Ceremonial - Bell J - Welcome Sydney

[2009] HCATrans 46

[2009] HCATrans 046

H I G H   C O U R T   O F   A U S T R A L I A

SPECIAL SITTING

WELCOME TO

THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE VIRGINIA BELL

AT

SYDNEY

ON

FRIDAY, 13 MARCH 2009, AT 9.18 AM

BELL J

Speakers:

Ms A. Katzmann, SC, President of the New South Wales Bar Association

Mr J. Catanzariti, President, Law Society of New South Wales

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

HER HONOUR:   Ms Katzmann.

MS KATZMANN:   May it please the Court.

I am delighted to be able to speak today on the occasion of your Honour’s virgin appearance on this Court in Sydney - to welcome you back to the bosom of the Sydney Bar where your illustrious legal career was nurtured.  It only seems like yesterday that you left us, but we rejoice to see you here again. 

There seems to me to be no good purpose at a time like this to repeat the biography or, for that matter, the accolades.  I am sure there is no one in this courtroom who is unaware of them and if such a person exists, the swearing‑in speeches are available on the High Court website.  Suffice it to say that on behalf of the New South Wales Bar, I welcome your Honour back to ‘the emerald city’ in this, your new guise.  I hope that the shock of living in Canberra has now worn off and that your Honour has settled in well to your new digs.

Your Honour has been extremely busy.  In the short time your Honour has sat on this Court, special leave applications aside, you have heard six cases and have delivered already two judgments - both mercifully short and marked by exquisite clarity of expression.  One was a joint judgment.  The other was delivered by your Honour with a resounding chorus of agreement from everyone else on the Bench.  Not a bad start.

I notice that during one recent argument in a court on which your Honour sat, one of our new silks committed the egregious error of referring to Justice McLure of the Western Australian Supreme Court by the male pronoun.  Acutely embarrassed, he beat a hasty retreat, perhaps rescuing himself a little with the comment that in the future there may come a time when errors of this kind are made in what he called ‘the other direction’.  I am certain that, as I do, your Honour looks forward to that time.

Once again, on behalf of the New South Wales Bar, our warmest congratulations.

HER HONOUR:   Thank you, Ms Katzmann.  Yes, Mr Catanzariti.

MR CATANZARITI:   May it please the Court.

Traditionally, Friday the 13th is deemed by some to be an unlucky day - a day when superstitious individuals become paralysed by irrational fears rendering them incapable of conducting any business, driving a motor vehicle or travelling on a plane.  Of course, in your Honour’s case everyday is ‘black Friday’ when it comes to boarding an aeroplane - but I digress.

For Sydneysiders, Friday, March 13, 2009 is an auspicious day; a lucky day and a cause for celebration, as one of our most esteemed and respected legal minds returns to the fold, albeit for a short time.

So it is my delightful duty, on behalf of the solicitors of New South Wales, to welcome your Honour back to Sydney, this time sitting as a Justice of the High Court. 

Your Honour’s recent appointment to the country’s highest Court gave rise to many press articles - and while some level of discernment is usually wise - certain characteristics among the accolades, personal reminiscences and attributions shone through; characteristics that were also highlighted during your Honour’s swearing‑in ceremony last month.  In particular, these articles and accolades cited evidence of your Honour’s tremendous compassion for your fellow person, strong commitment to social justice, sound judgment and an astute intellect that would serve the Court admirably well.

Your Honour has in the past been mindful to demonstrate ‘judicial temperament’ in the carriage of your duties, and to bottle your renowned sense of humour and acerbic wit for matters outside the confines of the courtroom.  I trust the curtailment of this facet of your Honour’s character in your official capacity continues to be given free rein in other quarters.

With your Honour now having had the chance to savour some of the delights of the nation’s capital, no doubt you are familiar with all the tourist attractions, including those within the parliamentary triangle - such as the ubiquitous State Circle where many hapless motorists succumb to countless laps before discovering the elusive exit. 

