New Appointment to High Court and New SA Senior Counsel Appointments
Tuesday 29 November 2016 @ 2.34 p.m. | Judiciary, Legal Profession & Procedure | Legal Research
Today (29 November 2016), Justice Kiefel has been appointed as the first female Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. Additionally, last week (22 November 2016), six new senior counsel were appointed to the legal fraternity in South Australia.
High Court Chief Justice Kiefel
Today (29 November 2016), Justice Susan Kiefel was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court to replace retiring Chief Justice Robert French.
In making the announcement, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Justice Kiefel's legal career should serve as an "inspiration" to aspiring lawyers across the country.
Justice Kiefel was appointed to the High Court in September 2007, having already served as a judge in the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Queensland. She completed her high school studies part-time while working as a legal secretary, studied law part-time before being admitted to the Queensland Bar in 1975, and later became the first woman in Queensland to be appointed Queen's Counsel in 1987.
Justice Kiefel will be sworn in as Chief Justice at the end of January 2017.
The Prime Minister said:
"She has been one of Australia's most outstanding judicial officers...Her appointment grounds a great career with even greater judicial service yet to come in this very important role."
Justice Kiefel's vacancy in the High Court will be filled by another Queensland Federal Court judge, Justice Edelman.
In 2011, Justice Edelman was appointed to the Western Australian Supreme Court by his close friend and then WA Attorney-General Christian Porter, who is now federal social services minister. Last year (2015), he joined the Federal Court based in Brisbane. Justice Edelman is one of the youngest ever appointments to the court, aged only 42, which hints the Government hopes for a period of stability on the bench.
Law Council of Australia president Stuart Clark has said of the appointment of Justice Kiefel:
"One of the really powerful things she brings to the court is a very different experience. The way she came to the law – (former High Court judge) Michael McHugh found his way similarly. Diversity on the courts in every sense is critically important."
Appointment of SA Senior Counsel
Additionally, last week (22 November 2016), the South Australian Attorney-General and Deputy Premier John Rau was among six new senior counsel appointed in the state.
Chief Justice Chris Kourakis said the appointments were the first made since changes to the rules of the Supreme Court. The changes make responsibility for appointments the task of judges collectively, rather than just the chief justice. The Chief Justice said he was delighted to announce the appointments, and the new senior counsel had been chosen from a talented pool of applicants.
TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.
