Susan Coralie Kenny | |
---|---|
Judge of the Federal Court of Australia | |
In office 16 October 1998 –29 November 2023 | |
Judge of the Court of Appeal (Vic) | |
In office 25 July 1997 –15 October 1998 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Oxford,United Kingdom | 29 November 1953
Nationality | Australian |
Children | 3 |
Education | University of Melbourne (BA,LLB) Magdalen College,Oxford (DPhil) |
Occupation | Judge,Lawyer |
Susan Coralie Kenny AM (born 29 November 1953) is a reserve judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria,a former Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, [1] [2] and before that was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria,where she was the first woman to serve on the Court of Appeal. [3]
Kenny was born in Oxford in 1953. She attended various schools in the United States of America and Australia,completing her secondary education at Methodist Ladies' College,Melbourne. [4] Kenny studied at the University of Melbourne,graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws,winning the Dwight's Prize for history and sharing the Supreme Court Prize for law. [5] She was an editor of the Melbourne University Law Review in 1975. In 1985 Kenny was awarded the Menzies Scholarship in Law,which together with a grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Trust enabled her to attended Magdalen College at the University of Oxford,completing her doctorate in 1988 which was supervised by John Finnis. [6]
Kenny was associate to Sir Ninian Stephen,then a High Court judge in 1979 and 1980. [1] From 1981 she practised as a barrister,working in constitutional,public,commercial and tax law. Kenny appeared in notable cases including the Tasmanian Dams case, [7] War Crimes case, [8] and in the International Court of Justice in East Timor (Portugal v Australia), [1] [9] and Nauru v Australia. [10] Kenny was a President of the Administrative Review Council from 9 February 1993 to 30 September 1995. [11] She was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1996. [1]
Kenny was appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria sitting between 25 July 1997 and 15 October 1998,the first woman to be appointed to this court. [3] After her retirement from the Federal Court in November 2023,she rejoined the Court of Appeal as a reserve judge from July 2024.
Kenny was sworn in as a judge of the Federal Court on 16 October 1998. [1] In November 2010,she was appointed a presidential member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. [12] As a judge Kenny hears the wide range of matters before the Federal Court,both as a trial judge and on appeal,including workplace relations (AWU v BHP Iron Ore [13] ) employment law (Walker v Citigroup Global Markets Pty Ltd [14] ) intellectual property (McCormick &Co Inc v McCormick, [15] D'Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc [16] anti-discrimination law (Rainsford v Victoria, [17] and AB v Registrar of Births,Deaths &Marriages [18] ) migration appeals (ALA15 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [19] [20] ) environmental law (Alpine Grazing Trial case [21] [22] ) and taxation law (Haritos v Commissioner of Taxation) [23] ).
On 17 September 2020 she was appointed Chairperson of the Australian Electoral Commission for a 5-year term. [24]