Florence Rita Arrey was born on May 18, 1948, in Cameroon. She earned her Bachelor of Law degree at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and a Diploma in Legal Drafting as well as a certificate in International Law at the University of London Advanced Institute for Legal Studies. Florence subsequently obtained a diploma in Magistracy from the National School of Administration and Magistracy, Yaounde.

Judge Florence Arrey’s career has been marked by notable firsts beginning with her appointment as the first female State Counsel in Cameroon in 1974 and her appointment as the first woman Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal in 1990. Between 1974 and 1990, other positions occupied by Florence Arrey were the President of the Court of 1st Instance Tiko, Advocate General of the Court of Appeal, and Vice President of the Court of Appeal. Her industriousness led to her appointment to the Supreme Court of Cameroon in 2000 and her subsequent appointment as the director of Judicial Professions in the Ministry of Justice, Cameroon. In 2018, Judge Arrey was appointed a pioneer member of the Constitutional Council, an institution mandated to rule on the constitutionality of laws in Cameroon.

Justice Arrey’s international career began in 2003 when she was elected as ad litem judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the first Cameroonian to be so elected. In 2011, the lady justice occupied the positions of Vice President of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and Judge of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT). Judge Arrey has been a vibrant member of many local and international associations including the International Association of Women Judges (Vice President), Common Law Magistrates and Judges Association (first president of the Cameroon chapter), and President of the Cameroon Association of Women Judges. She is recognized for ruling in landmark cases that advocated for women’s right to own property and influenced gender reforms in Cameroonian laws. In 2010, she was one of the fifty women recognized during the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Cameroon's Independence.