Grace Ononiwu

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

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

Life

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 ad ...

. 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 public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was found ...

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. Since 2011, the first te ...

universities. A building at Hertfordshire University has been named in her honour 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ononiwu, Grace Women lawyers Women legal scholars Year of birth missing (living people) Black British lawyers Living people