Peter David McClellan is a retired judge of the

New South Wales Court of Appeal The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeal operates pursu ...

who served between February 2013 and February 2018. McClellan was the Chief Royal Commissioner of the

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a royal commission announced in November 2012 and established in 2013 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and repo ...

from January 2013 to December 2017. He was previously the Chief Judge in Common Law in the Supreme Court, a position to which he was appointed in 2005.

Early life and education

McClellan grew up on Sydney's Upper North Shore, and received his secondary school education at

Normanhurst Boys High School Normanhurst Boys' High School (colloquially known as Normo) is an Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary day school for boys, located in the suburb of , on the Upper North Shore (Sydney), Upper Nor ...

. Fellow Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison (who also attended the school) said that, "that school was instrumental in assisting your Honour to overcome adolescent difficulties you had with low esteem, lack of confidence and self doubt". McClellan later studied arts and law at 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 ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in 1971 and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

in 1974.

Career

McClellan was admitted to practise law as a solicitor 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 ...

on 26 July 1974, and worked for a short time as a solicitor at Hall and Hall. He was called to the Bar on 2 May 1975. His legal practice primarily consisted of planning and environmental law,

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regulations"), ad ...

, valuation and water-related matters, as well as advising government agencies. From 1984 to 1985, he held the role of Counsel Assisting the Maralinga Royal Commission into British nuclear testing in Australia. Also that year, he was appointed

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 ...

. He later served as Chairman of the New South Wales State Government Inquiry into Swimming Pool Safety from 1988 to 1991, Acting and Assistant Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption from 1992 to 1993, and supervised the statutory review of the Sydney Casino licence in 1997 and 2000. In 1998, McClellan was the Chairman of the Sydney Water Inquiry. On 29 January 2001, McClellan was appointed a Justice of the

. From 25 August 2003, McClellan was the Chief Judge of 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 ...

, leaving this role on 1 September 2005 due to his re-appointment to the Supreme Court. McClellan has also worked as an Assistant Commissioner at the Independent Commission Against Corruption and as an Acting 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 ...

. In addition, he has held the position of New South Wales President of the National Environmental Law Association. On 11 January 2013, Justice McClellan was announced as the head of the

. He presented the commission's final report and recommendations on 15 December 2017. McClellan retired from the Supreme Court on 8 February 2018.

Honours and personal life

In 2011 McClellan was appointed a

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

for service to the judiciary through the Supreme Court of New South Wales, to environmental law, and to legal education. In 2018 he was awarded the Human Rights Medal. McClellan is married to Justice

Jayne Jagot Jayne Margaret Jagot () is an Australian judge. She has been a Justice of the High Court of Australia since 17 October 2022. She was previously a judge of the Federal Court of Australia and before that of the Land and Environment Court of New S ...

of the High Court of Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClellan, Peter Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Members of the Order of Australia Australian King's Counsel Australian royal commissioners Sydney Law School alumni Judges of the District Court of NSW 21st-century Australian judges