Alex Chernov | |
---|---|
28th Governor of Victoria | |
In office 8 April 2011 –30 June 2015 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Premier | Ted Baillieu Denis Napthine Daniel Andrews |
Lieutenant | Marilyn Warren |
Preceded by | David de Kretser |
Succeeded by | Linda Dessau |
Personal details | |
Born | Vilnius,Lithuania | 12 May 1938
Spouse | Elizabeth Hopkins |
Education | University of Melbourne |
Profession | Barrister,judge |
Alex Chernov AC KC (born 12 May 1938) [1] is an Australian lawyer,judge and barrister who served as the 28th Governor of Victoria,from 2011 to 2015. [2] Chernov also served as Vice-President of the Australian Bar Association,from 1986 to 1987,President of the Law Council of Australia,from 1990 to 1991,and the 20th Chancellor of Melbourne University,from 2009 to 2011.
Chernov was born in Wilno,Poland (now Vilnius,Lithuania) in 1938 to Russian parents,and migrated with his family to Salzburg,Austria,after the Soviet invasion,where he commenced his schooling. In 1949 his family migrated to Australia and he completed his education at Melbourne High School. He graduated as a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) from the University of Melbourne in 1961 and 1968 respectively as a resident of Ormond College. [3]
Chernov was admitted to practise and signed the Roll of Counsel as a barrister in 1968,practising mostly in commercial law and equity. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1980 and later in a majority of other states. He was Chairman of the Victorian Bar (1985–86),Vice-President of the Australian Bar Association (1986–87) and President of the Law Council of Australia (1990–91). He was Vice President of LawAsia (1995–97). Chernov was the co-author with Robert Brooking of Tenancy Law and Practice:Victoria (1972) and the editor of its second edition (1980).
In May 1997 Chernov was appointed to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria,and in October 1998 to the Court of Appeal of that Court. He retired from the bench in February 2008.
Chernov was elected the 20th Chancellor of the University of Melbourne in January 2009,serving in that office until he resigned to take up the office of Governor of Victoria. [3]
On 21 February 2011,it was announced that Chernov would become the 28th Governor of Victoria. He assumed that office on 8 April 2011. [4] On the retirement of Dame Marie Bashir as Governor of New South Wales on 1 October 2014,Chernov became the longest-serving governor of an Australian state and by custom assumed the additional office of Administrator of the Commonwealth,which exercises the powers of the Governor-General of Australia in the governor-general's absence or disability. [5] Chernov's term of office ended in June 2015;former judge Linda Dessau was appointed as his replacement.
Chernov is married and has three children.
Chernov was appointed Queen's Counsel in and for the State of Victoria in 1980. He was created an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours list for service to the law and education. [6]
On 26 January 2012,Chernov was named a Companion of the Order of Australia. [7]
On 14 May 2014,Chernov was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws by Monash University. [8]
In the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth realms,a King's Counsel is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch of the country as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman,the title is called Queen's Counsel (QC).
David Morritz de Kretser,is an Australian medical researcher who served as the 27th Governor of Victoria,from 2006 to 2011.
Marilyn Louise Warren is a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria and lieutenant-governor of Victoria,Australia.
Monash University Faculty of Law,or Monash Law School,is the law school of Monash University. Founded in 1963,it is based in Melbourne,Victoria and has campuses in Malaysia and Italy. It is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in Australia and globally,and entry to its Bachelor of Laws (LLB) programme is highly competitive.
Lex Lasry is an Australian lawyer and a retired judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria from 2007 to 2018. He also sat as a reserve judge from 2018 until his retirement as a reserve judge in February 2024.
Paul de Jersey,is an Australian jurist who served as the 26th governor of Queensland,from 29 July 2014 to 1 November 2021. He was Chief Justice of Queensland from 1998 to 2014.
Ian William Upjohn,is an Australian barrister and Army Reserve officer,and recipient of the Conspicuous Service Cross.
Felicity Pia Hampel is a prominent Australian human rights lawyer and,since 2005,judge of the County Court of Victoria. Hampel's career as a barrister began in 1981,and she became a Senior Counsel in 1996.
Catherine Margaret Branson is a former Australian judge and public servant. She was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1994 to 2008,and then President of the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2008 to 2012.
Linda Marion Dessau is an Australian jurist and barrister who served as the 29th Governor of Victoria from 2015 to 2023. She is the first female and the first Jewish holder of the office. She was previously a judge of the Family Court of Australia from 1995 to 2013.
Elizabeth Anne Alexander,a leading Australian accountant and company director,was the 21st Chancellor of the University of Melbourne between 2011 and 2016.
Donnell Michael Ryan was an Australian barrister,solicitor and judge of the Federal Court of Australia. He served on the Federal Court of Australia from 29 September 1986 until 2 June 2011 and was a member of the Victorian Bar.
Mark Samuel Weinberg is a former judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria from July 2008 to May 2018. He is a former judge of the Federal Court of Australia who served from July 1998 to July 2008.
John Digby is an Australian lawyer and a judge in the Supreme Court of Victoria,in the Australian state of Victoria.
Elizabeth Helen Curtain is a retired judge,serving successively on the benches of the County Court of Victoria and the Supreme Court of Victoria,in the Australian state of Victoria,and currently Chair of the Adult Parole Board of Victoria.
Major General Gregory Howard "Greg" Garde,is a senior Australian lawyer and Army officer. His positions and appointments have included Queen's Counsel,Supreme Court Justice,President of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal,and membership of various boards of directors.
Jennifer Davies is an Australian judge who sat in the Supreme Court of Victoria from 2009 until she was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia in 2013.
Julie Anne Dodds-Streeton is a Reserve Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. She was formerly a judge of the Federal Court of Australia,having served for four years from February 2010. Prior to that,she was a Justice of Appeal in the Supreme Court of Victoria,having previously been a Judge of the Trial Division of that Court from 2002.
Alfred Martin Daubney was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2007. He is an honorary fellow of the Australian Catholic University,a member of the senate of the University of Queensland and president of the King’s College council at the University of Queensland. In July 2021 he was appointed chancellor of the Australian Catholic University and took up the position in January 2022.
Sir George Hermann Lush was an Australian lawyer,Supreme Court Judge and Chancellor of Monash University.