Nigerian law professor Grace Ononiwu named as new head of UK's Crown Prosecution Service

NIGERIAN-born academic Professor Grace Chidozie Ononiwu has been named as the new director-general of the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) making her the first black African to occupy the position.

Professor Ononiwu, 59, was born to Nigerian parents and grew up in East London and when she was a teenager she decided to go into law, qualifying as a solicitor in 1991 and subsequently joining the CPS. Subsequently, Professor Ononiwu later became chief crown prosecutor for East of England and West Midlands in 2014.

Eventually, she rose up the ranks to become the CPS's chief crown prosecutor in 2005, becoming the first black person ever to hold that post. She received two national awards in the OBE 2008 and CBE in 2019 for Services to Law and Order.

In the past, Professor Ononiwu has served as  visiting professor at the University of Hertfordshire, where a building now bears her name.  She was named one of UK’s 100 Most Influential Black Britons and Women of the Year 2020

Among other things, she was chair of the National Black Crown Prosecution Association and was awarded a Black Solicitors Network Lifetime Achievement award. Professor Ononiwu, who was appointed as director-general of legal services at the CPS on Monday 9 June 2025 before her latest appointment, has been awarded honorary doctorates from Hertfordshire and Birmingham City universities.