1. Murray Gleeson was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1963 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1974, becoming one of the state's leading barristers.
16 Facts About Murray Gleeson
1. 2.
Murray Gleeson was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales in 1988, serving until his elevation to the High Court in 1998.
3.
Murray Gleeson was born in Wingham, New South Wales, the eldest of four children.
4.
Murray Gleeson was educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, where he won the Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition in both 1953 and 1955, before matriculating to receive first class honours degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney.
5.
Murray Gleeson was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1963, where he read with Laurence Street and Anthony Mason - his future predecessors as Chief Justice of New South Wales and Chief Justice of Australia respectively.
6.
Murray Gleeson was a methodical counsel, who prepared his cases and even his cross examinations in minute detail.
7.
Murray Gleeson takes no interest in either music or art.
8.
Murray Gleeson was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales in 1988, the first barrister to be directly elevated to the Chief Justiceship since Frederick Jordan in 1934.
9.
Murray Gleeson sought to delineate appropriate boundaries for the political debate surrounding litigation, and was adamant that the proper administration of justice was a part of civilised government and not a free market privilege.
10.
Murray Gleeson frequently presided in the Court of Appeal, a forum more suited to his expertise in administrative, commercial, and constitutional law.
11.
In May 1998, Murray Gleeson was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, replacing Sir Gerard Brennan.
12.
Murray Gleeson was the first Chief Justice of a state supreme court to be appointed Chief Justice of the High Court since Samuel Griffith, whose own state Chief Justiceship preceded the formation of the High Court.
13.
Murray Gleeson is the first Chief Justice not to have been made a knight.
14.
Murray Gleeson spoke out against the use of torture, forced confessions and detention without trial.
15.
On 7 November 2008, Murray Gleeson was appointed a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and served until 29 February 2024.
16.
Murray Gleeson married Robyn Paterson in 1965, and the couple have four children.