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]
The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation.
Ruddock v Vadarlis was an Australian court case decided in the Federal Court of Australia on 18 September 2001. It concerned the actions of the Government of Australia in preventing asylum seekers aboard the Norwegian cargo vessel MV Tampa from entering Australia in late August 2001. The Victorian Council for Civil Liberties, and solicitor Eric Vadarlis, were seeking a writ of habeas corpus. The case is significant because it is one of the few cases to consider the nature and scope of the prerogative power of the executive branch of Government in Australia.
The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law, along with some summary and indictable criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance mostly by single judges. In cases of importance, a full court comprising three judges can be convened upon determination by the Chief Justice. The Court also has appellate jurisdiction, which is mostly exercised by a Full Court comprising three judges, the only avenue of appeal from which lies to the High Court of Australia. In the Australian court hierarchy, the Federal Court occupies a position equivalent to the supreme courts of each of the states and territories. In relation to the other courts in the federal stream, it is superior to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia for all jurisdictions except family law. It was established in 1976 by the Federal Court of Australia Act.
Monash University Faculty of Law, or Monash Law School, is the law school of Monash University. Founded in 1964, 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.
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, and highcourt of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court are binding on all other courts in a nation and are not subject to further review by any other court. Supreme courts typically function primarily as appellate courts, hearing appeals from decisions of lower trial courts, or from intermediate-level appellate courts. A supreme court can also, in certain circumstances, act as a court of original jurisdiction.
The Melbourne University Law Review is a triannual law journal published by a student group at Melbourne Law School covering all areas of law. It is one of the student-run law journals at the University of Melbourne and is generally regarded as Australia's leading generalist law journal. Students who have completed at least one semester of law are eligible to apply for membership of the editorial board. Applicants are assessed on the basis of their performance in a practical exercise, academic aptitude, and proofreading and editing skills. The 2024 editors-in-chief are James Cafferky, Alexander Henry and Fiona Xia.
Refugee Advocacy Service of South Australia Inc. (RASSA) is a non-profit Community Legal Centre in South Australia. It was set up in 2002 to represent asylum-seekers in the Federal Court of Australia. From about 2007, it was de-funded and ceased to exist. It has, however, now began functioning again in order to assist asylum-seekers in the community in South Australia whose applications are still being processed.
John Spence Winneke, was a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria and President of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian state of Victoria.
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.
Stephen Peter Estcourt is an Australian judge, who has been Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania since April 2013. From 2004 to 2013, he maintained barristers' chambers in Hobart and Melbourne, dividing his time between the two.
The Supreme Court of Nauru was the highest court in the judicial system of the Republic of Nauru until the establishment of the Nauruan Court of Appeal in 2018.
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.
Geoffrey Michael Eames is an Australian jurist, who was a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. He served in the trial division of the Court from 1992 to 2002, and was then a member of the Court of Appeal until 2007. He subsequently served as an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, and as Chief Justice of Nauru.
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.
Jacqueline Sarah Gleeson is an Australian judge. She has been a Justice of the High Court of Australia since 1 March 2021, and was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, based in Sydney, from April 2014 to February 2021.
Debra Sue Mortimer is an Australian judge who has been the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia since 7 April 2023. She was born in New Zealand but has practised law in Australia. She has been a judge of the Federal Court of Australia since 2013, having previously been a Senior Counsel practising at the Victorian Bar in migration law, environmental law and anti-discrimination law.
Judicial independence is regarded as one of the foundation values of the Australian legal system, such that the High Court held in 2004 that a court capable of exercising federal judicial power must be, and must appear to be, an independent and impartial tribunal. Former Chief Justice Gerard Brennan described judicial independence as existing "to serve and protect not the governors but the governed", albeit one that "rests on the calibre and the character of the judges themselves". Despite general agreement as to its importance and common acceptance of some elements, there is no agreement as to each of the elements of judicial independence.
Northern Territory v Mr A. Griffiths (deceased) and Lorraine Jones on behalf of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples [2019] HCA 7 is an Australian native title court case that was heard in the High Court of Australia. This case was an appeal by the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth of Australia of the decision handed down by the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia in Northern Territory of Australia v Griffiths [2017] FCAFC 106. The High Court of Australia ruled to reduce the amount of compensation awarded to the Ngaliwurru People and the Nungali People by the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. This compensation had been granted to the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples as a remedy for deeds taken by the Northern Territory Government that were previously established by the judicial system to have extinguished native title. The total amount of compensation awarded was reduced from $2,899,446 to $2,530,350. This compensation had been awarded for the monetary and non-monetary loss, as well as interest, associated with the extinguishment of native title. The decision made by the High Court meant the appeals made by the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth were "allowed in part". The case of Northern Territory v Mr Griffiths and Lorraine Jones has been labelled one of the most significant native title court cases since Mabo v Queensland and Mabo v Queensland. The Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples reside in Timber Creek, Northern Territory. The High Court granted special leave for the appeal on 16 February 2018. The High Court, which is situated in Canberra, had not heard a case in the Northern Territory prior to this.