A Judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia has been appointed as an acting Judge of the New South Wales Court of Appeal for a 12-month period. The Hon Justice David Ipp takes up his appointment on 29 January, 2001.
His landmark appointment is the first long-term judicial exchange between Western Australia and another Australian state.
The Hon David Malcolm AC, Chief Justice of Western Australia, said today that the idea of judicial exchanges had been discussed at the Council of Chief Justices, with support from the Attorneys-General, for almost a decade.
"The aim of such an exchange is to broaden judicial experience and to encourage uniformity in judicial approach. It also exposes judges to practical experience in procedural innovations that may have been introduced in other jurisdictions," he said.
The concept of a judicial exchange required an amendment to the Supreme Court Act, introduced in 1996, to allow an acting Judge from another state to sit on the WA bench. Similar amendments have been introduced in other states.
Earlier this year, Chief Justice David Malcolm was appointed as an acting Judge of the NSW Court of Appeal for four weeks to preside over a major appeal in that court. While the Chief Justice was away, a NSW judge, Justice Simon Sheller, sat as a member of WA's Full Court and Court of Criminal Appeal. Similar exchanges have also taken place between NSW and the Northern Territory.
Justice Ipp was appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 31 July 1989. He is the Judge in charge of the Court's Civil List and is a member of the Committee considering the possible establishment of a Court of Appeal Division in the Supreme Court.
During his absence, his place will be filled by a series of short-term appointments, either acting Judges from NSW or auxiliary Judges from among retired Western Australian Judges.
"This arrangement has been made possible with the cooperation, support and agreement of the Attorneys-General for Western Australia and New South Wales," Chief Justice Malcolm said.
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