Supreme Court appoints new Chief Justice

VICTORIA has a new Supreme Court Chief Justice, with Anne Ferguson the second woman to be appointed to the top job.

Justice Anne Ferguson has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

VICTORIA has a new Supreme Court chief justice with Anne Ferguson to take up the role.

Attorney-General Martin Pakula today announced the appointment of Justice Ferguson, a Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal judge.

Justice Ferguson will start her new role in early October 2017, replacing retiring Chief Justice Marilyn Warren.

She is the first solicitor and the second woman appointed as Chief Justice.

Justice Ferguson was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2010 and to the Court of Appeal in 2014.

Justice Ferguson was a partner at law firm Allens Arthur Robinson, working in insolvency and commercial litigation.

As a solicitor, Justice Ferguson worked on some of Australia’s highest profile corporate cases, including the Opes Prime collapse and the Pyramid Building Society court case.

Justice Ferguson will be the twelfth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and has been practising law for more than 34 years.

Retiring Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Warren.

Justice Ferguson has been practising for 34 years.

Mr Pakula said Justice Ferguson had a wealth of experience.

“Justice Ferguson is widely respected in the Victorian legal profession and by her judicial colleagues for her intellect, leadership and extensive knowledge of the law.”

“I’d also like to thank Marilyn Warren for her service and commitment to the Victorian justice system.”

She was on the panel of judges which rejected the government’s Court of Appeal challenge to stop the public watchdog from investigating if Labor had rorted taxpayer funds during its election campaign.

Labor has been accused of running “rorts-for-votes” by diverting staff paid by the Parliament to work on the 2014 election campaign.

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