Gleeson CJ - Welcome Sydney CER

This matter concerns the welcome extended to the Honourable Chief Justice Gleeson AC upon his first sitting in Sydney as Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. The welcome was delivered by the Attorney-General for New South Wales, Mr R.K. Shaw QC, on behalf of the Bar of New South Wales, and by Mr R.K. Heinrich, President of the Law Society of New South Wales, on behalf of the solicitors of New South Wales. The proceedings were a formal address and response, not a hearing of a legal dispute between parties.

The central issue was the formal acknowledgement and welcome of the new Chief Justice to his role. The addresses highlighted the significance of his appointment, his distinguished career as Chief Justice of New South Wales, and the positive reception of his elevation to the nation's highest judicial office. The legal issues, therefore, were not substantive legal questions to be determined by the court, but rather the symbolic and practical importance of the relationship between the judiciary and the practising legal profession.

In his response, Chief Justice Gleeson acknowledged the importance of the welcome as a reflection of the relationship between the High Court and the practising profession. He emphasised two key strengths of the Australian judicial system: the experience of judges as legal practitioners, providing them with an "inside" understanding of litigation and the adversarial system, and the Court's reliance on legal practitioners to present strong arguments, thereby assisting the decision-making process. He stressed that despite the pressures of judicial business, judges actively engage with and consider the arguments presented by counsel.