Rob Ronayne

{{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 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 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.{{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}}

After practising briefly in Auckland, he moved to Rotorua in 1979, where he worked as a litigator at East Brewster.{{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}} In 1998, Ronayne became a 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/district-court-judge-appointed-16|title=District Court Judge appointed}} 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.{{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}} 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.