Kenneth Hayne

Kenneth Madison Hayne AC QC (born 5 June 1945) is a Justice of the High Court of Australia which is the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.

Early life and education

Hayne was born in Gympie, Queensland and attended Scotch College, Melbourne. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Melbourne, during which time he resided at Ormond College. Hayne was Editor of the Melbourne University Law Review. He then graduated with a Bachelor of Civil Law from Exeter College, Oxford University. He was also a Rhodes Scholar.

Career

Hayne was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1971 and was appointed as a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1984.

Hayne is a patron of the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal.^[1]

Judicial activity

Kenneth Hayne joined the bench in 1992 when he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. From 7 June 1995 he sat on the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria, which is the highest court in the Australian State of Victoria.

Hayne was appointed as a Justice of the High Court in September 1997, a position he still holds. Under the Australian Constitution he must retire from the High Court by 2015 when he will be 70. He will be replaced on the High Court by his wife, Federal Court judge Michelle Gordon.^[2]

Hayne has been described as being a part of a 'core' of judges on the High Court, usually forming the majority, and often wrote joint reasons with Justice William Gummow.^[3] One notable exception was Hayne's dissent in Thomas v Mowbray, where he joined Justice Michael Kirby in holding the Commonwealth's regime of interim control orders applied in respect of suspected terrorists to be unconstitutional. Another, more recent, example is Kuczborski v Queensland [2014] HCA 46 in which Hayne J was the sole dissentient.

Notable judgements

• Al-Kateb v Godwin [2004] indefinite detention of a stateless person
• Thomas v Mowbray [2007] concerning the validity of interim control orders
• Roach v Electoral Commissioner [2007] concerning the validity of Commonwealth legislation preventing prisoners from voting
• HML v The Queen; SB v The Queen; OAE v The Queen [2008] relevance and admissibility of evidence, as well as directions to jury.
• Rowe v Electoral Commissioner [2010] concerning the validity of Commonwealth legislation restricting the time in which a voter may seek to enrol in an election
• South Australia v Totani [2010] issue regarding the separation of powers and in particular, parliament directing the courts
• Australian Electoral Commission v Johnston [2014] (sitting alone as the Court of Disputed Returns) invalidating the Western Australian Senate election from the 2013 federal election

Honours

Hayne received Australia's highest civil honour when he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2002 for service to the judiciary, to the law as an outstanding scholar, barrister and jurist, and to the community in the advancement of both legal and general education.^[4]

See also

• Judiciary of Australia
• List of Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria

References

External links

• Hayne's biography on the High Court of Australia website
• Supreme Court of Victoria Website