Login
Supreme Court judge retires after decades of service
After an impressive career in the legal profession spanning decades, the Honourable Justice Walter Sofronoff has retired from his position as president of the Court of Appeal and as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland.
Adrian Suljanovic
Justice Sofronoff began his career in 1978 after being admitted as a barrister a year prior, after which he was appointed Queen’s counsel in 1988, practising primarily in commercial, property and family law matters.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Since then, Justice Sofronoff has appeared in the Supreme Court, Family Court, Federal Court and High Court of Australia. In the last 20 years, Justice Sofronoff served as president of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal from 2001 until 2005, the commissioner of the Grantham Floods Commission of Inquiry in 2015, and served as a member of the University of Queensland Law School Advisory Board in 2014.
Attorney-General of Queensland, Shannon Fentiman, praised Justice Sofronoff’s career.
“A brilliant legal mind and a person of exceptional character and integrity, Justice Sofronoff has demonstrated his dedication to maintaining a strong and independent judiciary in our state.
“I would like to thank his honour for his service to the people of Queensland, through his outstanding contribution to our courts and in his former role as solicitor-general,” she stated.
Justice Debra Mullins AO has replaced Justice Sofronoff’s position as the new president of the Queensland Court of Appeal as of 21 May 2022. She has served as a Supreme Court judge for 20 years and was appointed to the Court of Appeal in January 2020.
Referring to Justice Mullins as “highly distinguished”, Attorney-General Fentiman added: “Justice Mullins has been regularly awarded and lauded for her outstanding work over a long period of time and richly deserves her appointment as president of the Court of Appeal.”
Justice Jean Dalton and Justice Peter Flanagan are set to join Justice Mullins in the Court of Appeal, with Justice Dalton already beginning her service as of 21 May 2022. Justice Flanagan will be replacing a retiring Justice Hugh Fraser on 16 July 2022.
