Diane McGrath Fingleton (born 11 January 1947) is a former magistrate in the Queensland Magistrates Court, most notable for being appointed Chief Magistrate and later being convicted of the offence of intimidation of a witness, before the conviction was quashed on appeal to the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

Early life

Fingleton was educated at St. Stephen's Cathedral School and

All Hallows' School , motto_translation = God and Duty , city = Brisbane , state = Queensland , postcode = 4000 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type ...

, in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. She was a stenographer on

Bill Hayden William George Hayden (born 23 January 1933) is an Australian politician who served as the 21st governor-general of Australia from 1989 to 1996. He was Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 1983, and served as ...

's staff in the

Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

government years. She studied at university in the late 1970s and early '80s, and graduated with a law degree. She waitressed at night and studied by day.

Magistracy

In 1995, the Goss

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

appointed her to the magistracy and the Beattie government made her a senior magistrate three years later, just as it would appoint a dozen women (and 11 men) to various judicial appointments that upset Queensland's legal establishment. In 1999, Fingleton was appointed to the position of

Chief Magistrate Chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admini ...

. This appointment was seen as controversial amid suggestions that it was political. Appointed by Matt Foley, she was Queensland's first ever female Chief Magistrate. The following year, Fingleton attracted criticism from Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Paul de Jersey Paul de Jersey, (born 21 September 1948) is an Australian jurist who served as the 26th governor of Queensland, in office from 29 July 2014 to 1 November 2021. He was Chief Justice of Queensland from 1998 to 2014. Education De Jersey was edu ...

and others for holding

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ceremonies in six Magistrates Courts in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and issuing a formal apology to

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

Conviction

In 2002, Fingleton emailed a fellow Magistrate,

Basil Gribbin Basil Gribbin was a co-ordinating magistrate in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court and a member of the Queensland Magistrates Association, which is the equivalent of a Magistrates Union. Gribbin served as a Magistrate from 9 January 1987 to 10 May ...

, threatening to have him dismissed from the senior position of Co-ordinating Magistrate, whilst retaining his position as Magistrate, because he had supported a colleague in a workplace dispute against her. Before sending the email, Fingleton obtained legal advice from her solicitor, David Searle. Fingleton viewed Gribbin's action as evidence he had no faith in her role as Chief Magistrate, perceiving his behaviour to be openly provocative and disloyal. Gribbin took legal action against her, and this resulted in her being charged and imprisoned for retaliation against a witness, a criminal offence under the Queensland Criminal Code. The crown brought in a prosecutor from NSW, Margaret Cunneen. Fingleton appealed, and the

Queensland Court of Appeal ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

appeal upheld her conviction but halved her jail sentence. Released later that year, Fingleton worked as a lecturer at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian s ...

Appeal to the High Court

Fingleton sought special leave to take her case to the

. On 8 October, the day before the 2004 federal election, Justices

McHugh McHugh is a common surname of Irish language, Irish origin. It is an anglicisation of the original Irish ''Mac Aodha'', meaning literally "Son of Aodh". Aodh (given name), Aodh was a popular male given name in mediaeval Gaelic Ireland. It was tradi ...

and Gummow granted her special leave to appeal. The decision to grant leave was made 73 minutes into the hearing. Justice McHugh said that:

It would be hard to imagine a stronger case of a miscarriage of justice in the particular circumstances of the case. There is not only a question of conviction and a gaol sentence, but the applicant has lost one of the most important offices in the State of Queensland..

The following year, in 2005, the High Court unanimously allowed the appeal and quashed Fingleton's conviction. Their reasoning was that Fingleton in fact had immunity from criminal prosecution under the Queensland Magistrates Court Act for anything done in the course of her judicial or her administrative functions.

Justice Kirby Michael Donald Kirby (born 18 March 1939) is an Australian jurist and academic who is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, serving from 1996 to 2009. He has remained active in retirement; in May 2013 he was appointed by the United ...

described what happened to Fingleton as "indelible". Professor Rosemary Hunter, a supporter of Diane Fingleton and former Dean of the

Griffith law school Griffith Law School is the law school of Griffith University and is located in Brisbane and the Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before bei ...

, has argued that Fingleton's case has raised a range of issues around party politics, gender politics and office politics.

Present

Later that year, Fingleton was again appointed and sworn in as a magistrate of the

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough ...

Magistrates Court. She retired in May 2010. She continued to serve at board appointments and speaker engagements. In 2017, Ms Fingleton was special guest speaker at the 50th anniversary event for human rights and legal advocacy organisation,

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) is a voluntary organisation in Australia concerned with the protection of individual rights and civil liberties. It was founded in 1966 in order "to protect and promote the human rights and freed ...

(QCCL) in Brisbane.

Filmography

Swimming Upstream ''Swimming Upstream'' is a 2003 Australian biographical drama film written by Tony Fingleton and directed by Russell Mulcahy. It stars Jesse Spencer, Geoffrey Rush, and Judy Davis. It shows the life of Fingleton (Spencer) from childhood to adul ...

,'' her brother

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

's autobiographical film about his background and family, includes brief glimpses of his younger sister, Diane. The film was released in 2003 and was very well received.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fingleton, Diane 1947 births Living people Australian magistrates Australian women judges Australian solicitors University of Queensland alumni Lawyers from Brisbane People educated at All Hallows' School