Login
Retirement age of judges should be raised, argues WA Law Society
The age of required retirement for judges across the country should be raised to be more than 70 years old, according to the WA Law Society president.
Lauren Croft
The president of the Law Society of Western Australia Rebecca Lee said that it is time to reconsider the age at which judges are required to retire – since it was originally chosen over four decades ago.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
In 1977, a mandatory retirement age for Federal Court judges was introduced after a referendum overwhelmingly ruled in favour but, 44 years later, the Law Society has argued that it’s time for the age to be raised.
Ms Lee said that since the age was first mandated, societal norms, medical knowledge and life expectancy have evolved significantly. In 1977, less than 5 per cent of Australians aged 70-74 participated in the labour force compared to today’s 15 per cent.
“His honour Justice Le Miere is only the latest prime example of a judge who could continue to provide years of valuable service to the state and people of Western Australia, if not forced to retire by reason of attaining an arbitrary age,” she said.
Many retired judges still continue to work in both public and private capacity: Chief Justice Robert French AC is a university chancellor and Justice Michael Kirby is president of a UN Inquiry into North Korean Human Rights Abuses.
The Law Society referenced a speech the Honourable Justice Wayne Martin made when farewelling the Honourable Justice EM Heenan from the Supreme Court bench in June 2015, who said that “a lot has changed in the 78 years since [the Judges Retirement Act 1937] was enacted, including changes in life expectancy”.
“A male born in Western Australia in 1971, who might now be a judge of the court, has a life expectancy of 68 years or 22 years greater than a person likely to have been a judge in 1937 when the retirement age was set,” Justice Martin said.
“A compulsory retirement age set at 70 in this day and age is oftentimes denying the people of Western Australia the continued benefit of a judge’s acquired knowledge on the bench and a willingness to commit themselves to the hard work of delivering justice in the state. As such, raising the compulsory retirement age to 75, as has been suggested, is worthy of consideration.”
This follows the official retirement of 17th NSW Supreme Court Chief Justice, the Honourable Tom Bathurst, whom the NSW Law Society farewelled on Monday (28 February).
