New South Wales Court of Appeal

The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales.

New South Wales Court of Appeal
33°52′08″S 151°12′42″E
Established	1 January 1966 (1966-01-01)
Jurisdiction	New South Wales
Location	Sydney
Coordinates	33°52′08″S 151°12′42″E
Composition method	Vice-regal appointment upon Premier's nomination, following advice of the Attorney General and Cabinet
Authorised by	Parliament of New South Wales via the: Constitution Act 1902 (NSW) Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW)
Appeals to	High Court of Australia
Appeals from	Supreme Court of New South Wales Industrial Court of NSW Land and Environment Court of NSW District Court of NSW Dust Diseases Tribunal of NSW Workers Compensation Commission of NSW Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal of NSW
Judge term length	Mandatory retirement by age of 75
Website	supremecourt.justice.nsw.gov.au
Chief Justice of New South Wales
Currently	Justice Andrew Bell
Since	7 March 2022 (2022-03-07)
President of the Court of Appeal
Currently	Justice Julie Ward
Since	7 March 2022 (2022-03-07)

Jurisdiction

The Court of Appeal operates pursuant to the Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW). The Court hears appeals from a variety of courts and tribunals in New South Wales, in particular the Supreme Court, the Industrial Court, the Land and Environment Court, the District Court, the Dust Diseases Tribunal, the Workers Compensation Commission, and the Government and Related Employees Appeal Tribunal.^[1] The Court of Appeal must grant leave to appeal a judgment of an inferior court, before it hears the appeal proper.

If a petitioner is not satisfied with the decision made by the Court of Appeal, application may be made to the High Court of Australia for special leave to appeal the decision before the High Court. Because special leave is only granted by the High Court under certain conditions, the Court of Appeal is in effect a court of final appeal for many matters.

History

The Court of Appeal was established in 1965, replacing the former appellate Full Court of the New South Wales Supreme Court,^[2] and commenced operations on 1 January 1966 with the appointment of the President, Sir Gordon Wallace, and six Judges of Appeal, Bernard Sugerman, Charles McLelland, Cyril Walsh, Kenneth Jacobs, Kenneth Asprey and John Holmes Dashwood. The advent of the Court of Appeal was controversial, as it introduced another order and unexpectedly uprooted the established order of hierarchy and seniority among judges of the Supreme Court.^[2]

Current composition

The Court of Appeal, as of March 2024^[update], consists of the Chief Justice of New South Wales, the President of the Court of Appeal and the judges of appeal. Apart from the Chief Justice and the President of the Court, there are nine judges of appeal with current commissions. Traditionally two of them are heads of the Common Law Division and the Equity Division, and sit full-time in those Divisions as primary judges. The Chief Judge at Common Law is currently Ian Harrison, while the Chief Judge at Equity is currently David Hammerschlag.^[3] The chief judges will on occasion sit as appeal judges from time to time.

The Governor can appoint Acting Judges of Appeal. They have all rights and powers as a Judge of Appeal. There are presently two acting judges of appeal, John Griffiths and John Basten. Each sit full-time in the Court of Appeal, although will hear primary cases in the Divisions as the need arises.^[3]

Name	Title  !! Term began !! Time in office !! class="unsortable" | Notes
Andrew Bell	Chief Justice	7 March 2022	3 years, 163 days	[4]
Julie Ward	President, Court of Appeal	7 March 2022	3 years, 163 days	[5]
Anthony Meagher	Judge of Appeal	10 August 2011	14 years, 7 days	[3]
Fabian Gleeson		29 April 2013	12 years, 110 days
Mark Leeming		3 June 2013	12 years, 75 days
Anthony Payne		30 March 2016	9 years, 140 days
Richard White		15 March 2017	8 years, 155 days
Anna Mitchelmore		28 March 2022	3 years, 142 days
Jeremy Kirk		21 April 2022	3 years, 118 days
Christine Adamson		7 December 2022	2 years, 253 days
Kristina Stern		8 June 2023	2 years, 70 days
Ian Harrison	Chief Judge at Common Law	9 November 2023	1 year, 281 days	[6]
David Hammerschlag	Chief Judge in Equity	17 March 2022	3 years, 153 days	[7]
John Griffiths	Acting Judge of Appeal	10 April 2022	3 years, 129 days
John Basten	Acting Judge of Appeal	17 April 2022	3 years, 122 days

Most judges in the Court of Appeal also sit on the Court of Criminal Appeal in varying degrees of frequency. The Chief Judge at Common Law and the Chief Judge in Equity also sit on the Court of Appeal (and the Court of Criminal Appeal) from time to time.

Presidents of the Court of Appeal

Name	Appointment commenced	Appointment ended	Term as President	Comments	Notes
Sir Gordon Wallace	1 January 1966	21 January 1970	4 years, 20 days	Retired
Sir Bernard Sugerman	2 January 1970	30 September 1972	2 years, 252 days	Retired
Sir Kenneth Jacobs KBE	1 October 1972	7 February 1974	1 year, 129 days	Appointed to the High Court
Athol Moffitt CMG	8 February 1974	25 June 1984	10 years, 138 days	Retired
Michael Kirby AC CMG	24 September 1984	6 February 1996	11 years, 135 days	Appointed to the High Court
Dennis Mahoney AO	19 February 1996	3 February 1997	350 days	Retired.
Keith Mason AC	4 February 1997	30 May 2008	11 years, 183 days	Retired
James Allsop AO	1 June 2008	28 February 2013	4 years, 272 days	Appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court
Margaret Beazley AO	1 March 2013	27 February 2019	5 years, 363 days	Appointed Governor of NSW
Andrew Bell	28 February 2019	7 March 2022	3 years, 7 days	Appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales	[8][4]
Julie Ward	7 March 2022		3 years, 163 days		[5]

See also

• New South Wales portal
• Law portal

• List of New South Wales courts and tribunals
• List of judges of appeal of the NSW Court of Appeal