Elizabeth Gwaunza | |
|---|---|
| Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe | |
| Assumed office November 2002 – | |
| Appointed by | Robert Mugabe |
| Judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe | |
| In office August 1998 – November 2002 | |
| Appointed by | Robert Mugabe |
| Personal details | |
| Alma mater | University of Zimbabwe |
| Profession | Judge; 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.
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]
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]
Gwaunza is married and has a daughter.[8] Her youngest son, Musah, a journalist, died from illness at age 33 in 2016.[9]