Elisabeth McDonald is a New Zealand feminist law academic. She is currently full professor at 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 ...

Academic career

McDonald began 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 at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in 1985, followed by a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Returning to Victoria, she was appointed to staff, rising to senior lecturer in 1995 and associate professor in 2005. After 27 years at Victoria she moved to the University of Canterbury as full professor in 2017. McDonald's research interests include the law of evidence, law and sexuality and feminist legal theory. In the

2018 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

, McDonald was appointed a

Member 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 law and education.

Personal life

McDonald had a son in 1990, a daughter in 1991 and is married to Wayne Johnson, who owns a construction business.

Selected works

* McDonald, Elisabeth, and Yvette Tinsley, eds. From "Real Rape" to Real Justice: Prosecuting Rape in New Zealand.

Victoria University Press Te Herenga Waka University Press or THWUP (formerly Victoria University Press) is the book publishing arm of Victoria University of Wellington, located in Wellington, New Zealand. As of 2022, the press had published around 800 books. History V ...

, 2011. * McDonald, Elisabeth. "Gender bias and the law of evidence: The link between sexuality and credibility." Victoria U. Wellington L. Rev. 24 (1994): 175. * Mahoney, Richard, Elisabeth McDonald, Scott Optican, and

Yvette Tinsley Yvette Tinsley is a New Zealand law academic, and is a full professor at Victoria University of Wellington, specialising in the impacts of the justice system on its participants. In 2025 Tinsley was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society Te A ...

. The

Evidence Act 2006 The Evidence Act 2006 is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of New Zealand that codifies the evidence (law), laws of evidence. When enacted, the Act drew together the common law and statutory provisions relating to evidence into one co ...

: Act & Analysis.

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational content-driven technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and maintains its headquarters at 1 ...

, 2010. * McDonald, Elisabeth. "'Real Rape'in New Zealand: Women Complainants' Experience of the Court Process." (1997). * McDonald, Elisabeth. "Provocation, sexuality and the actions of 'thoroughly decent men'."

Women's Studies Journal A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

9, no. 2 (1993): 126. * McDonald, Elisabeth. "No straight answer: Homophobia as both an aggravating and mitigating factor in New Zealand homicide cases." Victoria U. Wellington L. Rev. 37 (2006): 223.

References

External links

* *
institutional homepage
New Zealand women academics New Zealand feminists University of Michigan Law School alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington Academic staff of the University of Canterbury Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit {{NewZealand-academic-bio-stub