumni of the University of Law Black British lawyers 21st-century Black British people 21st-century British lawyers English people of Nigerian descent Lawyers from London Living people Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire