List of justices of the High Court of Australia explained

The High Court of Australia is composed of seven justices: the chief justice of Australia and six other justices. There have been 57 justices who have served as justices of the High Court since its formation under the Judiciary Act 1903. Under Section 71 of the Australian Constitution, the judicial power of the Commonwealth of Australia is vested in the court, and it has been the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy since the passing of the Australia Act 1986.

In a May 2017 speech, Justice Virginia Bell observed that "few Australians outside the law schools are likely to be able to name the Chief Justice, let alone the puisne justices of the High Court".[1]

History

Initially, there were three justices of the High Court – Chief Justice Sir Samuel Griffith, Justice Sir Edmund Barton and Justice Richard Edward O'Connor.[2] The number was expanded in 1906, at the request of the justices, to five, with the appointment of Justices Sir Isaac Isaacs and H. B. Higgins. After O'Connor's death in 1912, an amendment to the Judiciary Act 1903 expanded the bench to seven. For most of 1930, two seats were left vacant due to monetary constraints placed on the court by the Depression. The economic downturn had also led to a reduction in litigation and consequently less work for the court. After Isaacs retired in 1931, his seat was left empty, and in 1933 an amendment to the Judiciary Act officially reduced the number of seats to six. However, this led to some decisions being split three-all. With the appointment of William Webb in 1946, the number of seats returned to seven, and since then the court has had seven justices.[3] there have been 55 justices, 13 of whom have been chief justice.

Appointments to the court were for life until 1977, when a mandatory retirement age of 70 was established, though several post-1977 justices have retired before reaching the age of 70 (William Deane resigned as a justice to be appointed governor-general).

Composition of the High Court

There have been 57 justices of the High Court; fifty have been men and seven women. The first female justice was Mary Gaudron who was a justice from 1987 to 2003. Susan Crennan was a justice from 2005 to 2015, and Virginia Bell from 2009 to 2021. Susan Kiefel was the first woman to be appointed Chief Justice of Australia. She was appointed in 2017 and had been a justice from 2007 to 2017. Of the seven current justices, four are men, including the chief justice, and three are women. Michelle Gordon was appointed in 2015 and Jacqueline Gleeson in 2021, replacing Bell. Jayne Jagot replaced Justice Keane on the court in 2022, giving women a majority on the High Court for a period of just over a year.

Thirteen politicians, serving or former, have been appointed to the High Court of Australia. Nine justices have served in the Parliament of Australia: Edmund Barton, Richard O'Connor, Isaac Isaacs, H. B. Higgins, Edward McTiernan, H. V. Evatt, John Latham, Garfield Barwick, and Lionel Murphy. All but Evatt were appointed after their parliamentary service; Evatt resigned from the bench in order to pursue his federal political career, although he had previously served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. In addition to the above, four justices served in colonial parliaments: Samuel Griffith, Charles Powers, Albert Piddington and Adrian Knox, although all concluded their political careers more than 10 years prior to their appointments. The most recent justice to serve in state or federal parliament is Lionel Murphy.

The majority of justices have come from the eastern states, particularly New South Wales (29 justices), Victoria (16 justices) and Queensland Queensland (8 justices). It was not until 1979 that a justice was appointed from Western Australia. There has never been a justice from South Australia. Robert Beech-Jones was born in Tasmania but went to university in Canberra and spent most of his career in Sydney.

Most justices had previously served as judges of other Australian courts prior to their appointment to the High Court. Prior to the creation of the Federal Court of Australia in 1976, this was primarily the Supreme Courts of the States. Since 1976, a number of justices of the Federal Court have been appointed to the High Court. A small number of justices served on both a State Supreme Court and the Federal Court before being appointed to the High Court.

List of justices

The current judges are listed in bold on the table below.

