Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright, PCNZM, DBE, QSO (née Poulter) (born November 7 1943) was New Zealand's second female Governor-General.

She is a graduate of the University of Otago, where she gained her LL.B in 1967, and a former student at Otago Girls High School.

Public life and family

In 1989 she became the first female Chief District Court Judge, and in 1993 she was the first woman to be appointed to the High Court.

Prior to her appointment as Governor-General, she was perhaps best known to the public for presiding over a 1988 inquiry into issues related to cervical cancer and its treatment at Auckland's National Women's Hospital, known as the Cartwright Inquiry.

She is married to Peter Cartwright.

In 2007, in recognition for her work as a lawyer, the Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association established a lecture known as the Dame Silvia Cartwright Lecture Series .

Governor-General

Dame Silvia's term as Governor-General was from 4 April 2001 to 4 August 2006. This was the first (and so far only) time when the Monarch (Elizabeth II), Governor-General, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias and Prime Minister (Helen Clark) of a Commonwealth Realm were all female.

She was succeeded by Anand Satyanand at midday on 23 August 2006. During the intervening period, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias was the Administrator of the Government (acting governor-general).

Controversies

In 16 June 2002 Dame Silvia made a speech at the Annual General Meeting of Save The Children's New Zealand branch, in which she criticised section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961, which allowed parents to use "reasonable force" to discipline their children. A number of groups criticised this position, such as the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards - the Monarchist League stated that these comments were "overstepping the mark" for a representative of the Queen, while Green Party MP Sue Bradford welcomed the comments.

On 12 August 2002, in a speech at the opening of the Specialised Applied Research Centre of the Victoria University of Wellington, Dame Silvia questioned whether longer sentences would reduce criminal reoffending rates. This was after the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Parole Act 2002 were passed - Acts for which Dame Silvia granted Royal Assent on 12 July 2002. The Acts introduced mandatory sentences for criminal convictions, and reduced the likelihood of parole. ACT New Zealand MP Stephen Franks was critical of the remarks, stating "I don't think she was regarded as one of the most weighty judges and she's putting herself into a difficult constitutional position by weighing in in this area", as was the Sensible Sentencing Trust. However, Prime Minister Helen Clark defended the Governor-General, stating "One of the challenges for us is we clearly are no longer a dominion of Britain where the Governor-General is exactly like the Queen".

On Waitangi Day 2004, following National leader Don Brash's controversial Orewa Speech on race relations, Dame Silvia controversially gave a different interpretation of the phrase "He iwi tahi tatou".

Following the 2005 general election, former National deputy leader Gerry Brownlee stated that Dame Silvia had not allowed National the chance at forming a government. Brownlee said "I have to publicly say that I have lost respect for the Governor-General and I think it is time we sat down now and started to look at a much more formal constitution for New Zealand". In response Helen Clark said that the Governor-General followed a "very, very proper process" .

Cambodian War Crimes Tribunal

Dame Silvia has been appointed to sit as one of two international judges in the Trial Chamber of the Cambodia Tribunal. She was appointed by Cambodia's Supreme Council of Magistracy.

Titles and awards

She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1989; upon her retirement from the High Court, she was granted the use of the style "The Honourable" for life; she was made a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2001; she was awarded the QSO at the State luncheon at Parliament to farewell her on 2 August 2006.

• 1987-1989: Her Honour Silvia Rose Cartwright
• 1989-1993: Her Honour Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright DBE.
• 1993-2001: The Honourable Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright DBE.
• 2001-2001: The Honourable Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright PCNZM, DBE
• 2001-2006: Her Excellency The Honourable Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright PCNZM, DBE, Governor-General of New Zealand.
• 2006-2006: Her Excellency The Honourable Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright PCNZM, DBE, QSO, Governor-General of New Zealand.
• 2006- : The Honourable Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright PCNZM, DBE, QSO.

Dame Silvia Cartwright is an Honorary Member of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

References

External links

• Governor-General of New Zealand
• Notice of extension of term (govt.nz) ("Prime Minister Helen Clark said The Queen had agreed to extend the Governor-General's term until 4 August 2006.")