Alan Michael Blow (born 3 December 1949) is an Australian judge who is the current

Chief Justice of Tasmania The Chief Justice of Tasmania is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania, and the highest ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of Tasmania. The Chief Justice is both the judicial head of the Supreme Court as well as the adm ...

. After graduating from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees, he practised as a barrister in civil litigation, criminal and family law, before being appointed as a judge of the

Supreme Court of Tasmania The Supreme Court of Tasmania is the highest State court in the Australian State of Tasmania. In the Australian court hierarchy, the Supreme Court of Tasmania is in the middle level, with both an appellate jurisdiction over lower courts, and de ...

in 2000.APLEC 2012 Conference Program
Australasian Professional Legal Education Council, November 2012. He has also a long time lecturer in Supreme Court Advocacy at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

's Centre for Legal Studies, teaching postgraduate legal practice students. In 2009, Blow presided over the trial of Susan Neill-Fraser for the murder of Bob Chappell. He sentenced Neill-Fraser to 26 years’ imprisonment. The sentence was later reduced to 23 years’ imprisonment. On 8 April 2013, Blow was appointed Chief Justice of Tasmania, replacing

Ewan Crawford Ewan Charles Crawford, (born 8 April 1941) is an Australian judge and former Chief Justice of Tasmania. Early life Crawford was born in Launceston to parents Sir George and Lady Crawford. He went to Launceston Church Grammar School. He bec ...

who had reached the mandatory retirement age of 72. In 2018 Blow was appointed Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for "distinguished service to the judiciary and to the law, particularly as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania, to legal education and professional standards, and to the community". In Dec 2021, Blow would have reached compulsory retirement age of 72 for a Tasmanian Supreme Court Justice. However Tasmanian Parliament had extended the compulsory retirement age to 75 at Blow's request.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blow, Alan 1949 births Living people Chief Justices of Tasmania Judges of the Supreme Court of Tasmania 21st-century Australian judges Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Commanders of the Order of St John Australian King's Counsel Australian barristers Sydney Law School alumni University of Sydney alumni