Ceremonial Sitting for the Welcome to Chief Federal Magistrate Pascoe, Federal Magistrate Emmett, Federal Magistrate Lloyd-Jones, Federal Magistrate Smith, Federal Magistrate Mowbray
TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
LAW COURTS BUILDING, QUEENS SQUARE, SYDNEY
MONDAY 23 AUGUST 2004, AT 4.30PM, COURT: NO 21A
PASCOE CFM: Mr Attorney?
MR RUDDOCK: May it please the Court, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government and the people of Australia it is my great pleasure and privilege to be here today at this special sitting of the Federal Magistrates Court to welcome to the bench of the Court, Chief Federal Magistrate John Pascoe and Federal Magistrates Sylvia Emmett, Michael Lloyd-Jones, Matthew Smith and Burt Mowbray.
Before I say a few words about each of the new Magistrates I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge what I believe is the outstanding success of the Federal Magistrates Court since it first commenced operation in the year 2000. The Court has no doubt been instrumental in providing Australians with improved access to justice. The Court is providing a quick and more accessible forum for litigants in less complex civil law disputes and this, of course, enables the Federal Court and the Family Court of Australia to focus on the more difficult and lengthy matters that are before them.
In just four years the Court has nearly doubled in size and from its initial complement of 16 magistrates the Court has now 31 magistrates. In the Court's first year of operations in 2000/2001 it received around about 34,000 family law applications including applications for divorce. In the year 2003/2004 the family law workload was around about 68,500 applications. In the general federal law area the Court's workload has increased from around 2300 applications in its first year to around 6700 last year. I have no doubt that the new Chief Federal Magistrate and the eight other recently appointed magistrates will make a significant contribution to the continued success of the Court.
Let me first congratulate the new Chief Federal Magistrate, John Pascoe, on his appointment. Your Honour's highly distinguished career in law and management made you an exceptional candidate for appointment as Chief Federal Magistrate. Your appointment is a tribute to your experience and skills and also your many fine personal qualities. Your Honour is a graduate of the Australian National University. At university your Honour displayed the work ethic for which you are now well known and you graduated in 1971 with an arts degree and an honours degree in law.
In studying for your arts degree your Honour undertook a number of courses in Asian studies and in your legal studies you focussed in the area of commercial law. Upon your graduation your Honour was admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales in 1972 and commenced work in Sydney with the firm of Stephens Jaques and Stephen, now
Mallison and Stephen Jaques. You were made a partner the very next year in 1973 and you continued in that role until 1982. Your Honour then commenced your business career in earnest. Your Honour was appointed an associate member of the Trade Practices Commission in 1983, an appointment you held until 1989.
In 1985 your Honour became Chief Executive Officer of George Westons Foods. Your Honour had been a director of the company since 1981 and also held office as Deputy Chairman of the Bard while Chief Executive Officer. Your Honour's long association with George Westons Foods continued after you stood down as Chief Executive in 1999 and you were appointed non-Executive Chairman. In the year 2001 your Honour became Managing Director of the Insurance and Risk Management Division of Phillips Fox, a position you held until July this year.
Your Honour has been a leader in corporate governance holding positions on boards of iconic Australian companies such as Qantas. Your Honour has also played an important role in the governance of important public organisations. These include Centrelink where you were Chairman for an extended period, and the University of New South Wales where you are Deputy Chancellor. Throughout your Honour's distinguished career in the legal and corporate worlds you have gained a reputation of combining high levels of legal and business skills and acumen with equal measures of professionalism, integrity and humanity. You have also found time to be involved with such organisations as the New South Wales Cancer Council, The Sydney Opera House Trust, The Royal Alexandria Hospital for Children and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme. The sterling work that you have done with these organisations over the years speaks volumes for your character, your compassion for others and your priorities.
Your Honour's contribution tot he public good has been officially recognised on a number of occasions. Your Honour was made a member of the general division of the Order of Australia in 1994 and then made an officer of the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2002. Your Honour can be justifiably proud of these prestigious awards and the service that they recognise. The Australian community is indeed fortunate to have a person of your skill, experience and understanding to serve in the role of Chief Federal Magistrate and I wish your Honour well.
I would also like to take this opportunity, publicly, to congratulate the eight new Federal Magistrates who were appointed in June. While, unfortunately, I will not have the opportunity to welcome each of them I would like to place on the public record the Government's pleasure in being in a position to appoint eight such able people to the bench.
