Murray Gleeson | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gleeson in 2006 | |||||||||
| Chief Justice of Australia | |||||||||
| In office 22 May 1998 – 29 August 2008 | |||||||||
| Nominated by | John Howard | ||||||||
| Appointed by | SirWilliam Deane | ||||||||
| Preceded by | SirGerard Brennan | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Robert French | ||||||||
| Chief Justice of New South Wales | |||||||||
| In office 2 November 1988 – 21 May 1998 | |||||||||
| Nominated by | Nick Greiner | ||||||||
| Appointed by | SirJames Rowland | ||||||||
| Preceded by | SirLaurence Street | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | James Spigelman | ||||||||
| Non-Permanent Judge of theCourt of Final Appeal of Hong Kong | |||||||||
| In office 1 March 2009 – 29 February 2024 | |||||||||
| Appointed by | Donald Tsang | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | (1938-08-30)30 August 1938 (age 87) Wingham, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||
| Nationality |  Australia | ||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||
| Children | 4, includingJacqueline | ||||||||
| Relatives | Eric Bana (son-in-law) | ||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Sydney | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Chinese | 紀立信 | ||||||||
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Anthony Murray GleesonACGBS KC (born 30 August 1938) is an Australian former judge who served as the 11thChief Justice of Australia, in office from 1998 to 2008.
Gleeson was born inWingham, New South Wales, and studied law at theUniversity of Sydney. He was admitted to theNew South Wales Bar in 1963 and appointedQueen's Counsel in 1974, becoming one of the state's leading barristers. Gleeson was appointedChief Justice of New South Wales in 1988, serving until his elevation to theHigh Court in 1998. He andSamuel Griffith (appointed 1903) are the only people to have been elevated directly from the chief justiceship of a state to the chief justiceship of the High Court. As required by the constitution, he retired from the court when he reached his 70th birthday.
In October 2020, Prime MinisterScott Morrison announced that Gleeson's daughter,Jacqueline Gleeson, will be elevated to the High Court following the retirement of JusticeVirginia Bell.[1]
Gleeson was born inWingham, New South Wales, the eldest of four children. He was educated atSt. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, where he won theLawrence Campbell Oratory Competition in both 1953 and 1955, before matriculating to receive first class honours degrees in Arts and Law from theUniversity of Sydney. Among his graduating class of 1962 wereJohn Howard, later to becomePrime Minister; andMichael Kirby, who later served alongside him as a judge on theHigh Court.[2]
After graduation, Gleeson spent one year as a solicitor at Messrs Murphy & Moloney. Gleeson was admitted to theNew South Wales Bar in 1963, where he read withLaurence Street andAnthony Mason - his future predecessors as Chief Justice of New South Wales and Chief Justice of Australia respectively.
His appearances as junior counsel focussed mainly on matters of taxation and commercial law, as well as important constitutional cases includingStrickland v Rocla Concrete Pipes Ltd, which concerned the scope of thecorporations power.
Upon his appointment asQueen's Counsel (QC) in 1974, Gleeson's career as senior counsel continued to focus on commercial and constitutional matters. However he also appeared in some high-profile criminal cases, including his successful defence before a jury ofNational Party MPIan Sinclair in 1980.[3] In the same year he appeared for the appellants inPort Jackson Stevedoring v Salmond & Spraggon, the last case granted leave to appeal to thePrivy Council from the High Court.[3] In 1981 he appeared for former Prime MinisterSir William McMahon inEvans v Crichton-Browne, excluding the rhetoric of electoral advertising from judicial scrutiny under the CommonwealthElectoral Act 1918.[3] Gleeson was President of the New South Wales Bar Association 1984–1985.
