It is my privilege on behalf of the Bar to welcome your Honour Justice Martin as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland, and to congratulate you on that appointment.
The Chief Justice has spoken of the significance of appointments to the Trial Division of this Court. The standing of the Court in the community is a matter of high public importance.
It is worth noting that the community whose confidence is essential to the effective work of the Courts and the resulting public benefit is not limited to Queensland. The Court’s jurisdiction does not depend on the place of residence or the principal place of business of the litigants being in Queensland. Further, litigation started out of Queensland can be transferred to this Court, and occasionally, regrettably, there are transfers the other way. The legal profession is now firmly established on a national basis, with ready reciprocity of rights of practice amongst the States and Territories. As the Attorney-General noted, your Honour Justice Martin played a significant role in that development.
These legal developments reflect the steady increase over a long period of local and national business conducted in Queensland and the movement of people across State boundaries.
In addition, the judgments of this Court are cited in other jurisdictions and are, like the judgments of the Courts of other places, the subject of academic and public discussion both here and throughout the country.
It follows that is essential that the judges appointed to this important court have demonstrated abilities and qualifications which command the confidence of the broader Australian community, including the commercial community.
It is in this broad context that I strongly endorse the Chief Justice’s expressions of confidence in your Honour’s qualifications for appointment. Your Honour’s practice extended to appearances in the Courts of the other States, as well of course to the Federal Court and the High Court, and in tribunals. You have earned a national reputation.
Your qualifications have been chronicled by the Chief Justice and by the Attorney-General. The depth and quality of your practice at the Bar are evident from what has already been said.
Two additional themes emerge from your Honour’s substantial curriculum vitae: your service to the profession and your dedication to theatre.
On the first topic, I acknowledge and on behalf of the Bar sincerely thank your Honour for your many years of valuable service to the legal profession. The Chief Justice has mentioned your presidency of both the Bar Association of Queensland and the Australian Bar Association. In assuming leadership from you of the latter, the current President, Mr Stephen Estcourt QC, accurately remarked that you had been “an exceptionally pro-active and effective President of the Australian Bar Association”. The same may be said of your contribution to our own Association.
In addition to those demanding roles, from amongst the large array of elected and appointed positions held by your Honour since you first started at the Bar, I mention that you were a member of the Council of the Bar Association of Queensland from 1999 to 2005. Those who have participated on the Council will understand the commitment that this involved.
As well, I cannot speak highly enough of the effort that you put into organising legal conferences here and overseas, and the skills that you brought to bear in making those conferences uniformly successful.
Your appointment, welcome though it is, deprives us of a barrister who has been a great contributor to our profession. We are hopeful that your example will inspire others to step forward to fill the void you leave.
A second theme in your C.V. concerns the theatre. You filled many roles in this field, and did so with enthusiasm and energy, particularly at legal conferences.
Your own sense of theatre shows a distinct leaning to comedy.
There was, for example, an occasion at a conference when a man looking a little like you appeared resplendent with black tie, a rose in the lapel, and a strong Sicilian accent; he was announced as the President of the European Commissioner for Industrial Relations, one Don Corleone.
Another example that springs to mind is of a fugitive from the Mission Impossible movie set, appearing in a trenchcoat and descending from the ceiling on a girder, again bearing a striking resemblance to your Honour.
Your sense of humour is well known. Perhaps notorious is a better word.
For example, it is said that you invented a nickname for all of the judges of this Court. I won’t mention those nicknames, of course. That is something that your Honour no doubt greatly looks forward to discussing with your colleagues.
I hasten to add that the nicknames you invented were all very respectful and proper.
It must therefore be a mischievously false rumour that you were the author long ago of the nicknames of a group of judicial officers, in a different court, as “the good, the bad and the ugly”. More evidence that this was not your work lies in your compassionate refusal to identify which judge fell into which category.
Your Honour’s conspicuously successful legal career to date justifies the Bar’s confidence in your Honour’s capacity to perform the demanding and indispensable work of a Judge of the Supreme Court.
We wish you well in your new role.
May it please the Court.
