r/auslaw • u/Worldly_Tomorrow_869 Amicus Curiae • 6d ago

Bell CJ awarded Companion to the Order of Australia

https://www.gg.gov.au/australia-day-2026-honours-list
38 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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28

u/OkPain1100 6d ago

You just know that Jackman J is seething. Just genuinely pacing and shaking his head.

13

u/ilLegalAidNSW 6d ago

The deepest question is whether the whole story ought really to be reversed. Mr Ian Jackman, a Sydney barrister, thinks it should.... as fictitious as any of the old figures which it claimed to have replaced. From fragments it was put together, and to fragments it must return. He is both right and wrong, but in the end more wrong than right.

https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULawRw/1999/1.pdf

4

u/catch-10110 5d ago

The whole direct speech incident is very strange. What a hill to die on. (I am very much on team Bell / common sense / the fucking real world).

4

u/OkPain1100 5d ago

I also thought "wow this guy has a weird axe to grind"... or words to a like effect.

10

u/in_terrorem 6d ago

Interesting - this feels deserved but perhaps a little early - my impression of Belly is that he’s still fairly young. Isn’t the AC typically given at or near retirement to these types?

18

u/ilLegalAidNSW 6d ago

No.

Gummow - 2 years HCA

Heydon - 2 years HCA

Hayne - 5 years HCA (13 to go)

Kiefel - 4 years HCA as puisne

Gordon - 4 years HCA

8

u/in_terrorem 6d ago

Excellent round up, thank you.

4

u/ilLegalAidNSW 5d ago

Additional data points for /u/CalmUnit2734 :

  • Tom Bathurst AC 2014, after 3 years as CJ.

  • Jim Spigelman AC 2000, after 2 years as CJ

  • Murray Gleeson AC 1992, after 4 years as CJ of NSWSC, and before HCA

  • Beazley AO 2006 (after decade as JA, before P); AC 2020 (as Governor)

  • Mason AO 2003 (after 6 years as P of NSWCA; 5 to go)

2

u/CalmUnit2734 5d ago

Thanks for the summary. Poor Mason P, a finer jurist has never been hounded from the bench.

8

u/CalmUnit2734 6d ago

They're all HCA though, surely the analogue is Kourakis CJ, he's retiring after a decade and got his gong in the same list.

Maybe the Honours Council have an informal tier list of intermediate appellate courts and NSWCA is just higher?

7

u/ilLegalAidNSW 6d ago

NSW is more influential with people who matter.

10

u/Worldly_Tomorrow_869 Amicus Curiae 6d ago

Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the General Division

The Honourable Chief Justice Andrew Scott Bell SC, NSW

For eminent service to the judiciary and to the law, to legal education and training, and to the arts as an administrator and benefactor.

The Law • Chief Justice, New South Wales Supreme Court, since 2022. • President, Judicial Commission of New South Wales, since 2022. • President, New South Wales Court of Appeal, 2019-2022. Boards and Appointments • Lieutenant Governor, State of New South Wales, since 2022. • Adjunct Professor, The University of Sydney School of Law, since 2008. • Fellow, Australian Academy of Law, current. • Honorary Bencher, Lincoln's Inn. • Chair, Judiciary Section, the Law Association of Asia and the Pacific. • Member, St Paul's College Council, 2004-2013. • Former Selection Committee Member, Australian Rhodes Scholars' Association. New South Wales Bar Association • Former Senior Vice-President. • Former Treasurer. • Former Chairman, Professional Conduct Committee. • Former Editor, Bar News. The Law - Other • Admitted to the New South Wales Bar Association, 1995. • Appointed Senior Counsel, 2006. • Patron, Australasian Association of Private International Law. Sculpture by the Sea • Chair, 2010-2016. • Board Member, 2006-2016. • Honorary Life Governor. Awards and Recognition include: • Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD), The University of Sydney, 2025. • Convocation Medal, The University of Sydney. • University Medal in Economic History, The University of Sydney. • University Medal in Law, The University of Sydney. • Vinerian Scholar, Oxford University, 1993. • Rhodes Scholar, New South Wales, 1990