Colleagues,
This is my final President’s Report for 2023. It has been an honour to have served as President of the ABA during this year.
The Outgoing ABA Council for 2023 and Incoming Council for 2024
Likewise, I had the honour to be re-elected as President of the ABA at the beginning of this month. Also re-elected were Róisín Annesley KC as Vice-President, Andrew Muller SC as Treasurer, and Ian Robertson SC as Chair of the Advocacy Training Council. Michael Izzo SC was also elected as a Vice-President. Additionally, a position of Chair of Conferences was created and Sam Hay KC was elected to that position.
The AGM also saw the retirement of Dominic Toomey SC, who has been recently elected as Vice-President of the NSW Bar.
I would like to take this opportunity again to thank all of the Executive for their assistance in the year just gone, and to thank the new Executive for their service.
I would also like to particularly express my thanks to Professor Greg Tolhurst, the CEO of the ABA; Ms Kelsey Rissman, CFO; and Ms Liz Barr, the Executive Assistant, for their great assistance throughout the year.
The retirement of Chief Justice Kiefel and the Swearing-In of Chief Justice Gageler and Justice Beech-Jones
It is always a momentous occasion when there are retirements and appointments on our apex Court. Shortly after my last President’s Report, Chief Justice Kiefel retired, ending her distinguished period on the Court, and Chief Justice Gageler was sworn in. Justice Beech-Jones was sworn in to fill the vacancy created on the Court. Each is an eminent jurist.
I had the privilege to speak at the ceremonial occasions for these three extraordinary judges. A link is attached to this National Brief to each of those speeches.
Joint Conference with the New Zealand Bar Association
Plans are well underway for a conference in New Zealand in August 2024 with the New Zealand Bar Association.
The Cornerstone 2023 conference on the Gold Coast was a great success, and the ABA Council is building towards regular, accessible conferences throughout Australia, but also periodic conferences abroad.
I would urge you to mark the date and attend in Queenstown, New Zealand, if you can.
Best Practice Guidelines
Another of the ABA’s Best Practice Guidelines, entitled Barristers and Meeting the Positive Duty, has been launched. I would encourage you to familiarise yourself with it, and other Best Practice Guidelines as they are released, as they are intended to provide assistance in respect of important areas of practice, calibrated to the conduct of barristers and not necessarily readily available in other formats.
Good wishes for the end of 2023 and the start of 2024
As for some of you, the next few weeks for me is a period of significance as a celebration of Christmas. For many others of you, it will be a period of significance for other religious or cultural reasons. Yet for many others of you, it will be a period of significance simply as providing the opportunity to catch up with friends and family over the extended break.
Whatever the coming holiday period means to you, may I take the opportunity to wish for you and your family that it bring peace, joy and significance to you, and offer my very best wishes to you for 2024.
The Australian Bar Association has announced the election of its executive team for 2023–24.
Peter Dunning KC, former Solicitor-General for Queensland, has been re-elected President of the Australian Bar Association.
Róisín Annesley KC, former President of the Victorian Bar Association, and Michael Izzo SC, Junior Vice-President of the NSW Bar Association, have been elected Vice-Presidents, marking a second term for Róisín Annesley KC. Andrew Muller SC, former President of the ACT Bar Association, has been re-elected as Treasurer.
Ian Robertson SC of the South Australian Bar Association will continue as Chair of the Advocacy Training Council.
At a special general meeting held with the AGM it was resolved to amend the ABA Constitution to inter alia create a position of Chair of Conferences. Sam Hay KC, former President of the Victorian Bar was elected to this new role. The updated ABA Constitution will soon be published on the ABA website.
The non-executive members of the ABA Council for 2023-24 are:
Matt Vickers was the ABA’s IT specialist and was so for well over a decade. Matt worked behind the scenes ensuring all the ABA’s systems operated and were secure. He also wrote the programs for many of the ABA’s systems, the most recent being the new Find a Barrister. He was part of the ABA family. He often dealt directly with members to help them resolve technology related queries and he was calm and patient with us not so technically minded. He also helped the Bar by being part of the NSW Bar Association’s football team. He was also a first-class darts player.
Matt sadly and very suddenly passed away on 22 November. He is survived by his partner Megan and his children Veronica, Jackson, Elyssa and Jake.
Matt was a wonderful colleague and an expert at what he did. He had an ability to make everyone around him relax and laugh while he solved the problem that we were all stressed about. He will be very much missed. Our sincere condolences to Matt’s family and his many friends.
In September 2021 the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SDA) was amended to create a positive duty on a person conducting a business or undertaking to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate, as far as possible, sexual harassment, sex-based harassment, sex discrimination, conduct creating a workplace environment that is hostile on the ground of sex, and related acts of victimisation. The obligations of the positive duty under the SDA commenced on 12 December 2022.
