The Honourable Christopher David Steytler AO QC is a former

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

Supreme Court of Western Australia The Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters (although it usually only hears matters involving sums of A$750,00 ...

and President of the Court of Appeal. He was a member of the Supreme Court from 1994 to 2009 and was the Parliamentary Inspector of the

Corruption and Crime Commission The Corruption and Crime Commission is an independent anti-corruption agency established on 1 January 2004 to improve the integrity of the Western Australian public sector and investigate allegations of misconduct against public officers. It t ...

from 2009 to 2012. Steytler was born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, doing his early years of schooling at St George's Grammar School before graduating from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

and practising as 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 ...

and

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

in South Africa prior to emigrating to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in 1976. He joined the independent bar in 1990, and was appointed

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 January 1993. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994. On 1 February 2009, following his retirement from the Supreme Court, he commenced as the Parliamentary Inspector of the Western Australian Corruption and Crime Commission. He was an inaugural member of the Independent Media Council from 2012 to 2015. On 11 June 2012, he was named an Officer 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 ...

for distinguished service to the judiciary and to the law, to the advancement and protection of human rights, to legal education, and to professional ethics and standards.

References

Living people South African emigrants to Australia University of Western Australia alumni Judges of the Supreme Court of Western Australia University of Cape Town alumni 20th-century King's Counsel Australian King's Counsel Officers of the Order of Australia Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-law-bio-stub

See also

References