Christine Mary Grice is a New Zealand lawyer and jurist, who was the first female judge in the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

, and the second female president of the

New Zealand Law Society The New Zealand Law Society () is the parent body for barristers and solicitors in New Zealand. It was established in 1869, and regulates all lawyers practising in New Zealand. Membership of the society is voluntary, although any person wishing ...

Career

Grice studied at

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

for a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree, and was admitted as a barrister within the

High Court of New Zealand The High Court of New Zealand () is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration of justice throughout New Zeala ...

in 1981. She became the first female judge in the

in June 2007. As part of the High Court of the Cook Islands, she normally presides on cases for two weeks each year, spending the remaining time in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Within law societies, she began being a member of the council of the

(NZLS) in 1992, and joined its board in the following year. In 1997 she became vice-president, and served as president of the NZLS between 1999 and 2003. She was the second female president in the organisation's history, following Judith Potter who was president between 1991 and 1993; and who was the second female judge in the Cook Islands after Grice. Grice succeeded Ian Haynes in April 1999. Following her three-year term, she became executive director of the society. In the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

Grice was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

for services to the legal profession. On 20 December 2017 she was appointed

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grice, Christine Living people University of Canterbury alumni 20th-century New Zealand lawyers High Court of New Zealand judges High Court of the Cook Islands judges Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century New Zealand judges 20th-century New Zealand women lawyers University of Canterbury Faculty of Law alumni