Sian Elias
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The Right Honourable Dame Sian Elias GNZM QC |
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|---|---|
| 12th Chief Justice of New Zealand | |
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Assumed office 17 May 1999 |
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| Nominated by | Jenny Shipley |
| Appointed by | Sir Michael Hardie Boys |
| Preceded by | Thomas Eichelbaum |
| Administrator of the Government | |
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In office 31 August 2016 – 28 September 2016 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | John Key |
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In office 23 August 2011 – 31 August 2011 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | John Key |
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In office 4 August 2006 – 23 August 2006 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Helen Clark |
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In office 22 March 2001 – 4 April 2001 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Helen Clark |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
13 March 1949 London, United Kingdom |
| Spouse(s) | Hugh Fletcher |
| Children | Edwin Benjamin |
| Alma mater |
University of Auckland Stanford Law School |
| Profession | Barrister |
Dame Sian Seerpoohi Elias GNZM PC QC (born 13 March 1949) is the 12th and current Chief Justice of New Zealand, and is therefore the most senior member of the country's judiciary. She is the presiding judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand and has on several occasions acted as Administrator of the Government.
Born in London in the United Kingdom of an Armenian father and a Welsh mother (hence her Welsh forename and Armenian surname), Elias attended Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland. She completed a law degree from the University of Auckland in 1970, and then undertook further study at Stanford University. She took up employment with an Auckland law firm in 1972, beginning her career as a barrister three years later. She also served as a member of the Motor Spirits Licensing Appeal Authority and of the Working Party on the Environment.
Elias is married to Hugh Fletcher, former CEO of Fletcher Challenge and a former Chancellor of the University of Auckland. In 1994, her brother-in-law, Jim Fletcher, was stabbed to death by an intruder in his Papamoa beach house.
Elias served as a Law Commissioner from 1984 to 1988. She is also known for her work in relation to various Treaty-related cases. In 1990, she was awarded a New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal in recognition of her services. In 1988 she and Lowell Goddard were made the first women Queen's Counsel in New Zealand. Elias became a judge of the High Court in 1995, and occasionally sat on the Court of Appeal.
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