In September 2023, the newly appointed Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Anna Cody, said the legal profession would be among the industries to be examined for compliance with the new duty. From 12 December 2023, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) may exercise its powers to enforce compliance with the positive duty. Barristers come under this positive duty as persons conducting a business or undertaking making it unlawful for barristers to engage in sexual harassment.
To help you comply with the duty the ABA, together with the ABA Diversity and Inclusion Committee, have created a best practice guideline in the form of a checklist to help members work through their obligations as they apply to them and their chambers. The BPG can be found here.
Following the success of our last Trans Tasman conference, the Australian Bar Association and the New Zealand Bar Association will again be holding a joint conference in Queenstown NZ between 16 and 17 of August 2024.
Further details on the program and registration will be forthcoming in early 2024.
The International Council of Advocates and Barristers (ICAB) is excited to announce the 2024 World Bar Conference, bringing together practitioners from across the Common Law world.
Our rules-based legal order – both at the national and international levels – continues to face disruption from factors, advances in technology, geo-political instability and environmental issues, to name just a few.
The question arises: what value do barristers and advocates bring in the face of such challenges? And can our shared legal and ethical compass guide us through these periods of change?
We invite you to the World Bar Conference 2024, where the response to key global challenges will be considered by the collective insights and experiences of recognised experts in discussion with the independent referral Bars from across the globe.
Our goal is to build a community of lawyers finding renewed purpose in response to these core debates.
Registration is now open, but places are limited. Click here for more information and to reserve your place.
The Court has revised the process for the consideration of applications for special leave to appeal and applications for removal. The Court will also change the timing and manner of publication of its decisions in relation to these applications.
Consideration of applications
As is the current practice, all applications will be considered by the Court, in the first instance, on the basis of the written material.
Applications in which the applicant is unrepresented will generally be determined by two Justices. Applications in which the applicant is represented will now generally be determined by all seven Justices.
The Registry will refer applications to the Justices at the commencement of each sitting period. The Justices will meet on the first Monday of the following sitting period to consider the applications and will publish their decisions on the afternoon of the first Thursday of that sitting period.
Publication of dispositions
The decisions of the Court in applications have until now been published by the Justices sitting in court, in the absence of the parties, to pronounce orders and publish the written reasons for their decision (disposition) in each application. From December 2023 the Justices will publish the dispositions on the Court's website rather than in open court. This will streamline the publication process and will ensure that the publication of the Court's decisions is immediate and that the decisions are publicly accessible on the Court's website.
The Court's decisions will be provided to the parties in the usual way, through the Court's Digital Lodgement System, at the same time as they are published on the Court's website. The Registry will continue to publish the results sheet on the day the decisions are published.
Dispositions will continue to be published on the AustLII and Jade BarNet websites.
Applications referred for oral argument
The Justices will ordinarily decide the applications on the papers. In the rare case where the Justices are unable to decide an application on the papers, the application will be referred to a bench of three Justices for oral argument. hearings of applications will in principle be conducted with the parties' legal representatives appearing remotely. Hearings will generally be arranged for the sitting period following the referral for oral argument although some cases may require expedition. The Court will no longer appoint fixed special leave days in the annual Rule of Court.
At the time of notification of the hearing date, the parties will be notified of the issues that are of concern to the Court.
Directions hearing following the grant of special leave or leave to appeal or removal
Where considered appropriate by the Justices, or when requested by a party, a directions hearing will be held before an individual Justice following the grant of special leave or leave to appeal or the removal of proceedings.
Commencement of revised process
The first meeting of the Justices, to consider applications referred in November 2023 sittings, will be held on Monday 4 December 2023, with decisions to be published on Thursday 7 December 2023.
Other matters
Application books
The Justices have amended the High Court Rules 2004 to dispense with the need for the parties to file application books. This will reduce by at least one month the time required for the preparation of applications and their referral to the Court for consideration.
Forms
The form of Application (Forms 17 and 23) and Response (Forms 18 and 23A) will be amended from 1 December 2023 to provide for an indication of special considerations or circumstances in relation to the case. This will bring to the early attention of the Court any case requiring expedition.
These and other recent speeches given at Ceremonial Sittings of the Federal Court of Australia can be found here.
Australian Bar Association announces executive for 2023-24 - 5 December 2023
The West Australian Bar celebrated its 60th anniversary at its Bench and Bar Dinner on Friday 10 November. The event was held at the Art Gallery of WA, and was a glittering evening. Speeches were given by Brahma Dharmananda SC, President of the WA Bar; the Hon. Robert French AC, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia; and Julie Taylor SC, Vice-President of the WA Bar.
The ACT Attorney-General is seeking expressions of interest from qualified individuals for appointment as Director of the Office of Public Prosecutions. Applications close on 14 January 2024. Click here for more information.
