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4 new judges, 10 new magistrates, 10 new VCAT members appointed
The Victorian Government has named a new judge for the Court of Appeal, three new County Court judges, 10 appointees to the state’s Magistrates Court, and 10 new members of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
Jerome Doraisamy
Supreme Court Judge, Leslie Taylor, has been appointed to the Court of Appeal, filling the vacancy arising from the elevation of Justice Karin Emerton to President of the Court of Appeal.
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Justice Taylor was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2018, prior to which Her Honour practised as a lawyer for 25 years, including 20 years as a barrister at the Victorian Bar, where she took silk in 2011.
The state government has also appointed Aine Magee KC, Barbara Myers KC and John Kelly SC, all of the Victorian Bar, to the Victorian County Court.
The judges will fill vacancies from the retirements of Judges William Stuart, Robert Dyer and Phillip Coish.
The Magistrate’s Court of Victoria has also been bolstered with the appointment of 10 new magistrates: Belinda Franjic, a barrister at the Victorian Bar; Heather Lambrick, a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal member; Megan Casey, a barrister at the Victorian Bar; Vincenzo Caltabiano, a director at Tasmania Legal Aid; Malcolm Thomas, a barrister at the Victorian Bar; Kathryn Fawcett, a Judicial Registrar of the Magistrates Court; Andrew Sim, a barrister at the Victorian Bar; Natalie Heynes, a lawyer at Victoria Legal Aid; Leon Fluxman, a Managing Principal Solicitor at the Office of Public Prosecutions; and Jarrod Williams, a barrister at the Victorian Bar.
Speaking about the new judicial appointees, Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes (pictured) said that each of the new judges and appointees “bring diverse experience and a strong commitment to serving the Victorian public”.
“I would also like to thank Judges William Stuart, Robert Dyer and Phillip Coish for their significant contributions and dedicated service to the County Court of Victoria,” she said.
Elsewhere, VCAT has received a boost with the appointment of 10 new tribunal members, to help to reduce the ongoing backlog and help in resolving a large number of disputes each year.
The appointees are: Peter Cole, a senior civil engineer; Gregory Brock, an adjudicator and member of the Torture Claims Appeal Board and Non-Refoulement Office of Hong Kong; Rea Condoleon, a principal member of the Refugee Status Review Tribunal in Nauru; Richard Curie, a senior lawyer and consultant mediator; Jennifer Ellis, a sessional legal member of the Mental Health Tribunal; Filip Gelev, a member of the Torture Claims Appeal Board and Non-Refoulement Office of Hong Kong, Nauru Refugee Status Review Tribunal and a supervising lawyer at Refugee Legal; Jennifer Holdstock, a founding principal at Holdstock Law; Diane Hubble, a member of the National Sports Tribunal and a principal decision maker in the Practitioner Discipline Unit of the Victorian Building Authority; Donald Lucas, a member of the Hong Kong Torture Claims Appeal Board and Non-Refoulement Office and a principal of Lucas Australian Migration Consulting; and John Vestakis, a certified land valuer.
Attorney-General Symes said: “We’re continuing to invest in our justice system to ensure every Victorian fair, efficient and affordable access to a fair trial.”
“I look forward to seeing the strong and positive contribution these appointments make to VCAT — ensuring Victorians can access our justice system in a timely manner,” she said.
