Brian Ross Martin AO QC (born 2 September 1947) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory from 2004 to 2010. He was sworn in as the Northern Territory's fifth Chief Justice on 27 January 2004 following the retirement of Brian Frank Martin.
At the time of his appointment he was a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia.
Contents |
Justice Martin was born in Adelaide and was educated at the Oakbank Area School and the Adelaide High School. He was admitted to practice law in 1970 after studying at the University of Adelaide.
Justice Martin was appointed as an assistant Crown Prosecutor in Adelaide in 1974 and eventually the Senior Crown Prosecutor in 1982.
Justice Martin was appointed as a Queen's Counsel in 1984 and in 1991 was appointed as Senior Counsel assisting the Royal Commission into WA Inc.
Justice Martin was appointed as the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in 1997 a position he held until taking up his appointment as a Judge of the South Australian Supreme Court.
He was a Director of the Adelaide Crows Football Club from 1994 to 1998 and was Chairman of the Westminster School Council from 1988 to 1996.
Justice Martin was the trial judge for the trial of R v Murdoch, which commenced with a voir dire in April 2005 and the trial proper began on 17 October 2005, and was completed with a verdict of guilty on 13 December 2005.
His sentence of one month jail for a 55 year old man raping a 14 year old girl, given on the grounds of Aboriginal customary law. This received criticism and was increased in the Court of Criminal Appeal.[1]
His sentence of four young white men to between four and six years prison, for the fatal bashing of Kwementyaye Ryder, an Aboriginal man. These short sentences, along with his submission of personal character references for each of the four defendants in the course of the trial, received criticism from the Indigenous press as being inadequate, and potentially racist.[2]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Brian Frank Martin |
Chief Justice of the Northern Territory 2004–2010 |
Succeeded by Trevor Riley |