Una Jagose KC is New Zealand's Solicitor-General and King's Counsel, appointed in February and June 2016 respectively. [1] [2]
Jagose was born and raised in Cambridge, New Zealand. Her parents were both medical professionals who had emigrated to New Zealand: her father was a Parsi doctor from India and her mother a nurse from Ireland. [3]
Jagose studied law at the University of Otago, followed by an LLM at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with first class honours. [2]
She was admitted to the bar in 1990 and joined the Ministry of Consumer Affairs (now MBIE) before moving to the Ministry of Fisheries where she was appointed Chief Legal Advisor in 1999. Jagose joined the Crown Law Office in 2002 and was appointed Deputy Solicitor-General in 2012. She was appointed acting director of the Government Communications Security Bureau in 2015, then as the Solicitor-General in February 2016 and as a Queen's Counsel in June 2016. [2] [4]
In 2020, Jagose won the public policy category of the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards. [5]
In the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel is a senior trial lawyer appointed by the monarch of the country as a 'Counsel learned in the law'. When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is called Queen's Counsel.
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictions that have chosen to change the title "King's Counsel" to a name without monarchical connotations, usually related to the British monarch that is no longer head of state, such that reference to the King is no longer appropriate. Examples of jurisdictions that have made the change because of the latter reason include Mauritius, Zambia, India, Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Singapore, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Jurisdictions that have retained the monarch as head of state, but have nonetheless opted for the new title include some states and territories of Australia, as well as Belize.
The Law Officers are the senior legal advisors to His Majesty's Government and devolved executives of the United Kingdom. They are variously referred to as the Attorney General, Solicitor General or Advocate General depending on seniority and geography - though other terms are also in use, such as the Counsel General for Wales. Law Officers in these roles are distinguished by being political appointees, while also being bound by the duties of independence, justice and confidentiality among the other typical professional commitments of lawyers. These roles do not have any direct oversight of prosecutions nor do they directly lead or influence criminal investigations. This is a distinguishing factor between Law Officers and the State Attorneys General of the United States or US Attorney General.
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The Order of precedence in New Zealand is a guide to the relative seniority of constitutional office holders and certain others, to be followed, as appropriate at State and official functions. The previous order of precedence was revoked and Queen Elizabeth II approved the following Order of Precedence in New Zealand effective 20 September 2018:
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