Christopher Jessup is an Australian lawyer who serves as Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. Between 2006 and 2017, he was a judge of the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...

Early life

Jessup was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He attended Malvern Memorial Grammar School and

Scotch College, Melbourne Scotch College is a private, Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college was established in 1851 as The Melbourne Academy in a house in Spri ...

. He graduated from

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

with a Bachelor of Economics with honours in 1968 and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

with honours in 1970. He finished equal-first in his graduating year and shared the Supreme Court Prize with Justice Mark Weinberg of the Federal Court and later the Victorian Court of Appeal.

Career

Jessup completed his articles of clerkship with Stephen Alley, who later became a judge on the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, in the firm Moule, Hamilton and Derham. In 1974, Jessup completed a PhD at the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...

, where his thesis focused on the operation of industrial relations law on trade unions in the United Kingdom and Australia. In 1975, Jessup commenced practice as a barrister at the Victorian Bar, specialising in employment law and industrial relations. Jessup was appointed to the

in 2006. He retired in 2017 and returned to practice as a barrister. In 2019, the Family Court of Australia announced that it appointed Jessup to oversee the development of unified family law processes, including the functioning of the Family Court and case management. In December 2020, the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

announced the appointment of Jessup as Acting Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, to take effect from 18 January 2021. On 4 February 2021 his appointment was confirmed in the role for a five year term.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jessup, Christopher Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Lawyers from Melbourne Monash Law School alumni