Helen Gay Murrell is an Australian lawyer and judge who was the Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory is the highest court of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters and hears the most serious criminal matters. The court ha ...

. She is the first woman to be appointed Chief Justice.

Early life

Murrell grew up in

Seaforth, New South Wales Seaforth is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Seaforth is located 12 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and is part ...

. She then studied at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

and graduated in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws.

Career

Murrell was admitted to practise in 1977. She first worked at the Commonwealth Crown Solicitor's Office and then at Legal Aid NSW. In 1981, Murrell was called to the bar and was appointed

senior counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictio ...

in 1995. She also attended 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 ...

and graduated with a Diploma of Criminology. In 1996, she was appointed a Judge of the

District Court of New South Wales The District Court of New South Wales is the intermediate court in the judicial hierarchy of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a trial court and has an appellate jurisdiction. In addition, the Judges of the Court preside over a rang ...

. She was also an Acting Judge in the

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales is a court within the Australian court hierarchy established pursuant to the to hear environmental, development, building and planning disputes. The Court’s jurisdiction, confined to the state ...

during this year. She served as President of the NSW Equal Opportunity Tribunal and as Deputy President of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal of New South Wales from 1997 to 1999. In 1998, Murell was involved in establishing the

Drug Court of New South Wales The Drug Court of New South Wales is an inferior court constituted as a court of record within the Australian court hierarchy with its jurisdiction limited to New South Wales, Australia. It is a specialist court that deals with criminal offences ...

. She was the first Senior Judge of that court and served until 2003. In 2005, she was appointed the Deputy Chairperson of the New South Wales Medical Tribunal. On 12 September 2013,

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Simon Corbell Simon Corbell (born 21 November 1970) is a former Australian politician and Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory. He was also Attorney-General, Minister for Health, Minister for the Environment and Minister for the Capital ...

announced the appointment of Murrell to replace the retiring Chief Justice Terence Higgins. Murrell was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Australian Capital Territory on 28 October 2013 and is the first woman to have been appointed to that role. She currently also serves on the committee of the National Judicial College of Australia. Murrell retired as Chief Justice in March 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murrell, Helen Chief Justices of the Australian Capital Territory Women chief justices University of New South Wales alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian judges 21st-century Australian judges Judges of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory 20th-century women judges 21st-century women judges People educated at Redlands, Cremorne