Fortunately, we do have the opportunity to welcome four of the new magistrates today. Firstly, may I congratulate Federal Magistrate Sylvia Emmett on your appointment. Your Honour comes to this Court with several years experience as a Magistrate in the New South Wales Local Court. Prior to being appointed to the New South Wales Court your Honour practised at the Sydney Bar for a number of years in civil matters. Your Honour brings to the Court a unique blend of experiences which I am sure will be of assistance in your new and challenging role.
May I also welcome Federal Magistrate Michael Lloyd-Jones. Your Honour has had a distinguished career providing high level legal advice in the corporate world, most recently as general counsel to the Seven Television Network. Before taking up the law your Honour worked in information technology and as an industrial chemist. Your Honour therefore brings a valuable range of legal and other experience to the bench.
Next, welcome to Federal Magistrate Matthew Smith. Your Honour's legal career began in very illustrious company. For some 18 months your Honour was associate to Sir Garfield Barwick during his time as Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. For over 20 years your Honour has practised at the Sydney Bar and you are acknowledged expert in the area of administrative law. Your experience and expertise will be a very valuable contribution to the Federal Magistrates Court.
I would now like to welcome Federal Magistrate Burt Mowbray. Your Honour has most recently been a member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Canberra. Before taking up that appointment your Honour was for many years the general counsel specialising in immigration matters with the Australian Government Solicitor. In that sense I can testify to your frequently representing a particularly demanding department during this period. Your Honour is a fine lawyer whose experience and skill will be of great benefit to the court. Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion on behalf of the Australian Government and the people of Australia, I would like to extend to your Honours, congratulations and best wishes on your appointments, may I wish your Honours well, may it please the court.
PASCOE CFM: Mr Harrison?
MR HARRISON: If the court pleases. It gives me great pleasure on behalf of the Australian Bar Association and the New South Wales Bar Association to appear before your Honours today on this auspicious ceremonial sitting of the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia. As the then Federal Attorney-General said in his address to the court before the original ceremonial sitting on 26 June 2000, this court was the first new court in the Commonwealth sphere for 25 years. As we gather here today we are now armed with the benefit of being able to look over four years of the operation of this court and to be able to know and understand more accurately the impact which this court has had on the administration of justice in this country.
Those who conceived this court saw it, rightly so, as an opportunity to rectify both entrenched and emerging difficulties for litigants before the superior courts. Access to justice includes the ability of a nation or a state to provide a mechanism for the quick and efficient and economical disposition of disputes without compromising either natural justice or the significant wisdom that informs what often to lay people, appear to be unnecessarily complicated rules relating to the admissibility of evidence.
Conciliation, counselling and mediation have been strongly encouraged in this court in appropriate cases, to the extent that it is possible, self determination of disputes has been handed to litigants where this has been a practical alternative. All of these insights and others, involve the very real notion that satisfaction in the outcome of judicial proceedings is closely aligned with a feeling of true involvement and the expectation for litigants that they are going to be given a fair go.
The courts and the legal profession have not always been astute to understand the need to satisfy litigants as consumers of the legal system, that it has treated them as well and fairly as it might. This is not to be confused with the notion that everyone wins a prize because the nature of entrenched and bitter litigation, particularly in circumstances arising out of the breakdown of personal and family relations can often not have a generally satisfactory outcome. To the extent that it is possible, even to approach finding a solution to dissatisfaction with an often cumbersome legal system, this court stands in the front line of movement for change.
The magistrates of this court in the short time available to them, have forged an admirable reputation, there is a detectable energy in this court and an overwhelming sense of goodwill. If this court was an experiment it has succeeded wildly, your Honour, the Chief Magistrate in particular, is to be congratulated for this. It is also particularly pleasing for me at a personal level to observe that one of the new magistrates started school with me at Normanhurst Boys High School in 1963 where we remained until 1968. I am also to say that we both look exactly the same.
May I commend the court and its members for tackling difficult problems in difficult times, the importance of the majesty of the law should never be underestimated, it should never permitted however, to resemble intimidation or to create confusion. This court is entitled to be proud of its short record and on behalf of the Australian Bar Association and in particular, on behalf of those who practise regularly in this court, may I wish you more strength to your judicial arm. May it please the court.
PASCOE CFM: Mr Benjamin?
MR BENJAMIN: May it please the court, it was from very modest beginnings that the Federal Magistrates Court has developed. The first two appointments to the court were the CEO Peter May and the then Chief Federal Magistrate, Diana Bryant and I observe that they are both here in court today. I believe that for a while it was just the two of them, an empty office space and a few pens, my how you have grown. In 2000 at the time of the court's first sittings there were some 16 magistrates and by the end of this year there will be 31.
