Vince Bruce (born 6 December 1942) is an Australian judge who served on 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 ...

from 1994 to 1999. Bruce was born in Sydney to Vince and Eileen Bruce. He attended

Sydney Technical High School Sydney Technical High School (STHS) is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in Bexley, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1911 as part of Sydney Technic ...

and then Lyons High School in New York as part of the American Field Service Exchange Scheme. In 1965 he 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 ...

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 ...

. He clerked for solicitor Alan Ritchie from 1963 to 1964 and was an associate to

Sir Garfield Barwick Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, (22 June 190313 July 1997) was an Australian judge who was the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1964 to 1981. He had earlier been a Liberal Party politician, serving as a ...

from 1964 to 1965. In 1968 he was called to the bar. He ran twice for office as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate: for the state seat of Georges River in 1971 and for the federal seat of Barton at the 1972 election. He

took silk 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 or a ...

in 1982. He was twice an acting judge of the

New South Wales Supreme Court 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 Cour ...

(June – August 1990, July – August 1991) and was appointed to the Supreme Court on a permanent basis on 4 July 1994. He was criticised for delays in delivering judgements and, in 1998, the New South Wales Legislative Council narrowly voted not to remove him. He resigned from the bench in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Vince 1942 births Living people Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Australian King's Counsel Lawyers from Sydney University of Sydney alumni