John Hatzistergos (born 20 August 1960) is an Australian 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 ...

. He is a former politician who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council representing the Labor Party between 1999 and 2011, and a minister in various Labor governments.

Early life and education

Born in Redfern, Sydney, the son of two

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

immigrants, Hatzistergos was educated at Bourke Street Primary School in

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surround ...

and Cleveland Street Boys' High School. Hatzistergos studied economics 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 was later appointed to the Senate of the University.

Career

Legal career

Hatzistergos was a solicitor in private practice between 1983 and 1987. He spent the next two years as a Senior Legal Officer with the

Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions The Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions or, informally, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is an independent prosecuting service and government agency within the portfolio of the Attorney-General of A ...

and a barrister in private practice since 1989.

Political career

Hatzistergos joined the East Redfern branch of the ALP in 1976, was secretary of the Campsie branch from 1983 to 1990 and later the Belmore branch from 1993 to 2000. First elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1999 while was serving as Deputy Mayor of

Canterbury City Council Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of th ...

. Hatzistergos served as the NSW Minister for Health, between 2005–2007 and again briefly for 14 days in 2009, Minister for Fair Trading (2005) and Minister for Justice, between 2003–2005 and again between 2007–2009. Hatzistergos served as Attorney General from 2007 until 2011, and Minister for Industrial Relations between 2008 and 2009. He was Minister for Citizenship, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Vice President of the Executive Council and Government Leader in the Legislative Council. He implemented major reforms to freedom of information and privacy through new legislation and the establishment of the Information and Privacy Commission. Other achievements include the establishment of the Australian International Disputes Centre in Sydney and Uniform Domestic Arbitration Laws, Intensive Correction Orders and Forum Sentencing. He also implemented major reforms to the NSW Children's Court following the Wood Special Commission of Inquiry.Bench calls former Attorney General; http://www.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/media-news/media-releases/2014/bench-calls-former-ag.aspx During his tenure, Hatzistergos was a nationally recognised opponent of a

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...

. In late 2010 it was reported that he was being considered a possible candidate for appointment to 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 ...

, and a potential successor to Chief Justice Reg Blanch of the

. On 31 March 2011, Hatzistergos announced that he intended to retire from the Legislative Council despite having four years of his term to run. His announcement followed that of

Eddie Obeid Edward Moses Obeid (born 25 October 1943) is a retired Australian politician, and convicted criminal, who served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1991 and 2011, representing the Labor Party. He was the Minister f ...

with

Walt Secord Walter Secord (born 25 December 1964) is a Canadian-born Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since May 2011, when he was elected to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Eddi ...

and

Adam Searle Adam Searle is an Australian barrister and Labor Party politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from May 2011 until March 2023. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council of New South Wales b ...

nominated by Labor to fill the casual vacancies.

Post-political career

In late 2011 Hatzistergos became an adjunct professor at the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

, teaching constitutional law. In July 2014 Hatzistergos was asked by the NSW Government to assist in the review the NSW Bail laws in response to controversy over a number of decisions made by magistrates. Hatzistergos recommended a number of changes to recalibrate the manner in which NSW courts would assess the risk posed by people charged with serious offenses. His recommendations were accepted by the NSW Government.SMH 5 5 Aug 2014 New bail act to take victims, organised crime links into account; http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/new-bail-act-to-take-victims-organised-crime-links-into-account-20140804-100dve.html On 10 October 2014 NSW Attorney General Brad Hazzard announced Hatzistergos's appointment as a judge of the District Court of New South Wales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatzistergos, John Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian people of Greek descent 1960 births Living people Attorneys General of New South Wales Sydney Law School alumni Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians Members of the Order of Australia Judges of the District Court of NSW 21st-century Australian judges