Perhaps in a spare hour or six your Honour has also had the opportunity to traverse Clyde Mountain to indulge in coastal pursuits and relax on the beach while devouring such delights as “Contingent Remainders in a Nutshell”.  Given that your Honour is undoubtedly still trying to find her ‘sea legs’ during the settling in period, I doubt your Honour has had the luxury of indulging in any such pursuits.

Here in Sydney your Honour can enjoy the proximity of all the attractions, both onshore and off, perhaps even venture a return visit to the Glebe Supper Club where I have it on great authority that your physical presence, witty repartee and artistic directions are sorely missed. 

Late last year your Honour delivered the annual address for the New South Wales Law and Justice Foundation where you commented that “the only thing the public asks of serving judges is that they express no views on any topic of controversy and generally contrive to be dull”.

In your Honour’s case, the latter statement in particular holds no credence.  Contrive as you may, your Honour could never be considered ‘dull’.

As the fourth female to sit on the High Court Bench, your Honour now treads the boards of a new stage, the same stage on which Mary Gaudron played the leading role when she became Australia’s first female High Court Judge in 1987.

May your journey be rewarding, fulfilling and enlightening and your judicial knowledge and experience continue to provide exemplary service in promoting social justice for all.

The Law Society of New South Wales looks forward to serving your Honour when you next sit in Sydney.

As the Court pleases.

HER HONOUR:   Thank you.  I would like to thank both the speakers for their very kind remarks.

Mr Catanzariti, I hope you will excuse me if I address much of my response to Ms Katzmann.  I do so because on this occasion of being welcomed to Sydney, an event that has a slightly surreal quality to it, it is hard for me not to be struck by the respects in which our profession has changed over the course of Ms Katzmann’s and my professional lives.  There is for both of us, I suspect, a certain piquancy that on this, the first occasion that I sit in Sydney as a member of this Court, I am welcomed by Ms Katzmann as President of its New South Wales Bar.

I recall an occasion some years ago when she and I were opposed in a hard‑fought matter before the Redfern Court of Petty Sessions, as it then was, before Magistrate Schreiner.  At the time it was notable that both of our clients had the discernment to elect to be represented by women advocates.  It was equally notable that Magistrate Schreiner was one of the very few women judicial officers in New South Wales at that time.  It is good that such an event is today commonplace.

The first time the Court of Criminal Appeal was constituted by an all women Bench - Justices Beazley, Simpson and myself - it made headlines throughout Australia and abroad.  The last time that court was constituted by an all women Bench - Justices Latham, Fullerton and myself - there was no comment; at least not within our earshot. 

The changing face of our profession is very evident on this occasion and I cannot help but remark on it and say what a pleasure it is that Ms Katzmann speaks today on behalf of the Bar, just as it was a pleasure that she spoke on behalf of the Bar at my swearing‑in in Canberra in February of this year and what a pleasure it was that former Magistrate Schreiner was present on that occasion.

The honour of sitting as a member of this Court is one of which I am deeply conscious.  The work of the Court reflects in large measure the high standard of advocacy and the preparation of cases that proceed before it.  On an occasion such as this it is nice to be able to acknowledge that fact and, without slipping into unseemly parochialism, to observe that the New South Wales Bar and the solicitors of New South Wales enjoy a deservedly high reputation for the quality of their work.

The first time I attended the High Court it was to watch a case being argued before the Full Court sitting in what is now the No 7 Court at Darlinghurst.  The conditions were somewhat cramped for those of us in the public gallery and, from what I could discern, for those on the Bench.  There could be no such complaint in this splendid and light‑suffused, new home for the Court here in Sydney.

I thank you all for your attendance here today.  I am honoured by your presence, Mr Hughes.  I am honoured by the presence of Former Judge Flannery, before whom I first appeared in my first criminal trial and I thank him for his attendance.  I thank you all for your attendance here today.

Having been a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales for just on 10 years, there is a curious aspect to being welcomed to Sydney, but still, I am enough of a Sydneysider to understand that when one takes up lodgings, even temporarily in Kingston, one might expect a frosty welcome.  I am very grateful for the warmth that has been exhibited here today.

The Court will now adjourn.

AT 9.28 AM THE MATTER WAS ADJOURNED