At a period where there have been contractions in other areas of the law and certainly, reductions in court sittings, the Federal Magistrates Court has grown. The community need for a summary Federal Court is well and truly evidenced. This fact has been remarked upon by others more prominent than myself. In 2003 the Chief Justice of the High Court, Murray Gleeson, I quote:
The service deals with shorter and simpler matters in Federal jurisdictions and in the short time since it was created, it has become even more apparent that there is a great deal of work suitable for its attention. I expect that in time it will become one of Australia's largest courts.
An increasing amount of my own work is conducted in this court and that is a trend I am pleased to observe, for this is a less formal forum offering timely and inexpensive access to justice, a simple example illustrates this point: I recently had a straightforward family law financial matter on which the parties were poles apart and could not settle. They are tried alternative dispute resolution but were unable to find a negotiated settlement. We filed an application in the court at the end of March this year, interim maintenance was determined in May and the matter was heard and finalised in the first week of July, a little more than three months the total resolution.
In this case the parties needed a determination and it was provided by this court in a timely and cost effective and might I add, a just way. Over half of all migration matters in Australia are not determined in the Federal Magistrates Court, more than 40 per cent of family law, childrens' and property applications are completed here indeed, approximately 80 per cent of the court's work load is in the area of family law.
In the year 2003/2004 I am told the court received 81,000 family law applications, many of those are applications for divorce. The court has fine systems to allow those whose marriages have come to an end, to give legal effect to the existing state of affairs where separations have occurred a year or years before, this includes the availability from the court's web site to inter actively down loan their applications and provides a valuable service to the community, particularly those who live outside the major cities.
As a practitioner concerned about the financial and emotional stress of legal proceedings on my clients, the less formal and summary nature of this court and its processes are extraordinarily attractive. Not many jurisdictions I might add, can boast the following letters from users and I quote:
Dear Federal Magistrate, yesterday I came before you seeking a legal end to my marriage, it was a difficult day for me and I much appreciated your empathy during the hearing. It was a much more difficult experience than I had anticipated, your smile, gentle approach to proceedings and good wishes at the conclusion eased the pain of the occasion. I wanted to send you a few words of thanks because for me what you did during those few minutes did make a difference.
And yet another:
This is a small thank you for the warm way you put everyone at ease for their divorce hearing yesterday afternoon. I greatly appreciated your manner towards us, as it did much to make the distressing act much easier.
Of course, it is in the nature of a court dealing with disputes that not everyone goes away satisfied. One self-represented litigant less than happy with the Federal Magistrate inquired of the magistrate, "Can I sue you?" The magistrate responded, "No, I am indemnified by the Commonwealth." Clearly the court has an educative role as well. The informality of the court to which I referred earlier, has allowed for situation which I suspect we may never see in superior courts, one involved a woman who was giving evidence when her baby began to cry, no one was able to pacify the infant. The Federal Magistrate demonstrating a keen understanding of the paternal role, asked that the baby be given to the mother whereupon she began breast feeding, calm was returned to the court, "That's a first," quipped that particular magistrate.
However, make no mistake, the informal style of the court does not translate into a leisured attitude to work or law. The Federal Magistrates are know for their tireless approach to getting the job done. It is not uncommon for magistrates to sit until very late until that matter is heard.
Again, during the last financial year over a thousand written judgments were delivered, many of which were reserved. So instead of a few pens and one other person accompanying, this is a bustling court that our new Chief Federal Magistrate, John Pascoe, heads, a court that is, if I may say, in tip-top form, as in the bread, that is.
As the Attorney observed, your Honour held the position of Managing Director and then Chairman of the Board of George Weston Foods before joining Phillips Fox. I'm told by your colleagues that you had the habit upon addressing management issues at the law firm to compare the two businesses: the provision of legal services again the flogging of bread; as one ex-colleague put it, comparing one form of dough with another.
As a busy partner of the firm your attendance at meetings was always a challenge, however those entering the meeting would know that you will attend if your signature oversized cup and saucer was on the table with a pot of green tea by the side. They knew you would be an appointment at that meeting.
Often, when you couldn't get to meetings you would give what I understand are excellent excuses. "We'd expect him to come," said one of your colleagues, "and then at the last minute his personal assistant would appear and say that he was in Prince Edward on a flight to the West Indies." Well, you can't quibble with that. It sure beats the mundane excuse of a train delay, which is all most of us at our disposal. I might add that yours was a completely authentic reason, should anyone be wondering about the veracity of a new Chief Federal Magistrate. As one of the international governors at the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme your Honour was obliged to travel to London a couple of times a year.
