Background
Shivute was born in Ovamboland in northern Namibia.
Shivute was born in Ovamboland in northern Namibia.
University of Cambridge. Trinity Hall; University of Warwick.
He has been the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Namibia in Windhoek since 1 December 2004, and he is the first black Namibian to occupy that post. At the age of 16 he went into exile, continuing his secondary school education in Zambia. While still in Zambia he received a Diploma in Legal Studies with distinction in 1986.
He left Zambia for the United Kingdom where he obtained an Bachelor of Laws (Honors) from Trinity Hall College, University of Cambridge in 1991.
After working in now independent Namibia for four years he returned to the United Kingdom to complete the Master of Laws from University of Warwick in 1996. Shivute further holds a Diploma in Development Studies and Management.
Peter Shivute was appointed magistrate in the Judicial Service of the Republic of Zambia in 1987, barely 24 years old. On his return from exile he served as magistrate in the Namibian Judiciary from 1991 to 2000, as Judge, later Judge President, of the High Court.
On 1 December 2004 Shivute was appointed Chief Justice of Namibia, the highest judge that heads the Supreme Court.
He is the fourth Namibian Chief Justice, succeeding Johan Strydom who retired in 2003. He further is the chairman of the Judicial Service Commission and the Board of Legal Education. In 2002, he chaired the Third Delimitation Commission of Namibia, a body that infrequently decides on the administrative division of the country.
Shivute frequently publishes on politics, human rights, and the law in Namibia.
