Farewell Ceremonial Sitting for the Honourable Chief Justice Trevor Riley

FEATURE LAW SOCIETY NT Farewell Ceremonial Sitting for the Honourable Chief Justice Trevor Riley The farewell sitting occurred on Friday 22 April 2016 at the I am joined on the Bench by all of the Judges who Supreme Court Darwin and presiding Judges during the constitute the Supreme Court: their Honours Kelly J, ceremony included the Hon Chief Justice T Riley, the Hon Blokland J, Barr J, Hiley J, Martin J, Mansfield J, Reeves J and Justice S Southwood, the Hon Justice J Kelly, the Hon Justice Mildren AJ. I extend a special welcome to those who have J Blokland, the Hon Justice P Barr, the Hon Justice G Hiley, also joined us on the Bench this afternoon: his Honour, the Hon Justice B R Martin AO, the Hon Justice J Mansfield Chief Justice French; the Honourable Austin Asche, formerly AM, the Hon Justice J Reeves and the Hon Acting Justice D a Chief Justice of this Court; the Honourable Brian Frank Mildren AM RFD QC. Martin, formerly a Chief Justice of this Court; and the Honourable Sally Thomas, formerly a Judge of this Court. Also in attendance, the Hon Chief Justice Robert French AC QC, the Hon Austin Asche AC QC, the Hon Brian F Martin AO Riley CJ is retiring on 4 July 2016. His Honour has made an MBE QC and the Hon Sally Thomas AC. exceptional contribution to the Court and to the community. He has administered justice with diligence, humility and Following are the speeches delivered by the Hon Justice courtesy. To steal a line or two from Montaigne, he has made S Southwood, the Hon John Elferink MLA, Mr Benjamin us all appreciate that, on the highest Bench in the Territory, O’Loughlin – William Forster Chambers, Mr Tass Liveris – ‘we still all sit on our own bottoms’. William Forster Chambers and the Hon Chief Justice Trevor Riley during the sitting. Today is an opportunity for the profession and the public to recognise and celebrate Riley CJ’s very distinguished career The Hon Justice S Southwood Your Honour, the as a Judge and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Administrator, Mr John Hardy and Mrs Hardy; Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Chief Justice French and The Hon John Elferink MLA Chief Justice of Australia, the Mrs French; the Attorney-General, Mr John Elferink; Honourable Robert French AC; former Chief Justices of the the leader of the Opposition, Mr Michael Gunner; the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, the Honourable Australian Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Nigel Austin Asche, AC QC and the Honourable Brian frank Martin Scullion; the Lord Mayor, Ms Katrina Fong Lim; Judges, AO MBE QC; former Justice of the Supreme Court of the partners, Magistrates, distinguished guests; family and Northern Territory, the Honourable Sally Thomas AC; ladies friends of Trevor and Jan Riley; and members of the legal and gentlemen, I have the rare and great pleasure in paying profession, on behalf of the Supreme Court, may I extend tribute to Chief Justice Trevor Riley on this, his essentially a very warm welcome to all of you to the ceremonial last sitting of his Court as the Chief Justice. sittings to farewell Riley CJ. I had my solicitor prepare a list of successes and achievements that the Chief Justice had put his name to over his long and distinguished career and, as true to form, I read that list of achievements and decided it was better for other people who work in his profession in this Court much more intimately to list them, because I wanted, in my contribution to this Court today, to gauge the man that he was by virtue of the relationship that he and I had built over the last nearly four years as Attorney-General and Chief Justice. In doing so, I want to share a few of the points of contact that the Chief Justice had with myself as the Attorney-General and the government of the Northern Territory. I have to say, at the outset, that those points of contact were not always comfortable. The first point of contact was that, on becoming the Attorney-General of the Northern Territory, I was very much aware of the circumstances of juveniles in the dungeons which are the cells of the base of the Local Court. The former Chief Magistrate, Hilary Hannam, who has since gone to the Bench in New South Wales, had complained bitterly about those circumstances and, having visited those cells, I could not but more agree. In my desperation as an Attorney-General wishing to impress myself upon the need to bring about better outcomes, I went and saw the Chief Justice and suggested briefly, albeit briefly, that this Court building could be used for those purposes. The Chief Justice’s portrait hangs outside of this chamber and it has a certain expression. It is an expression I am familiar with when I made that suggestion. The fact was is that I wanted to do something and I stormed out of this building and I actually went and sought advice from my solicitor about who owned the building if push came to shove. My solicitor, a much wiser man than I will ever be, I suspect, not only gave me my legal advice but also offered me some good political advice in relation how to deal with the Supreme Court. And the reason I raise all of this is that the Chief Justice did all that was necessary to defend his Court in the way that he saw fit. However, he also understood what I was trying to do. So, as a consequence of that, other arrangements were finally arrived at through a long and difficult road, but the Chief Justice accepted into his Court, the presence of the Federal Family Court; so that the Family Court building could be vacated to create a new Juvenile Court here in the Northern Territory. It was long and difficult road that finally settled and I am pleased to report to this Court and to the Chief Justice, as he is probably aware, that Children’s Court → 26 FEATURE LAW SOCIETY NT Farewell Ceremonial Sitting for the Honourable Chief Justice Trevor Riley is now available and is dispensing justice in a much more looking for is a thread, a golden thread, which weaves its humane fashion than the dungeons in the lower courts way all the way through these points of contact; and that could ever achieve, and I thank you for your courtesy and thread is probably the highest compliment I could pay to understanding of what was being attempted. your Honour and that is the thread of integrity. Your Honours, I also draw attention to another matter At no point have I noticed or seen the ego of Trevor Riley which was also raised with the Chief Justice shortly after present. What I have seen is a sense of justice; a sense of I became the Attorney-General, and I also place on the right; a sense of purpose; a sense of courage. And that record my appreciation to Sue Cox in relation to this makes your position and time on the Bench one that is matter. And that was the matter of a fellow who had been highly valued by the people of the Northern Territory. in prison for twenty-four years; a gentleman by the name of Lazarus Nabobbob. Lazarus had committed a grievous There was a gentleman, a fellow by the name of crime; there is no doubt about it. He was sentenced Szechuan(?), who described leadership in three words: to six years and then held over under the more arcane humility, clarity and courage. Humility does not require provisions of legislation at the time; at, essentially, the in leadership to flagellate yourself, but it removes ego Administrator’s pleasure. from positions of leadership; so that you focus on what is important. Clarity, to be able to make yourself understood Governments came; governments went. Elections came; without any form of ambiguity; and courage, that even elections went. And Lazarus Nabobbob had ultimately when you are in a minority of one, you stand up and you gotten to the point where he had served twenty-four say what you believe. All of those things are present, with years of his six-year sentence. The decision to release was particular reference to humility, your Honour; this has beyond the reach of this Court and lay in the hands of the never been about Trevor Riley, but it has certainly been Administrator who, naturally, would have taken advice from about your Honour. May it please the Court. his Cabinet. To the Chief Justice’s enormous credit, and as well as Sue Cox, but the Chief Justice, particularly, he raised Mr Benjamin O’Loughlin – William Forster Chambers that issue with me. Because, in truth, if you think about I would like to acknowledge that we are on the land of the what is actually occurring, that when a Cabinet finally Larrakeyah and I rise to speak on behalf of the barristers decides not to release a person because it will not look of the Northern Territory. This is a significant occasion and good, at some point along that journey, that prisoner is no we rightly put on hold the usual business of the Court to longer being punished; they are taking on the flavour of acknowledge, reflect and comment on your Honour’s time a political prisoner. His Honour had the courage to raise it on the Bench as a Judge and as Chief Justice.

Load more