Supreme Court judge Gregory Geason charged with assault, emotional abuse

Gregory Geason, 62, has been on leave since last month after being issued with a family violence order, understood to relate to his relationship with a woman.

Tasmanian Supreme Court judge Gregory Geason. Picture: Sam Rosewarne

A Supreme Court judge has been arrested and charged with assault and emotional abuse.

Tasmanian Justice Gregory Geason, 62, has been charged with one count of common assault and one count of emotional abuse.

Justice Geason had been on leave since last month after being issued with a family violence order, understood to relate to his relationship with a woman.

He was expected to appear in an out of hours hearing of the Hobart Magistrates Court.

It is thought to be the first time, certainly in modern times, that a Tasmanian judge has been charged with a criminal offence.

The state government refused to comment on Friday night about how it would respond to the developments. A parliamentary process is required to remove a judge.

Justice Geason had been on leave since early November, in the wake of the family violence order, but the court was still considering allowing him to work on some reserved judgments.

He last hit the headlines in relation to his own alleged conduct in 2021, when he was counselled by Chief Justice Alan Blow after being photographed kissing his associate in a public bar.

In the wake of the family violence order, the government appointed an acting justice to avoid adding to an existing backlog of cases.

Labor justice spokeswoman Ella Haddad had sought assurances any investigations into family violence allegations against Justice Geason would be “independent” with “no conflict of interest at any level”.

 “This includes initial police investigations, any decision made by police or Director of Public Prosecution to press charges and ultimately if the matter reaches the Magistrates Court, someone from outside Tasmania must be appointed to hear the matter,” Ms Haddad said last month.

Justice Geason had been involved in a number of cases, including reserved judgments, such as a high profile Full Court stoush involving conservationist Bob Brown, the Attorney-General and Chinese mining company MMG.

The judge, best man at former Liberal premier Will Hodgman’s wedding, was appointed to Supreme Court bench in 2017.

The Australian was unable to reach Justice Geason for comment.