LIFE AS A SUPREME COURT JUDGE THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE MICHAEL JOHN BUSS
President of the Court of Appeal of Western Australia On 1 February 2006, I was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia including as a Judge of Appeal. Since 18 July 2016, I have been the President of the Court of Appeal of Western Australia. Between 1 March 2010 and 30 April 2014, I was the Deputy Presiding Member of the Western Australian Industrial Appeal Court. Since 1 May 2014, I have been the Presiding Member of the Western Australian Industrial Appeal Court. In the Supreme Court I have always sat as a Judge of Appeal and I have always sat in all areas of the Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction. The sittings of the Court of Appeal are organised in two monthly blocks. Cases are listed for hearing when they are ready to be heard. The Registrars of the Court of Appeal prepare a draft list of cases with judges allocated. The draft is prepared and given to me about two months before the commencement of the two monthly block. I settle the list of cases including the allocation of judges. I decide upon the judges to sit on each case having regard to any special experience of the judges; whether the judges have previously sat on a similar or related appeal; the current workload of the judges; and the necessity to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of the workload, including the opportunity to sit on cases of particular interest. Urgent cases are listed within a settled two monthly list as and when necessary.
outcome of the appeal. Reasons are then published at a later date. The Court of Appeal is a specialist appellate court. The Chief Justice, the President and a number of other judges have commissions as Judges of Appeal and commissions as Judges of the General Division. The Chief Justice sometimes sits in the Court of Appeal and sometimes sits in the General Division. The other appeal judges sit on a fulltime basis in the Court of Appeal. A Judge of Appeal may sit occasionally in the General Division. This has occurred with Judges of Appeal who wish to sit sometimes at first instance in the criminal jurisdiction. Judges of the General Division do not have commissions as Judges of Appeal. Some of them do, however, sit occasionally as Acting Judges of Appeal as and when needed.
I have established (with the approval of the Attorney General and the Executive Government) a judicial exchange arrangement between Judges of the Court of Appeal of Western Australia and Judges of the Court of Appeal of Queensland. This arrangement reflects the increasingly close connection between intermediate appellate courts in Australia. Western Australia and Queensland are, in a number of respects, sibling States within the federation. The Criminal Codes of Western Australia and Queensland are very similar. There are numerous identical provisions. Each exchange is for a period of two weeks. President Walter Sofronoff from Queensland has sat as an Acting Judge of Western Australian court and I have sat The objective is that judgments including reasons be as an Acting Judge of the Queensland court. Other delivered and published within three months of an Judges have also participated in the arrangement. appeal hearing. It is not always possible, usually because of the overall burden of work, for this The Court of Appeal has not previously sat outside objective to be met. We sit and hear cases in the first Perth. That is not feasible with civil appeals because three weeks of each month. The last week of each invariably the litigants and their lawyers are not month is ordinarily set aside solely for judgment located in regional areas. The Court of Appeal writing. Where the delivery of a judgment is urgent, does, of course, permit counsel to appear by video the court may deliver judgment, without reasons, as link from interstate and also from regional areas soon as the judges have finally decided upon the in Western Australia. Appearances by interstate 200