ImageNameStateBirth – deathPositionTerm
began
Term
ended
data-sort-type="number" Time in officePM at app'tPrev.
experience
Notes
1Qld1845–1920Chief justiceDeakinChief justice,
Sup Ct of Qld
2NSW1849–1920JusticeDeakinNoneFormer prime minister
Died in office
3NSW1851–1912JusticeDeakinNoneDied in office
4Vic1855–1948JusticeDeakinNoneResigned to be appointed governor-general
Chief justiceScullin
5Vic1851–1929JusticeDeakinNoneDied in office
6Vic1852–1936JusticeFisherNone
Chief justiceScullin
7Qld1853–1939JusticeFisherNone
8*NSW1862–1945JusticeFisherNoneResigned before sitting
9NSW1863–1956JusticeFisherSup Ct of NSW
10NSW1863–1932Chief justiceHughesNone
11Vic1871–1958JusticeHughesNone
12Vic1886–1972JusticeBruceNone
Chief justiceMenzies
13NSW1894–1965JusticeScullinNoneResigned to return to politics
14NSW1892–1990JusticeScullinNone
15Vic1877–1964Chief justiceLyonsNone
16NSW1889–1963JusticeMenziesSup Ct of NSW
17Qld1887–1972JusticeChifleyChief justice,
Sup Ct of Qld
18Vic1892–1961JusticeMenziesSup Ct of VicDied in office
19NSW1903–1994JusticeMenziesNone
20NSW1901–1969JusticeMenziesSup Ct of NSWDied in office
21Vic1907–1974JusticeMenziesNoneDied in office
22NSW1900–1987JusticeMenziesNone
23NSW1899–1972JusticeMenziesSup Ct of NSWDied in office
24NSW1903–1997Chief justiceMenziesNone
25NSW1909–1973JusticeGortonSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
Died in office
26Qld1917–2005JusticeGortonFed Ct of BK
Sup Ct of Qld
Chief justiceFraser
27Vic1923–2017JusticeMcMahonSup Ct of VicResigned to be appointed governor-general
28NSW1925–JusticeMcMahonSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
Chief justiceHawke
29NSW1917–2015JusticeWhitlamSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
30NSW1922–1986JusticeWhitlamNoneDied in office
31Vic1916–1982JusticeFraserNoneDied in office
32WA1922–2005JusticeFraserNone
33Qld1928–2022JusticeFraserFed Ct
Chief justiceKeating
34NSW1931–JusticeFraserFed CtResigned to be appointed governor-general
35Vic1933–JusticeFraserNone
36WA1930–2015JusticeHawkeFed Ct
37NSW1943–JusticeHawkeNone
38NSW1935–JusticeHawkeSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
39NSW1942–JusticeKeatingFed Ct
40NSW1939–JusticeKeatingSup Ct of NSW
Pres, NSW Ct of App
41Vic1945–JusticeHowardSup Ct of Vic
Vic Ct of App
42Qld1937–Justice[4] HowardNone
43NSW1938–Chief justice[5] HowardChief justice,
Sup Ct of NSW
44NSW1943–JusticeHowardSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
45Vic1945–JusticeHowardFed Ct
46Qld1954–JusticeHowardSup Ct of Qld
Fed Ct
Chief justiceTurnbull
47WA1947–Chief justiceRuddFed Ct
48NSW1951–Justice[6] RuddSup Ct of NSW
NSW Ct of App
49NSW1958–Justice[7] IncumbentGillardNone
Chief justiceIncumbentAlbanese
50Qld1952–Justice[8] GillardSup Ct of Qld
Fed Ct
51Vic1950–JusticeAbbottSup Ct of Vic
52Vic1964–JusticeIncumbentAbbottFed Ct
53WA1974–JusticeIncumbentTurnbullFed Ct
Sup Ct of WA
54Vic1969–JusticeIncumbentMorrisonFed Ct
55NSW1966–JusticeIncumbentMorrisonFed Ct
56NSW1964/65–JusticeIncumbentAlbaneseFed Ct
NSW LEC
57NSWc.1964JusticeIncumbentAlbaneseSup Ct of NSW

Seats of the High Court

This following chart illustrates the composition of the High Court. It indicates the seven seats of the court, and who has occupied each seat at different points in the court's existence. The red portions represent the future part of a judge's term and show the date at which they are bound to retire from the court (although they may choose to retire before that date). The blue portions of a judge's term show a period in which that judge was chief justice.

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Examining the Judge: Launch of Issue 40(2) UNSW Law Journal. 29 May 2017. High Court of Australia. Virginia. Bell. 30 May 2020.
  2. Web site: History of the High Court . High Court . 26 October 2016.
  3. Book: The High Court, the Constitution and Australian Politics . Cambridge University Press . 2015 . 9781107043664 . Dixon, R . Williams, G . George Williams (lawyer) . 14 September 2020 . 5 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210205135206/https://books.google.com/books?id=KqewBgAAQBAJ . live . 78-80, 118-119, 141-143, 160,161.
  4. http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/31/2020115.htm?section=australia "Callinan retires from High Court"
  5. Web site: ABC News . Chief Justice honoured at retirement ceremony . 29 August 2008 . 30 August 2008.
  6. Web site: . Michael Kirby leaves High Court bench with 'faith' in law intact . 2 February 2009 . 2 February 2009.
  7. Web site: Solicitor-General Gagelar appointed to High Court . ABC News . 21 August 2012 . 21 August 2012.
  8. News: Pelly . Michael . Keane laments exit after 'wonderful' innings on High Court . 17 October 2022 . Australian Financial Review . Nine Entertainment Company . 13 October 2022.