Born: 3 June 1960, Papua New Guinea
Died: 4 November 2016
Country most active: Papua New Guinea
Also known as: NA
The first female judge in Papua New Guinea, Catherine Anne Davani was a judge of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea from 2001 until her death in 2016.
Born in Wau in Morobe Province, Davani later lived at Dorom in Rigo District of Central Province. After graduating from Kerevat National High School, she studied at the University of Papua New Guinea before completing the Legal Training Institute course in 1984. Davani was admitted as a lawyer in November 1984, and she worked in the Public Solicitors’ Office’s civil section until 1987. She studied in Australia in 1987 and 1988, earning a masters in law from the University of Sydney, before returning to Port Moresby to work for Namaliu & Co Lawyers. She worked for Gadens Ridgeway Lawyers from 1991 to 1994, Shepherds Lawyers from 1994 to 2000 and Blake Dawson Waldron from 2000 until her appointment as a judge of Papua New Guinea ’s Supreme Court in March 2001. She was a member of the Lawyers Statutory Committee (1995-2001) and the Papua New Guinea Law Society Council (1998-2001). Davani was later joined by more women on the Supreme Court: Justices Jacinta Murray, Leka Nablu and Hitelai Polume-Kiele.
Davani also played soccer at a local, national and international levels, representing Papua New Guinea in three Oceania Football Confederation World Cup qualifiers, and was captain of the Papua New Guinea women’s national football team in the 1994 and 1998 qualifiers. She also served as a member of the Papua New Guinea Sports Commission (1993-2001), executive member of the Papua New Guinea Football Association (1989-2004), and its vice-president (1993-95). In 2001, she was appointed to the Chamber of International Arbitration for Football, and when it merged into the Court of Arbitration for Sport, she became the court’s Papua New Guinean representative.