The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG
The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG is an international jurist and educator.
He served as a Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (1975-83); Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission (1975-84); Judge of the Federal Court of Australia (1983-4); President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal (1984-96); President of the Court of Appeal of Solomon Islands (1995-96) and Justice of the High Court of Australia (1996-2009).
When he retired from the High Court of Australia on 2 February 2009, Michael Kirby was Australia’s longest serving judge.
He was President of the Australian Section of the International Commission of Jurists (1988-1998), a member of the ICJ Geneva's Executive Committee (1989-98), that Committee's Chairman (from 1992) and President of the World Body of the International Commission of Jurists (1995-98).
International Experience
He has undertaken many international activities for the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the OECD and the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. His recent international activities have included
- Being a member of the Eminent Persons Group on the Future of the Commonwealth of Nations (2010-11);
- Commissioner of the UNDP Global Commission on HIV and the Law (2011-12);
- Chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on DPRK (North Korea) (2013-14);
- Member of the UN Secretary-General's High Level Panel on Access to Essential Healthcare (2015-16)
He is also heavily engaged in international arbitrations; domestic mediations; and teaching law. He is Honorary Professor at 12 Australian and overseas universities.
Achievements
In 1990 he was awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal. In 1998, he was named Laurette of the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education. In 2010 he was named co-winner of the Gruber Justice Prize. In 2011 he received the inaugural Australian Privacy Medal. The honorary degrees of Doctor of Letters, Doctor of Laws and Doctor of the University have been conferred on him by universities in Australia and overseas.
The Honourable Justice Michael Kirby, AC, CMG was in 1988 elected President of the Australian Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ASICJ). In January 1989, Justice Kirby was also elected to ICJ Geneva’s Executive Committee and in 1992 he was elected that Committee’s Chairman. Finally, in 1995, Justice Kirby was elected President of the World Body.
The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG is also heavily engaged in international arbitrations, domestic mediations and teaching law. He is an Honorary Professor at 12 Australian and overseas universities.