Judith Clair Kelly is a Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory (Australia). She was appointed to the Court on 12 August 2009. Justice Kelly was only the second female appointment to the Court since it was established in 1911.

Early life and education

Kelly was born in Queensland, daughter of Colin and Valerie Fletcher and granddaughter of Ivy and Harold Snell. She obtained a Diploma in Education and worked as a school teacher, where she married Matthew Kelly. They moved to the Northern Territory in 1977 working at the Batchelor Area School, Batchelor. In 1983 Kelly started studying law at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

, graduating in 1983 with a Bachelor of Laws with Honours.

Career

Kelly returned to the Northern Territory to work as a solicitor with the law firm Morris, Fletcher and Cross in Darwin and she became a partner with the firm in 1990. As a solicitor her principle practise was in commercial litigation practise, banking and insolvency, insurance, construction and admiralty law. Kelly became a barrister in July 1996, at William Forster Chambers, where she predominantly practised in commercial law, contract, partnership, building, property, tax and insolvency. Kelly was appointed as a

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 2008, the first in the new system which replaced the appointment of

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

Supreme Court

Kelly was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory on 12 August 2009, replacing Justice

Sally Thomas Sally Gordon Thomas (born 7 August 1939) is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, serving from 1992 to 2009. She was appointed to the Court on 10 August 1992 and was the first woman to be appointed a Judge of the Cou ...

. As a judge Kelly has sat on a wide range of cases, including sentencing Joachim Golder to life imprisonment for a "cowardly and vicious attack" in beating his wife to death, and awarding damages, including aggravated damages to inmates of the

Don Dale Youth Detention Centre The Don Dale Youth Detention Centre is a facility for juvenile detention in the Northern Territory, Australia, located in Berrimah, east of Darwin. It is a detention centre for male and female juvenile delinquents. The facility is named after D ...

for assault and battery by officers at the centre, including the use of

CS gas The compound 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile (also called ''o''-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile; chemical formula: C10H5ClN2), a cyanocarbon, is the defining component of tear gas commonly referred to as CS gas, which is used as a riot control agent ...

, shackles,

spit hood A spit hood, spit mask, mesh hood or spit guard is a restraint device intended to prevent a person from spitting or biting. The use of the hoods has been controversial. Justification for use Proponents, often including police unions and associa ...

s and handcuffs without lawful justification. In October 2018 Kelly was elected as the President of the Judicial Conference of Australia. Kelly was appointed an

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 ...

in the

2024 Australia Day Honours The 2024 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2024 by the Governor General of Australia, Da ...

for "distinguished service to the judiciary, to the law, to professional associations, and to women".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Judith Judges of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory Officers of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian women judges 21st-century Australian judges Australian Senior Counsel People from Darwin, Northern Territory Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) University of Queensland alumni