2024 Seabrook Chambers Public Lecture
Reflections on the concept of “open justice”'
Presented by Chief Justice Debra Mortimer
Commentary about judicial processes and functions generally includes references to “open justice”. In this lecture, Chief Justice Mortimer examines the origins of the concept of “open justice”, and offers some views on how it might be understood. The Chief Justice then considers what place the concept has in the administration of justice by a court such as the Federal Court of Australia.
We hope you can join us for this opportunity to hear Chief Justice Mortimer speak. The lecture will start at 6:00 pm and is hosted by the Melbourne Law School
Debra Mortimer, Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia
In April 2023, Debra (Debbie) Mortimer was appointed as Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia. Chief Justice Mortimer is the fifth Chief Justice and the first female Chief Justice of the Federal Court. She had been a judge of the Federal Court since 2013.
Prior to her appointment in 2013, Chief Justice Mortimer was a member of the Victorian Bar and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2003. Her main areas of practice included public law, anti-discrimination law, extradition and environmental law. In all areas she acted for both applicants and respondents, for and against government, in state and federal jurisdictions including in the High Court.
Chief Justice Mortimer remains a Senior Fellow at Melbourne Law School, a member of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at Melbourne Law School, and a member of the Board of Advisers for the Public Law Review. Chief Justice Mortimer is co-teaching Public Law Litigation & Comparative Law in the Melbourne Law Masters program with Laureate Professor Emeritus Cheryl Saunders AO.
