Elizabeth Gwaunza
Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe
Assumed office
November 2002 –
Appointed byRobert Mugabe
Judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe
In office
August 1998 – November 2002
Appointed byRobert Mugabe
Personal details
Alma materUniversity of Zimbabwe
ProfessionJudge; lawyer

Elizabeth Gwaunza (born 1953) is a Zimbabwean lawyer and jurist who has been Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe since March 2018.

Early life and education

Gwaunza was born in 1953.[1] She was one of two black female law students who were the first to graduate in Zimbabwe.[2] She has a Diploma in Women's Law from the Women's Law Centre at the University of Zimbabwe and a masters in Women and Gender Development from the Women's University in Africa.[2]

Career

Gwaunza was admitted as a legal practitioner of the High Court of Zimbabwe in 1987.[1][2] From 1989 until 1995 she co-founded and was the national coordinator of the Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project.[1][2] She worked as a director of Legal Aid in the Ministry of Justice and as a director of Legal Affairs in the Ministry of Community Development and Women's Affairs.[1] She was a funding member and former president of the Zimbabwe Association of Women Judges and is a member of the International Association of Women Judges.[1] She has written a number of publications on family and inheritance law.[3]

Gwaunza was appointed a Judge of the High Court by Robert Mugabe in August 1998, and then the Supreme Court in November 2002.[1] She was elected to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2008.[2] Her appointment was questioned by the International Bar Association given her ties to Mugabe, including the gift of a farm seized from white owners.[4]

Gwaunza was appointed Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in March 2018.[1] She is the second woman to sit on the Supreme Court after Vernanda Ziyambi.[1] In May 2021, the High Court ruled that Mnangagwa's constitutional amendment extending the retirement age of judges from 70 to 75 did not apply to sitting judges,[5][6] meaning Luke Malaba ceased to be a judge as he turned 70 that week, and the Judicial Service Commission announced Gwaunza was Acting Chief Justice with immediate effect.[1] The government appealed the ruling, and Malaba returned to work while the matter was pending, but skipped most public ceremonies, leaving Gwaunza to preside.[7]

Selected publications

  • Gwaunza, Elizabeth C. (1991). "Cultural Practices That Hinder Women's Development". Social Change and Development (26): 15–16.
  • Gwaunza, Elizabeth C. (1990). "Social Attitudes - A Hindrance to Women's Advancement!". Southern Africa. 3 (10): 15–19.
  • Gwaunza, Elizabeth (1996). The expanding and contracting family in Zimbabwe. University of Michigan. Center for Afroamerican and African Studies.
  • Gwaunza, Elizabeth; Chenaux-Repond, Maia (1994). Women & land rights in resttlement [sic] areas in Zimbabwe. Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project.
  • Gwaunza, Elizabeth (2000). "Inheritance rights of women under customary law vis-à-vis international human rights instruments: the case of Zimbabwe". Bringing International Human Rights Law Home: Judicial Colloquium on the Domestic Application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child: S. 125–129.
  • Stewart, Julie; Sithole, Ellen; Gwaunza, Elizabeth (2001). "Pregnancy and Childbirth: Joy or Despair? Women and Gender-Generated Crimes of Violence". African Studies Review. 50 (2).

Personal life

Gwaunza is married and has a daughter.[8] Her youngest son, Musah, a journalist, died from illness at age 33 in 2016.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Chifamba, Jerry (15 May 2021). "Zimbabwe: Elizabeth Gwaunza Announced As Acting Chief Justice". New Zimbabwe.com. All Africa. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Hon. Elizabeth Gwaunza". International Association of Women Judges. 4 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Levitt, Jeremy I. (2015). Black Women and International Law: Deliberate Interactions, Movements and Actions. Cambridge University Press. p. 53. ISBN 9781316298404.
  4. ↑ Góra, Mishka (28 September 2011). "The trial of Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac: a farce from beginning to end". On Line opinion. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  5. ↑ "Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza Appointed Acting Chief Justice". Skyz Metro Radio. May 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  6. ↑ Netsianda, Mashudu (17 May 2021). "JSC appoints Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza acting Chief Justice". Chronicle. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  7. ↑ Garusa, Thandiwe (13 July 2021). "Zimbabwe: Malaba in No Show As Two High Court Judges Are Sworn in". New Zimbabwe.com. All Africa. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  8. ↑ "Mnangagwa Appoints Gwaunza New Deputy Chief Justice". Zim Eye. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  9. ↑ Leboho, Bianca (September 2016). "Zimpapers mourn Gwaunza". The Herald. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
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