Your Honour, your colleagues at Phillips Fox will miss you greatly. They speak of your terrific committee work, your care and attention for problems of the partners, your calm, your inspiration, and your leadership, qualities which you'll now bring to this court.
I know that this occasion is for remarks to be directed to the court rather than individual magistrates, however I will take the occasion to wish them well on the start of their new careers, and in particular I would like to make mention of one appointee whom I understand has not yet been formally sworn in.
Robyn Sexton is a member of the Family Law Committee of the Law Society of New South Wales, a committee which I have the honour to chair. Robyn is a fine lawyer. She is held in high regard by those who practise in that area, and she is a great loss to the profession and frankly a great gain for the court. She has been a good contributor, a very effective contributor to the Family Law Committee, and has served upon it for quite some time. What I did learn, your Honour, was that she knows how to keep a secret. In spite of the lengthy period we have been colleagues, when I asked her some weeks ago whom she thought might get one of these appointments, she replied, "I'm not sure. What do you think?" She is indeed a dark horse.
Now we do know, and all that remains for me to do is congratulate the court, the magistrates on behalf of the solicitors of New South Wales. May you fare well. It is in all of our interests and the broader interests of the community that this court continue to flourish. As the court pleases.
PASCOE CFM: Mr North.
MR J. NORTH: May it please the court. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to be here on behalf of the Law Council of Australia, representing the whole of the national profession, and to be given the opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous work the Federal Magistrates Court has achieved in the four years it has been in operation. In those four years this court has gained a reputation amongst the profession for handling an increasing workload, and handling it with aplomb.
Indeed, these days one could argue that the term "Magistrates Court" is no longer appropriate. The facts and figures tell the story. Robert Benjamin has mentioned the vast family law work that is undertaken now by the court, but we understand that you do about 80 per cent of the first instance migration work, about 87 per cent of the bankruptcy Commonwealth of Australia 2004 work, and about 70 per cent of the anti-discrimination work.
Since its inception the court's jurisdiction has widened significantly into areas including privacy, migration, copyright and in family law superannuation. This court has managed to combine its charter to provide informal, quick and chief conflict resolution with dignity and application. Judgments are well presented and argued, and produced speedily.
The fact that this court's first Chief Federal Magistrate, the Honourable Dianna Bryant, was recently appointed as Chief Justice of the Family Court, is an example of the high esteem in which the court is held. Her replacement, John Pascoe, comes to the position following a distinguished career as lawyer, businessman and administrator, making him well equipped to take the court into the next phase of its existence.
Meanwhile, the other new Federal Magistrates come from varied backgrounds, enabling them to quickly pick up and adjudicate in the jurisdictions the court holds.
On behalf of the Law Council and the profession as a whole, congratulations on four years of highly proficient service. May it please the court.
PASCOE CFM: This is an informal court and given the reference to dough and bread and breastfeeding, it may be appropriate for me to tell a little story that was told at a dinner with His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, when His Royal Highness commented on the way in which he was enveloped in a hug by one of our number in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
I was moved to tell him the story of the shareholder who wrote to me when I was the Chief Executive of George Weston Foods, congratulating us on the launch of a new loaf of bread. He said that his wife has died recently and that his only real comfort came from this new bread. He went on to say that every day he went to the store and bought two loaves so that he could enjoy that soft, bosomy feel all the way home.
The late Slim Dusty wrote a very well known song, at least well known to those of us who love country music, called Looking Forward, Looking Back. You'll be pleased to know I don't propose to sing the opening lines or even to hum or whistle them and the Federal Magistrates will not form a chorus, however it seemed to me that that title was apposite for an occasion such as this, which celebrates an important milestone in the history of the court.
We need to look forward and articulate a vision for the future, but also to look back at the beginnings of the court and its growth over the past four years, in order to appreciate the journey the court has made. It is hard to believe that four years ago Dianna Bryant, the first Chief Federal Magistrate, and Peter May, the CEO of the court, sat in a room in Melbourne with a table, a couple of chairs and a phone, charged with the establishment of the Federal Magistrates Court.
It is a great tribute to our founding Chief Federal Magistrate, now Chief Justice of the Family Court, that men and women of the calibre of those who joined the court in its early days accepted and embraced her vision. This vision was for a court which was designed to operate to relieve the superior courts of less complex matters and to operate in a manner which meant faster outcomes and a less formal atmosphere, especially for self-represented litigants.
