Sir Gaven John Donne (8 May 1914 – 28 March 2010) was a New Zealand-born former Chief Justice of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

, the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

, Nauru and

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...

Biography

Donne was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and educated at

Palmerston North Boys' High School Palmerston North Boys' High School is a traditional boys school located in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Location Palmerston North Boys' High School has a campus located on Featherston Street between Rangitikei and North Streets in the central ...

Hastings Boys' High School Hastings Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hastings, New Zealand. The school is part of the Super 8. The school was founded in 1904 as Hastings High School. In 1922, it became Hastings Technical School under the leadership of Wi ...

Victoria University College Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

and

Auckland University College , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1938, and became a magistrate in 1958. Donne had a long legal career in the Pacific. In 1969 he was seconded to the Supreme Court of Samoa, and in 1972 he was appointed Chief Justice. In 1975 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Cook Islands and

. In 1978, he presided over the electoral petitions resulting from the 1978 Cook Islands election, which saw the

Cook Islands Party The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965. From 1999 until 2005 it sometimes ...

of Albert Henry removed from power for electoral fraud. In 1982 he was appointed as the first Queen's Representative to the Cook Islands. After completing his term, he became

Chief Justice of Nauru The Supreme Court of Nauru was the highest court in the judicial system of the Republic of Nauru till the establishment of the Nauruan Court of Appeal in 2018. Constitutional establishment It is established by part V of the Constitution, adop ...

and

in 1985. Donne retired from the bench in 2001 making him one of the longest serving judges in the Southern Hemisphere.

Honours and awards

In 1977, Donne was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. In the

1979 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1979 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1979 to celebr ...

, he was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

References

1914 births 2010 deaths Queen's Representatives in the Cook Islands Chief justices of the Cook Islands Chief justices of Nauru Chief justices of Niue Chief justices of Samoa Chief justices of Tuvalu New Zealand judges on the courts of the Cook Islands New Zealand judges on the courts of Niue New Zealand judges on the courts of Samoa New Zealand judges on the courts of Nauru New Zealand judges on the courts of Tuvalu University of Auckland alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand military personnel of World War II New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire {{CookIslands-bio-stub