He was a methodical counsel, who prepared his cases and even his cross examinations in minute detail. Retired Justice of AppealRoddy Meagher said jokingly of Gleeson: "He has written nothing outside his professional work. He takes no interest in either music or art. He does, however, like flowers. He stares at them to make them wilt."[4]
Gleeson was appointedChief Justice of New South Wales in 1988, the first barrister to be directly elevated to the Chief Justiceship sinceFrederick Jordan in 1934.[3] According to convention, he was also madeLieutenant Governor of New South Wales in 1989. During Gleeson's decade as Chief Justice of New South Wales, the court system dealt with considerable change including fast growing demand, cost constraints and delays. He sought to delineate appropriate boundaries for the political debate surrounding litigation, and was adamant that the proper administration of justice was a part of civilised government and not a free market privilege.[3]
The tradition of the Chief Justice frequently appearing in the Court of Criminal Appeal was continued under Gleeson's tenure. In this role, he appeared as a judge inR v Birks, where it was found a trial counsel's proved incompetence was a ground of appeal, andAttorney-General (NSW) v Milat, where an indigent accused was found to be entitled to legal representation as a basic requirement of fairness in a serious legal trial.[3]
Gleeson also frequently presided in the Court of Appeal, a forum more suited to his expertise in administrative, commercial, and constitutional law. In 1992, he presided overGreiner v Independent Commission Against Corruption, which exoneratedNick Greiner from charges of corruption, although Greiner was forced to resign as Premier months earlier by independents who controlled the balance of power in theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly. Other notable cases includeBallina Shire Council v Ringland, where he endorsed the constitutionally implied right to freedom of political communication and concluded that councillors could not sue for defamation on statements about their performance, andEgan v Willis where theNew South Wales Legislative Council was found to be empowered to compel the treasurerMichael Egan (then a member of the Legislative Council) to produce documents and to suspend him for non-compliance. InEgan v Chadwick, this power was found to be not limited bylegal professional privilege.
In May 1998, Gleeson was appointed Chief Justice of theHigh Court of Australia, replacing SirGerard Brennan. He was the first Chief Justice of a state supreme court to be appointed Chief Justice of the High Court sinceSamuel Griffith, whose own state Chief Justiceship preceded the formation of the High Court.[3] He is also the first Chief Justice not to have been made aknight (however, Australia had ceased the practice of awarding knighthoods some years previously). During his tenure as Chief Justice, Gleeson actively maintained the importance of judicial independence in the face of increasing executive government power and public anger with court decisions. He also spoke out against the use of torture, forced confessions and detention without trial.[5][6]
His tenure as Chief Justice was also characterised by a large number of joint judgments, and a relatively frequent number of judgments that clearly and plainly provide the Court'sratio decidendi.[3] In 2020, at least six former associates ofDyson Heydon, another member of the bench led by Murray Gleeson, accused Heydon of sexual harassment, and one alleged that another judge,Michael McHugh had told Murray Gleeson about one of alleged acts.[7]
On 30 July 2008, it was announced thatFederal Court justiceRobert French would succeed Gleeson as Chief Justice. In accordance with theAustralian Constitution, he retired from the High Court on 29 August 2008, the day before his 70th birthday. The occasion was marked by a ceremonial sitting of the High Court in Canberra.
On 7 November 2008, Gleeson was appointed a non-permanent judge of theCourt of Final Appeal of theHong Kong Special Administrative Region and served until 29 February 2024. He was given a Chinese name, "紀立信" (Jyutping:gei2lap6seon3) by theHong Kong Judiciary.[8]
He married Robyn Paterson in 1965, and the couple have four children. Their eldest daughter,Jacqueline, was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Australia in 2014, after practising law as a barrister at the Sydney Bar and as general counsel of the Australian Broadcasting Authority.[14] In October 2020, she was appointed to theHigh Court of Australia by Prime MinisterScott Morrison.[1] Another daughter, Rebecca, is married to actorEric Bana.[15]
In September 2006,The Australian Financial Review magazine named Gleeson Australia's seventh most overtly powerful person.[16]
justice Anthony Murray Gleeson of the Court of Final Appeal
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief Justice of New South Wales 1988–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Justice of Australia 1998–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales 1989–1998 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
