New South Wales Court of Appeal

New South Wales Court of Appeal
New South Wales Court of Appeal
Established	1 January 1966
Jurisdiction	New South Wales
Location	Sydney
Coordinates	33°52′08″S 151°12′42″E / 33.868918°S 151.211628°ECoordinates: 33°52′08″S 151°12′42″E / 33.868918°S 151.211628°E
Composition method	Vice-regal appointment upon Premier's nomination, following advice of the Attorney General and Cabinet
Authorized by	Parliament of New South Wales via the: Constitution Act 1902 (NSW); Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW);
Appeals to	High Court of Australia
Appeals from	Supreme Court of New South Wales; Industrial Court of NSW; Land and Environment Court of NSW; District Court of NSW; Dust Diseases Tribunal of NSW; Workers Compensation Commission of NSW; Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal of NSW;
Judge term length	Mandatory retirement by age of 72
Website	supremecourt.justice.nsw.gov.au
Chief Justice of New South Wales
Currently	Justice Tom Bathurst AC
Since	1 June 2011
President of the Court of Appeal
Currently	Justice Andrew Bell SC
Since	28 February 2019

The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Jurisdiction[]

The Court of Appeal operates pursuant to the Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW). The Court hears appeals from a variety of courts and tribunals in New South Wales, in particular the Supreme Court, the Industrial Court, the Land and Environment Court, the District Court, the Dust Diseases Tribunal, the Workers Compensation Commission, and the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal.^[1] The Court of Appeal must grant leave to appeal a judgment of an inferior court, before it hears the appeal proper.

If a petitioner is not satisfied with the decision made by the Court of Appeal, application may be made to the High Court of Australia for special leave to appeal the decision before the High Court. Because special leave is only granted by the High Court under certain conditions, the Court of Appeal is in effect a court of final appeal for many matters.

History[]

The Court of Appeal was established in 1965, replacing the former appellate Full Court of the New South Wales Supreme Court,^[2] and commenced operations on 1 January 1966 with the appointment of the President, Sir Gordon Wallace, and six Judges of Appeal, Bernard Sugerman, Charles McLelland, Cyril Walsh, Kenneth Jacobs, Kenneth Asprey and John Holmes Dashwood. The advent of the Court of Appeal was controversial, as it introduced another order and unexpectedly uprooted the established order of hierarchy and seniority among judges of the Supreme Court.^[2]

Current Composition[]

The Court of Appeal, as of February 2020, consists of the Chief Justice of New South Wales, the President of the Court of Appeal and the judges of appeal. Apart from the Chief Justice and the President of the Court, there are eleven judges of appeal with current commissions. Two of them are heads of the Common Law Division and the Equity Division, and sit full-time in those Divisions as primary judges. They are Justice Hoeben and Justice Ward. Justice Hoeben is Chief Judge at Common Law,^[3] Justice Ward is Chief Judge in Equity.^[3] Hoeben and Ward will on occasion sit as appeal judges from time to time.

The Governor can appoint Acting Judges of Appeal. They have all rights and powers as a Judge of Appeal. There are presently two acting judges of appeal, Arthur Emmett and Carolyn Simpson. Each sit full-time in the Court of Appeal, although will hear primary cases in the Division as the need arises.^[3]

Former Acting Judges of Appeal include Murray Tobias, Ronald Sackville, who was a former Federal Court Judge and is now a Royal Commissioner, and Reginald Barrett.

Name	Title	Term began	Time in office
Tom Bathurst AC	Chief Justice ^[4]	1 June 2011	10 years, 92 days
Andrew Bell	President, Court of Appeal ^[5]	28 February 2019	2 years, 185 days
Clifton Hoeben AM, RFD	Judge of Appeal	23 April 2012	9 years, 131 days
Clifton Hoeben AM, RFD	Chief Judge at Common Law	21 February 2013	8 years, 192 days
Julie Ward	Judge of Appeal	12 November 2012	8 years, 293 days
Julie Ward	Chief Judge in Equity	15 March 2017	4 years, 170 days
John Basten	Judge of Appeal^[3]	2 May 2005	16 years, 122 days
Robert Macfarlan		8 September 2008	12 years, 358 days
Anthony Meagher		10 August 2011	10 years, 22 days
		29 April 2013	8 years, 125 days
Mark Leeming		3 June 2013	8 years, 90 days
		30 March 2016	5 years, 155 days
Richard White		15 March 2017	4 years, 170 days
Paul Brereton AM, RFD		22 August 2018	16 years, 122 days
Lucy McCallum		30 January 2019	2 years, 214 days
Reginald Barrett	Acting Judge of Appeal	16 March 2016	5 years, 169 days
Arthur Emmett		7 March 2013	8 years, 178 days
Carolyn Simpson		30 March 2018	3 years, 155 days

Most judges in the Court of Appeal also sit on the Court of Criminal Appeal in varying degrees of frequency. The Chief Judge at Common Law, Justice Hoeben, and the Chief Judge in Equity, Justice Ward, also sit on the Court of Appeal (and the Court of Criminal Appeal) from time to time.

Presidents of the Court of Appeal[]

Name	Appointment commenced	Appointment ended	Term as President	Comments
Sir Gordon Wallace	1 January 1966	21 January 1970	4 years, 20 days	Retired
Sir Bernard Sugerman	2 January 1970	30 September 1972	2 years, 252 days	Retired
Sir Kenneth Jacobs KBE	1 October 1972	7 February 1974	1 year, 129 days	Appointed to the High Court
Athol Moffitt CMG	8 February 1974	25 June 1984	10 years, 138 days	Retired
Michael Kirby AC CMG	24 September 1984	6 February 1996	11 years, 135 days	Appointed to the High Court
AO	19 February 1996	3 February 1997	350 days	Retired.
Keith Mason AC	4 February 1997	30 May 2008	11 years, 183 days	Retired
James Allsop AO	1 June 2008	28 February 2013	4 years, 272 days	Appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court
Margaret Beazley AO	1 March 2013	27 February 2019	5 years, 363 days	Appointed Governor of NSW
Andrew Bell ^[6]	28 February 2019		2 years, 185 days

References[]

^ "About the Supreme Court". Supreme Court of New South Wales. New South Wales Government. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Kirby, M (2008). "Judicial Supersession: The Controversial Establishment of the New South Wales Court of Appeal". Sydney Law Review. Camperdown: Sydney Law School (30): 177–208.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "Judicial officer contact details". Supreme Court of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
^ Patty, A (13 May 2011). "Tom Bathurst appointed NSW Chief Justice". The Sydney Morning Herald.
^ NSW Department of Justice (23 January 2019). "New President of the NSW Court of Appeal". Justice NSW. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
^ Speakman, M (23 January 2019). "New President of the NSW Court of Appeal" (PDF). NSW Bar Association. Retrieved 23 January 2019.

External links[]

[1] "About the Supreme Court". Supreme Court of New South Wales. New South Wales Government. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2016.

[Kirby-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b Kirby, M (2008). "Judicial Supersession: The Controversial Establishment of the New South Wales Court of Appeal". Sydney Law Review. Camperdown: Sydney Law School (30): 177–208.

[nswccontacts-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "Judicial officer contact details". Supreme Court of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 February 2020.

[4] Patty, A (13 May 2011). "Tom Bathurst appointed NSW Chief Justice". The Sydney Morning Herald.

[5] NSW Department of Justice (23 January 2019). "New President of the NSW Court of Appeal". Justice NSW. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

[6] Speakman, M (23 January 2019). "New President of the NSW Court of Appeal" (PDF). NSW Bar Association. Retrieved 23 January 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]