THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
Attorney-General
Minister for Emergency Management
Special Minister of State
Minister for the Public Service and Integrity
MEDIA RELEASE
FOUR JUDGES APPOINTED TO THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC today announced that four new judges have been appointed to the Federal Court of Australia.
The appointees are:
- The Hon Justice Tony Pagone, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, who will be appointed to the Melbourne Registry, with effect from 21 June 2013
- The Hon Justice Jennifer Davies, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, who will be appointed to the Melbourne Registry, with effect from 4 July 2013
- Ms Debbie Mortimer SC, who will be appointed to the Melbourne Registry, with effect from 12 July 2013, and
- The Hon Justice Richard White, a Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia, who will be appointed to the Adelaide Registry, with effect from 31 August 2013.
I am very pleased to be able to announce these four excellent appointments to the Federal Court, Mr Dreyfus said.
All four appointees come to the Court with a strong commitment to the service of the law and access to justice, and their considerable experience will be a great addition to the Federal Court bench.
Justice Pagone and Justice Davies are currently judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria and Justice White is a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia, and all have made valuable contributions to the rule of law in their respective State jurisdictions.
Ms Mortimer is an experienced Senior Counsel with a long and distinguished career at the Bar.
An advisory panel comprising the Hon Margaret Stone, former Federal Court Judge, Ms Catherine Gale, a former President of the Law Council of Australia and Director of Resolve Conflict, and a senior officer of the Attorney-Generals Department considered candidates for these appointments. The panel recommended all four appointees to the Attorney-General as suitable for appointment to the Federal Court.
Short professional biographies for the appointees follow.
THURSDAY, 13 JUNE 2013
The Hon Justice Tony Pagone
Justice Pagone holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Diploma in Education, and a Bachelor of Laws from Monash University (1976, 1977 and 1979, respectively) and a Master of Law with First Class Honours from the University of Cambridge (1983). Justice Pagone was admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria as a barrister and solicitor in 1980.
From 1980 to 1992, he held various teaching positions as Tutor, Senior Tutor, Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Law at Monash University. He became a barrister in 1985 and was appointed Queens Counsel in 1996.
Justice Pagone has been a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 2007. He was first appointed to the Supreme Court in October 2001 but in June 2002 took up a newly created position of Special Counsel to the Australian Taxation Office, which he held from July 2002 to December 2003. His specialities include tax, commercial law, administrative law and civil rights. Justice Pagone was the judge in charge of the then newly established Commercial Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria between 2009 and 2012.
In 2002, Justice Pagone was made a Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne Law School. From 1992 to 1996 and from 1998 to 2001, he was a member of the Ethics Committee of the Victorian Bar. Between 1992 and 2001, Justice Pagone also held various positions with the Law Council of Australia, including those of Chairman, Business Law Section Executive. He has also been the author and editor of several books and published articles, including his book Tax Avoidance in Australia, published by The Federation Press.
The Hon Justice Jennifer Davies
Justice Davies holds a Bachelor of Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws from Monash University (1978). She was admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria, as a barrister and solicitor, in 1980.
In 1979, she commenced practice at Paveys, articled to Del Bobeff. In 1983, she signed the Victorian Bar Roll and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2004. At the Bar she practised in corporations, revenue, commercial and administrative law. Justice Davies has been a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 2009.
Since 2009, Justice Davies has been Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne, lecturing in taxation law and written advocacy. She was formerly a member of several professional law organisations, including President of the Tax Bar Association, member of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Victorian Bar and Associate Convenor of the Women Barristers Association. Justice Davies organises the commercial law seminars for the legal profession conducted by the Supreme Court of Victoria in conjunction with Monash University, the Law Institute of Victoria and the Victorian Bar.
Ms Debbie Mortimer SC
Ms Mortimer holds a Bachelor of Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) from Monash University (1985 and 1987, respectively). Ms Mortimer was admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria, as a barrister and solicitor, in 1988.
Ms Mortimer was articled to Gordon Goldberg of Goldberg and Window Solicitors, Richmond, Victoria from 1987 to 1988. From 1988 to 1989, she was an Associate to then Justice Brennan, High Court of Australia, later the Chief Justice of the High Court. Ms Mortimer signed the Victorian Bar roll in 1989 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2003. One of the few women with an established High Court practice, Ms Mortimer has undertaken a wide range of cases at the Bar, specialising in administrative and constitutional law, anti-discrimination and extradition.
Ms Mortimer had four years away from the Bar between 1991 and 1994 while her children were young and during that time taught torts, property law and evidence in the Faculty of Law at Monash University. Since 2011, she has been a Senior Fellow, University of Melbourne Law School, teaching in the Masters Program. Ms Mortimer is a regular presenter at academic and professional conferences and is the author of several publications, including co-authoring the student textbook Evidence, published by Butterworths.
Ms Mortimer is a member of a number of professional law associations, and was Chair of the Victorian Bar Human Rights Committee and Chair of the Public Law Section of the Commercial Bar Association for several years.
The Hon Justice Richard White
Justice White holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Adelaide (1976 and 1981, respectively). Justice White was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia in 1977.
From 1977 to 1982, Justice White was a barrister and solicitor with Stanley and Partners, and from 1982 to 2004, a barrister practising from Hanson Chambers. He was appointed Queens Counsel in 1997 and since 2004 has been a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia.
Justice White is Chair of the Supreme Courts Joint Rules Advisory Committee, Chair of the Courts Civil Change and Reform Group, a member of the Courts Special Classification Panel, a member of the Governing Council of the Judicial Conference of Australia and an Associate Member of the Courts Administration Authority of South Australia. He formerly held memberships of a number of professional organisations, including as a member of committees of the Law Council of Australia and the Law Society of South Australia. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice White was a member of the Courts Board of Examiners and the Presiding member of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in South Australia.
