Valedictory Ceremony for Magistrate Halliday

May it please the Court,  I rise to speak on behalf of the Queensland Bar, to farewell His Honour, Michael Halliday, who has served this court as a magistrate for nearly 11 years.

At the outset, may I offer an apology from our President, Mr Stewart S.C., who is unable to be present on this occasion, but who wishes to be associated with my remarks.

Your Honour, over the years you have served as a magistrate of this state, it has been made clear to those who have appeared before you or been involved in hearings over which you have presided that your earlier career at the bar was not only a fulfilling one but one which had prepared you well for your role on the bench.  You had practiced in both civil and criminal jurisdictions and you had a particular niche in administrative law.

You are remembered for your dedication to an academic side of professional life having been a lecturer and tutor at tertiary level and participated in the Bar Practice Course as a lecturer and in the conduct of Moot Courts.

Over fifteen years you were a member of the Bar cricket team. You were also on Association’s ethics committee.  Perhaps this went cap in hand.

You had served as a member of a number of Tribunals before accepting the appointment to this bench.

Your role as a magistrate has taken you to places such as Dalby, St George, Oakey, Chinchilla, Taroom and of course Petrie as well as here in the big smoke.  

Your interest in legal issues concerning the medical profession and forensic science has held you in good stead in your role as the state’s Coroner and, of course, your willingness to talk about such issues at the many conferences that you have presented at all over the world has been well documented.  I shall not mention more of that, lest there be journalists hovering.

It seems you had never lost your sense of humour. You became part of Scottish Legal History, when, in August 2002, you presided in court in Brisbane for evidence to be taken from a Scots musician and televised to the High Court in Scotland, during a rape trial.  In one report I read, you were noted to have said to the witness in a loud voice “Keep your voice up so the people in Scotland can hear you!”

It is always difficult to know what to say at such an occasion when time is of some essence. May it suffice to say that we are grateful for all the good things you have done and done well in your judicial office.

In your years on the bench it is thought that you have not changed…still the Gentleman and a Scholar.

On behalf of the Queensland bar, may I thank you for your service and wish you and your family well in the future.

May it please the court.

Douglas Murphy SC