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{{Short description|New Zealand lawyer and jurist (1955–2020)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name               = Rob Ronayne
| image              = 
| alt                = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Robert Graeme Ronayne
| birth_date         = {{Birth year|1955}}
| birth_place        = 
| death_date         = {{Death date and given age|2020|01|07|64|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Auckland]], New Zealand
| spouse             =
| children           = 2
| occupation         = Lawyer
| office             = [[District Court of New Zealand|District Court judge]]
| term_start         = 22 March 2013
| term_end           = 7 January 2020
}}
'''Robert Graeme Ronayne''' (1955 – 7 January 2020) was a New Zealand lawyer and jurist. He served as a [[District Court of New Zealand|District Court judge]] from 2013 until his death in 2020.

Born in 1955, Ronayne studied law at the [[University of Canterbury]], and was [[called to the bar]] in 1978.<ref name="Law Society obit">{{cite web |url=https://www.lawsociety.org.nz/news-and-communications/people-in-the-law/obituaries/obituaries-list/judge-robert-graeme-rob-ronayne,-1955-2020 |title=Judge Robert Graeme (Rob) Ronayne, 1955–2020 |date=January 2020 |publisher=New Zealand Law Society |first=Nick |last=Butcher |accessdate=31 January 2020}}</ref> 

After practising briefly in [[Auckland]], he moved to [[Rotorua]] in 1979, where he worked as a litigator at East Brewster.<ref name="Law Society obit"/><ref name="Stuff 2020">{{cite news |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/118676907/terrific-auckland-judge-robert-ronayne-remembered-by-former-colleagues |title='Charismatic' Auckland Judge Robert Ronayne 'deeply missed' by family |date=9 January 2020 |work=Stuff.co.nz |first=Catrin |last=Owen |accessdate=31 January 2020}}</ref> In 1998, Ronayne became a [[Crown prosecutor (New Zealand)|Crown prosecutor]] and founding partner in the [[Tauranga]] firm of Ronayne Hollister-Jones Lellman, and he was appointed to the bench of the District Court, based in Auckland, in 2013.<ref name="Law Society obit"/><ref name="Stuff 2020"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/district-court-judge-appointed-16|title=District Court Judge appointed}}</ref> From 2016, he worked on a pilot at the Auckland District Court to improve the management of serious sexual violence cases, and he was focused on ensuring that vulnerable witnesses were properly supported during the court process.<ref name="Law Society obit"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.districtcourts.govt.nz/media-information/media-releases/22-may-2019 |title=Update on the sexual violence court pilot in the District Court |date=22 May 2019 |publisher=District Court of New Zealand |first=Jan-Marie |last=Doogue |accessdate=31 January 2020}}</ref> While Ronayne has been lauded publicly by many, he was considered by some{{who?|date=July 2021}} on the defence bar as short tempered, biased and unlikely to give quarter to even a sympathetic defendant.

Ronayne died in his home in the Auckland suburb of [[Remuera]] on 7 January 2020.<ref name="Law Society obit"/><ref name="Stuff 2020"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronayne, Rob}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Canterbury alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand lawyers]]
[[Category:District Court of New Zealand judges]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand judges]]
[[Category:University of Canterbury Faculty of Law alumni]]


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