Stephen Peter Estcourt (born 20 March 1953 in
Hobart,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
) is an
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
judge, who has been Puisne Judge of the
Supreme Court of Tasmania since April 2013. From 2004 to 2013, he maintained barristers' chambers in Hobart and
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, dividing his time between the two.
Education
Estcourt was educated at
New Town High School and
Elizabeth Matriculation College and graduated with 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 ...
degree with Honours from the
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first prop ...
in 1974.
Career
After 15 years as a barrister and solicitor with the firm of Archer Bushby in
Launceston, Estcourt was appointed as a
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
in 1990 sitting in Hobart.
Estcourt left the Court in 1994 to establish the
Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal for the
Tasmanian Government
The Tasmanian Government is the democratic administrative authority of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania, is invit ...
. After 2 years as the inaugural chair of that body he resigned to join the
Tasmanian Independent Bar in late 1995.
Estcourt "took
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...
" in 1998 and as Queen's Counsel practiced extensively in the civil and criminal jurisdictions of the
Supreme Court of Tasmania and in the
Federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
and
High Courts of Australia. Estcourt was President of the
Law Society of Tasmania
Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...
in 1988 and between 2003 and 2007 was President of the
Tasmanian Independent Bar. In 2006 he was elected President of the
Australian Bar Association
The Australian Bar Association (ABA) is the peak body representing more than 6,000 barristers throughout Australia.
The ABA was established in 1963 to serve, promote and represent its members, and advocate for fair and equal justice for all. ...
, a position he held until January 2008. Estcourt signed the Victorian Bar Roll in September 2004. By the end of 2011, Estcourt was a Fellow of the
Australian Academy of Law The Australian Academy of Law (AAL) is a permanent, non-government organisation devoted to the advancement of the discipline of law. According to its Constitution, the Australian Academy of Law comprises individuals of exceptional distinction from a ...
.
In 2001 Estcourt was appointed part-time Deputy President of the
Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal and sat all over Australia hearing chiefly visa refusal and deportation cases. He left the AAT in 2004 as a result of philosophical objections to
Attorney General Philip Ruddock
Philip Maxwell Ruddock (born 12 March 1943 in Canberra) is an Australian politician and the current mayor of Hornsby Shire.
Ruddock is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and currently the state president of the party's New South W ...
's apparent oversight and appointment practices.
In September 2011, Estcourt was cited in
Australian Parliament
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...
by the
Prime Minister of Australia in response to a question from the member for
Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
and by the
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in response to a question from the member for
McEwen
The Scottish surname MacEwen derives from the Old Gaelic ''Mac Eoghainn'', meaning 'the son of Eógan (given name), Eoghann'. The name is found today in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. Because it was widely used before its spelling was standa ...
relating to
asylum seekers.
In March 2013, the
Attorney-General of Tasmania
The Attorney-General of Tasmania is a ministry of the Government of Tasmania with responsibility for the state's courts and tribunals. The Attorney General is a senior minister in the state government and the First Law Officer of the State.
T ...
,
Brian Wightman
Brian Neal Wightman (born 9 January 1976) is an Australian politician who served as Attorney-General of Tasmania from 2010 to 2014.
Wightman is a first-generation Tasmanian of Northern Irish descent. His parents William and Mary migrated from B ...
, announced Estcourt's appointment as a Puisne Judge of the
Supreme Court of Tasmania.
In November 2017, the
Governor of Tasmania
The governor of Tasmania is the representative in the Australian state of Tasmania of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The incumbent governor is Barbara Baker, who was appointed in June 2021. The official residence of the ...
presided over the swearing in of Estcourt as one of the
Administrators of the Government of Tasmania.
In 2022, Estcourt was appointed as a Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Kingdom of Tonga.
Cases
He had a
pro bono ethic, and was involved in a number of significant public interest cases in Hobart, Melbourne and in Brisbane, among them ''Commonwealth of Australia v Wood'', ''Sok v Minister for Immigration'', ''Minister for Immigration v X'', and ''QAAA v Minister for Immigration''.
These also included a rarely permitted intervention in the High Court of Australia on behalf of the
UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...
as amicus curiae in ''Minister for Immigration v QAAH''. In 2009 he was engaged pro bono from Melbourne as senior counsel in litigation against the Tasmanian Government over conditions in the Behavioural Management Unit in Tasmania’s
Risdon Prison.
Estcourt was President of the ABA during the infamous arrest and detention of
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
doctor
Mohammed Haneef and famously said when informed by the
Sydney Morning Herald of
Immigration Minister Andrew's cancellation of Haneef’s visa after a
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
magistrate had granted him bail "He can’t do that", an opinion ultimately shared by the full Federal Court of Australia.
Among his more notable cases Estcourt acted for the
Tasmanian Deputy Premier Bryan Green
Bryan Alexander Green (born 30 June 1957) is a former Australian politician. He was the leader of the parliamentary Labor Party in Tasmania from 2014 to 2017, and a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the electorate of Braddon from 1 ...
in his criminal trial on charges under the Criminal Code arising from the granting of a monopoly to the Tasmanian building industry regulator. Estcourt's involvement in that trial led to an allegation that he had entered into an illegal bargain with the Tasmanian Government to be appointed the Solicitor General for Tasmania in exchange for acting for Green without fee. That rumour was judicially debunked by Justice Evans in ''State of Tasmania v Johnston'', but prior to that the Hobart ''Mercury'' newspaper falsely reported that Estcourt had declined to be interviewed about the matter by
Tasmania Police
Tasmania Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Tasmania. Established in 1899, the force has more than 1,300 officers policing Tasmania's population of over half a million people.
History
Colonial history
Prior ...
. He sued the ''Mercury'' and its reporter Sue Neales for defamation and the settlement in Estcourt's favour involved what was at the time the largest judgement for damages for defamation in Tasmanian legal history, as well as fulsome official and personal apologies from the editor..
In 2022, Estcourt was one of the four judges who heard the appeals relating to the
2021 Tongan general election
General elections were held in Tonga on 18 November 2021 to elect 17 of the 26 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Following the election four MPs were unseated for bribery.
Background
The 2017 general election resulted in a landslide victo ...
.
Personal life
Estcourt married Mary McDevitt in 1976. In 2010, he co-organised a multicultural festival, World Party Tas. The event was repeated in 2012 and the
Tasmanian Premier,
Ms Lara Giddings, congratulated him on his involvement. In 2011, Estcourt was a Tasmanian State Finalist for the
Australian of the Year awards.
In the
Australian Queen's Birthday Honours in 2018, it was announced that Estcourt had been made a member of the Order of Australia for "significant service to the judiciary as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania, to legal education, and to professional law societies".
References
External links
stephenestcourt.blogspot.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estcourt, Stephen
1953 births
Living people
Australian King's Counsel
Judges of the Supreme Court of Tasmania
Members of the Order of Australia