Denis Blake Pain (7 January 1936 – 6 July 2019) was a

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 ...

jurist and sports administrator. He was a judge of the

District Court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

from 1970 to 1990, subsequently serving as deputy director of the Serious Fraud Office. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was chef d'équipe of the New Zealand eventing team at four world championships and

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Early life and family

Born in

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of ...

on 7 January 1936, Pain was the son of Catherine Mary Pain (née Brown) and Thomas Percival Pain. He was educated at Whangarei Boys' High School, and went on to study law at

Auckland University College The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loca ...

, graduating

LLB 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 ...

in 1959. On 20 December 1961, Pain married Elizabeth MacDonald, and the couple went on to have three children.

Legal career

After completing his university studies, Pain worked as a barrister and solicitor in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, and was also a part-time law lecturer at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

between 1960 and 1970. In 1970, he was called to the bench as a stipendary magistrate of the

Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...

, becoming a judge of the District Court in 1980 when Magistrates' Courts were replaced by District Courts. He sat on the bench in

Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tāmaki River estuary to the east. The Auckland isthmus is the narrowest connect ...

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

, Auckland, and

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

until 1990 when he was appointed deputy director of the Serious Fraud Office. From 1994, he served as a judge of the

High Court of Fiji The High Court of Fiji is one of three courts that was established by Chapter 9 of the 1997 Constitution of Fiji — the others being the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The Constitution empowered Parliament to create other courts; these ...

, before spending five years as a judge in the Sovereign Base areas of Cyprus. Between 1986 and 1990, Pain was a member of the New Zealand Council of Legal Education.

Other activities

From 1981 to 1987, Pain was a member of the

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 ...

Council. Pain served as president of the

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

Jockey Club between 1975 and 1978. He was chef d'équipe, or manager, of the New Zealand

eventing Eventing (also known as three-day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where the same horse and rider combination compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

team at the

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

and

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, and the 1986 Eventing World Championships and

1990 World Equestrian Games The 1990 FEI World Equestrian Games were held in Stockholm, Sweden from July 24 to August 5, 1990. They were the first edition of the games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or ...

. At those competitions, the New Zealand team won a total of seven medals, including one individual and two team eventing gold medals.

Awards

In 1977, Pain was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal () is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is physically identical in all realms where it was awarded, save for Canada ...

, and in 1990 he received the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

Death

Pain died in Auckland on 6 July 2019.

References

External links

Photograph of Denis Pain with the members of the New Zealand equestrian team and their horses at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pain, Denis 1936 births 2019 deaths People from Hokitika People educated at Whangarei Boys' High School University of Auckland alumni 20th-century New Zealand judges District Court of New Zealand judges New Zealand sports executives and administrators New Zealand judges on the courts of Fiji