Born and educated in Dunedin, Silvia Cartwright studied law in the 1960s, when she was one of only two women in her law classes. She was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1967, and worked in private legal practices in Dunedin, Rotorua, and Hamilton. From 1976 she specialised in family law, was appointed a District Court and Family Court Judge in 1981, and in 1989 became the first woman Chief District Court Judge. In 1993 her work was recognised by her elevation to the High Court judiciary: again the first woman to be so appointed.

One of Silvia Cartwright’s notable contributions to New Zealand society was her work as chair of the National Women’s Hospital Inquiry into Cancer Treatment of Patients. The recommendations of this inquiry had far-reaching effects on the ethical framework required for medical research and practice. Deeply committed to human rights, she was appointed to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which monitors the UN convention related to such discrimination. She served on this commission with distinction, bringing her fine legal mind and thoughtful approach to steering through an Optional Protocol to this convention which enabled women to take up issues directly with the committee. Silvia Cartwright believed that although the legislative framework for equality was in place in New Zealand, the more subtle societal discrimination engendered by centuries of inbuilt views of women’s roles persisted, and she brought an informed and considered voice to addressing injustice.