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The New Zealand Law Foundation congratulates Eve Bain has won this year’s NZ Law Foundation Cleary Memorial Prize – a prestigious award given to a young barrister or solicitor who shows outstanding future promise in the legal profession.

Eve graduated from Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka in 2017 with a 1st class honours degree in Law, and a BA majoring in French, International Relations and Spanish. During her time studying she was the recipient of a string of academic prizes and was included on the Dean’s List for Academic Excellence on four occasions. She graduated 4th in her year in Law. She received Victoria Excellence Scholarships on two occasions, the Thomas Prize for Mooting and the VicBooks Award for the Best Tutor (in Public Law).

During her time at University Eve consistently achieved in mooting competitions, including representing New Zealand at the Red Cross Asia-Pacific International Humanitarian Law Moot in Hong Kong. In 2016, together with her teammate Fayez Shahbaz, she represented New Zealand and won the Brown Mosten International Client Consultation Competition. She has continued as a volunteer coach and judge for mooting competitions since graduating, including as coach of VUW’s 2020 Vis Moot team.

In 2017 Eve was an inaugural recipient of the Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Latin America, enabling Eve to finish her Arts degree on a one-year exchange in Medellin, Colombia and become fluent in Spanish.

Eve currently works as a Junior Barrister in Stout Street Chambers and was previously a member of the Public Law team at Bell Gully in Wellington. Eve says, “My love of advocacy and legal research and writing drew me to move to the independent bar last year. I am currently counsel for the Crown in the Porirua ki Manawatu District Inquiry, one of the last historical inquiries before the Waitangi Tribunal. This humbling role has deepened my interest in transitional justice mechanisms, an academic area I had pursued through the Victoria International Leadership Programme and while on exchange in Colombia.”

In addition to Eve’s academic successes, she has undertaken a range of leadership roles and voluntary community work. Eve volunteered throughout university for United Nations Youth New Zealand, where she organised the largest national Model UN conference and created a US Leadership Tour to lead the inaugural New Zealand delegation to Harvard National Model UN. More recently, she has been a Co-convenor of the Women in Law Committee (NZLS Wellington Branch), a mentor for the Bridging the Gap programme and a delegate for the Aotearoa Legal Workers’ Union. She is currently undergoing training for a role with Refugee Services as a resettlement volunteer.

Eve is a member of the Asia NZ Foundation Leadership Network and the Latin America NZ Business Council Young Leaders’ Network. From 2014-2016 she was the student representative for the NZ Institute of International Affairs and in 2015 she represented New Zealand at a French language summit on climate change hosted by l’Institut Francais in Paris. In 2019 Eve received an Outstanding Alumni Award for UN Youth New Zealand, recognising the service and leadership she has given to this organisation over several years.

Eve has published two articles and been involved with several publications. She was Assistant Editor for the European Journal of International Law from 2015-2017. Most recently, she co-authored a chapter for the textbook International Law in Aotearoa New Zealand and has written various articles for the Oxford University International Organisations database. She has also been involved in the process of bridging academia and law reform when she was part of a project which saw her Honours thesis research built into a resolution adopted by the Institut de Droit International in 2019 on ‘Equality of Parties before International Investment Tribunals’.

In her early years, Eve was a Prefect and Dux of her high school, Whangaparaoa College, where she also achieved Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Awards.

Looking towards the future, Eve says, “I aspire to undertake postgraduate studies in law. I am particularly interested in exploring the concept of inter-generational justice through comparative research of the proposed reparations for slavery in the United States with the Treaty settlement process in Aotearoa. I believe in the potential of legal processes and institutions to foster civic trust and create a fair and peaceful society. I would like to return to New Zealand to contribute to developing the future role of the Waitangi Tribunal and reforming legal processes in light of Tribunal recommendations to give effect to the principles of the Treaty.”

The New Zealand Law Foundation awards $5,000 annually for the Cleary Memorial Prize.
This is given to a young barrister or solicitor who shows outstanding future promise in the legal profession.