The Queensland Government has put out a call for expressions of interest from legal practitioners interested in becoming one of the state’s two Deputy Chief Magistrates.
The Queensland Courts website has posted a ‘current vacancy’ for the role after the position was left vacant with the recent elevation of Judge Janelle Brassington to become the state’s 34th Chief Magistrate.
The posting reads: “Expressions of interest, closing on 27 July 2022 are sought for the Deputy Chief Magistrate vacancy based in Brisbane.”
The appointment of judicial officers to the Magistrates Courts is conducted in accordance with the Queensland Protocol for Judicial Appointments and are made on the basis of merit.
Judge Brassington vacated her role after being sworn-in as Chief Magistrate last week.
Queensland’s other Deputy Chief Magistrate Anthony Gett presided at Judge Brassington’s welcoming ceremony on Tuesday, which was attended by a myriad of senior legal practitioners and judicial officers in Court 17 of Brisbane’s George Street Magistrates Court complex.
Queensland currently has 98 magistrates – 47 women and 51 men – with a further four magistrates scheduled to be appointed in the near future.
Chief Magistrate Brassington on Tuesday said: “Those magistrates constitute courts from the (far north Queensland) border near Papua New Guinea, to Birdsville, to Quilpie and down to the New South Wales border. They fly and drive hundreds of kilometres to get to court literally through cyclones, fires and over every kind of road. They can be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week for urgent applications from police, child safety and myriad other agencies.”
The Queensland Courts have a dedicated webpage that invites applications from legal practitioners interested in taking up judicial roles of all the state’s courts, including the Supreme, District and Land Courts.
Read the Deputy Chief Magistrate listing.
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