We owe a debt of gratitude to those Federal Magistrates who established the court. Not only have they worked long hours, often under very difficult conditions, but the quality of their work, the calibre of their judgments, and their commitment to the great traditions of judicial office has earned the court the respect of the superior courts and the profession generally. To them I say a profound thank you from those of us who joined them in an ongoing commitment to the values of the Federal Magistrates Court.
To Chief Justice Bryant I must acknowledge the court's great debt of gratitude. Chief Justice, it was your vision, your drive and your sheer hard work that sees the court where it is today.
At a personal level, I thank you for your friendship and for your support and advice to me. All Federal Magistrates look forward to working with you as head of the Family Court and I know you will look to all of us to maintain and further improve the very high standards you have set for this court.
The Federal Magistrate's Court was established with the very strong support of the Federal Court. That support has continued and has been an integral part of the success of the Federal Magistracy. Black CJ of the Federal Court has been a source of advice and inspiration to me and I am most grateful to him and to his brother judges for the welcome I have received. Here in Sydney, it is a source of great pride to the Federal Magistrates to work so closely and co-operatively with the Federal Court. Their generosity has enabled us to use this ceremonial court today.
Looking forward, our task is to build upon the excellent foundations already laid. There are some issues in particular that I consider it would be important for us to consider and to address in the near future. The name of the court can be confusing and lead to misunderstandings as to the nature of the work that the court undertakes and its relationship to other courts, especially the State Magistrate's Court. The arrangements for income protection and retirement income are not the same as those for other Federal judges and there are some gaps in coverage that require a solution.
The court and the government have been working co-operatively on this issue for some time. The government's arrangements in the courts enabling legislation are problematic, given the growth in numbers especially during the last year. Legislative change may be necessary in order to completely address some matters. The recent changes to Family Law announced by the Prime Minister will impact upon the court. Our relationship with the Family Court will become closer as we move to a shared Registry and closer co-operation on all Family Law matters, especially those affecting children.
It is also anticipated that new jurisdictions will be conferred on the Federal Magistrate's Court. It is our vision that the court will become the entry level court for all Federal jurisdiction. The Federal Magistrate's Court as part of its mission to make the court accessible already conducts circuits to many rural and regional cities. This work is expected to increase and to cover a much wider geographic area. It is an important contribution to making the Federal Court system available to those in remote areas, especially those with limited resources.
The court will further refine and develop those processes designed to assist self-represented litigants and provide a user friendly environment. Critical to the future of the court is a commitment to timely delivery of high quality judgments. This is important in order to maintain the confidence of both the legal profession and the superior courts. In turn, that confidence ensures that the court is a desirable option for senior members of the legal profession who wish to take judicial office. We are also committed to diversity to reflect the community we serve.
For me, the tasks at hand are exciting and challenging. I hope that my combination of legal and commercial skills will contribute to the future of this court so that moving forward the future growth of the court is built on a strong platform. I warmly welcome the opportunity to work with a distinguished group of Federal Magistrates with a tradition of service to the community. I am committed to continuing to build on the solid foundations established by Bryant CJ.
I think the law has a great tradition of service to others and if I may be permitted another small personal anecdote. About two years ago, I spent some time in the Drucenstein prison in South Africa with Prince Phillip, Prince Edward and with Nelson Mandela and we saw the care and attention and really the love that was given by Mandela to each of the people he spoke to. Our visit to Drucenstein was followed a visit to Robyn Island with a man who had shared a prison cell with Mandela.
Afterwards, I spoke to Mandela's lawyer and I said to him, "After all of these deprivations, I find it amazing that Mandela is so calm" and he said to me, "If you have 27 years with nothing, you understand the true value of everything and Mandela understands that the only real value in life is the work you do in the service of others". I think that has been established as the tradition of this court and it is one that I would wish to see carried on and I know it is equally shared by my colleagues.
At a personal level, I wish to thank my friends, current and former colleagues and family, many of whom are here today and who have supported me along my personal journey. My father passed away last year and thus is not able to be with us today, but I thank my mother who is here for giving me a love of learning and a sense of justice and the value of service to others. To my children, you've given me great joy and much education, some of it I could have done without. Your support for my change of career has been critical.
To my wife Jane, you have been the rock upon which the family has been built. It is a hackneyed, but nevertheless, appropriate and in this case a true statement, that you are wind beneath my wings. Any success on my part is, in large measure, due to your love and support. I also wish to thank my colleagues on the Federal Magistrate's Court and those who serve the court in many other capacities. It is a great privilege to lead a group of men and women who are so committed.
Together I know we will continue to build this court as a model for efficiency, justice and the rule of law, acting always in a manner which brings credit to the most noble profession which we serve. The court is now adjourned. |
