Sarah Huggett

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Sarah Huggett is an Australian lawyer and judge who is the first female Chief Judge of the District Court of New South Wales.

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Early life and education

Sarah Huggett was born in Moree, one of eight children and the daughter of a police officer. [1] [2] She has a BA from Macquarie University and graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in law in 1991. [1] Huggett completed a Master of Laws in 1995. [1] [3]

Career

Huggett worked for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from 1993, including time on exhange in the United Kingdom with the Crown Prosecution Service. [1] [3] She was appointed a Crown prosecutor in 2001. [1] Huggett was an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School is Los Angeles in 2009. [1]

Huggett was appointed to the District Court of New South Wales in October 2012, working on the Criminal Trial Bench for twelve years. [1] [4] She oversaw a number of complex criminal cases, including many child sexual abuses cases. [5] She was one of the judges on the court's Walama List, a trial of alternative sentencing procedures seeking to reduce Indigenous Australian incarceration. [1] [2] She was the Court's representative on the Consent Monitoring and Advisory Group Meeting and Chair of the Child Sexual Offence Evidence Program Steering Committee. [6] [4] [5] She has said that lengthy sentences for sexual offences are "designed to punish the offender, denounce their conduct, protect the community and recognise the harm done to the victims". [7] [8]

Huggett was appointed to the state Supreme Court in November 2023. [1] [9] She was appointed Chief Judge of the District Court of NSW by Attorney General Michael Daley in April 2024, the first woman to hold the position. [1] [4]

Notable cases

Huggett was instructing solicitor to the DPP in the prosecution of Ivan Milat. [1] [2] She presided over the judge-only trial of convicted murderer Chris Dawson for carnal knowledge of a student in 2023. [2] [6] [10] She imposed a maximum sentence of 32 years imprisonment on former MasterChef Australia contestant Paul Frost for child sexual offences. [11] In 2023, she acquitted Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka of rape through the act of stealthing in another judge alone trial. [12]

Personal life

Huggett has two children. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Foye, Jonathan (16 April 2024). "First Woman Appointed as Chief Judge of District Court of New South Wales". Insights. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Doraisamy, Jerome (15 April 2024). "First woman appointed as Chief Judge of District Court of NSW". Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "NSW Appoints Justice Huggett as First Female District Chief Judge". Mirage News. 10 April 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Silver, Francisco (11 April 2024). ""Experience, integrity, strength of character" – Justice Huggett appointed Chief Judge of the District Court of New South Wales". LSJ Online. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  5. 1 2 Dudley, Ellie (10 April 2024). "Sarah Huggett appointed first female NSW District Court chief judge". The Australian. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Justice Sarah Huggett becomes first woman appointed as Chief Judge of NSW District Court". Women's Agenda. April 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  7. ↑ "Moree's Justice Sarah Huggett appointed as Chief Judge of District Court of NSW". The New England Times. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  8. ↑ Forsyth, Heath (12 April 2024). "NSW Appoints Moree's Justice Sarah Huggett as first female District Chief Judge". Moree Champion. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  9. ↑ Doraisamy, Jerome (29 November 2023). "New Supreme Court, District Court judges appointed in NSW". Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  10. ↑ Wells, Jamelle (15 September 2023). "Former Sydney teacher Chris Dawson jailed over unlawful sexual activity with student". ABC News. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  11. ↑ Moona, Adhya (17 November 2023). "MasterChef Australia ex-finalist Paul Frost gets 24 years in jail for child sexual abuse". Dail O. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  12. ↑ "Sri Lankan cricketer found not guilty over Tinder date rape charge". SBS News. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
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