Elena Inés Highton de Nolasco (born 7 December 1942) is an Argentine

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicito ...

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility ...

and a former member of Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina, having served from 2004 to 2021. Mrs. Nolasco was born in

Lomas de Zamora Lomas de Zamora is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, located south of the City of Buenos Aires and within the metropolitan area of Greater Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Lomas de Zamora Partido and has a population of 111,897. ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of t ...

. She qualified as a lawyer, procurator and

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

in 1966 at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...

(UBA). Her postgraduate studies were at UBA,

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class i ...

and the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...

. From 1967 she practised as a lawyer and in 1973 she became an official defence lawyer for incapable defendants. In 1979 she became a judge, joining the national Appeals Court in 1994.Elena Inés Highton - Curriculum Vitae
website of the Supreme Court. Accessed 4 May 2008. She taught extensively particularly at UBA, and has written several books largely on civil law. In June 2004, Nolasco joined the Supreme Court. She was the first woman to join the Court (under a democratic government), although Carmen Argibay's appointment had been announced earlier. When it came to

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the ...

approval, 51 of the senators present voted for her appointment and five were against. In August 2005 she was appointed vice-president of the Court. The

International Association of Women Judges The International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) is a feminist non-profit non governmental organization founded in 1991 whose members are judges from around the world committed to equal justice for women. History The IAWJ was founded in 1991 a ...

(IAWJ) awarded her Human Rights Award during a conference held in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

on 18 May 2010.''Entregaron a Highton de Nolasco el premio "Human Rights Awards"''
Elena and her husband Alberto Mario Nolasco have two sons.

References

People from Lomas de Zamora Supreme Court of Argentina justices Argentine notaries Argentine people of British descent Harvard Law School alumni University of Nevada, Reno alumni 1942 births Living people Constitutional court women judges Argentine women judges {{Argentina-law-bio-stub