Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Michael John Slattery, (born 1954) is a

Royal Australian Naval Reserve The Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian co ...

officer and lawyer. He has been a justice of the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...

since 2009 and the Judge Advocate General of the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

since July 2014.

Legal career

Slattery graduated 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 degrees in

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

(1975) and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

(1977). He became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in 1978,

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1992 and justice of the

in 2009. He joined the

Royal Australian Navy Reserve The Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy in Australia. The current Royal Australian Naval Reserve was formed in June 1973 by merging the former RANR (Seagoing) and the Royal Australian ...

as a Lieutenant in Supply Branch – Legal in 1990. He rose through the ranks and was appointed Judge Advocate General – Navy (as

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

) in 2010 and Judge Advocate General – ADF (as

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

) in 2014. Slattery has been appointed a

Member 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 ...

(AM) twice: he was appointed in the Military Division in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for "exceptional service to military law". In the

2022 Australia Day Honours The 2022 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2022 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australia ...

, Slattery was again appointed a Member, this time in the General Division, for "significant service to the law, to the judiciary, and to professional legal associations".

References

1954 births Australian military personnel of the Iraq War Living people Members of the Order of Australia Royal Australian Navy admirals Sydney Law School alumni Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales 21st-century Australian judges Australian King's Counsel {{Australia-mil-bio-stub