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. The objective is that judgments including reasons be delivered and published within three months of an appeal hearing. It is not always possible, usually because of the overall burden of work, for this objective to be met. We sit and hear cases in the first three weeks of each month. The last week of each month is ordinarily set aside solely for judgment writing. Where the delivery of a judgment is urgent, the court may deliver judgment, without reasons, as soon as the judges have finally decided upon the 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 as an Acting Judge of the Queensland court. Other Judges have also participated in the arrangement. The Court of Appeal has not previously sat outside Perth. That is not feasible with civil appeals because invariably the litigants and their lawyers are not located in regional areas. The Court of Appeal does, of course, permit counsel to appear by video link from interstate and also from regional areas in Western Australia. Appearances by interstate

counsel, both in person and by video link, occur regularly. I have been endeavouring for some time to arrange for the Court of Appeal to hear some criminal appeals outside Perth. That is about to occur with a sitting in Bunbury. The Judges who will be visiting Bunbury will present a seminar for lawyers who practise in the South West of the State. My work gives me great satisfaction. I find legal problems, especially novel ones, interesting. I enjoy identifying and resolving the problems. I like writing reasons for judgment. My objective in writing reasons is to explain the nature of the issues in the appeal and to determine those issues by a clear and transparent process of reasoning. I recommend that law school students focus on acquiring a sound understanding of all areas of law which they study. A broad knowledge of the law increases a lawyer’s understanding and consciousness of the law as a whole; in particular, the lawyer’s understanding and consciousness of the law as a coherent and living body of principles. In my experience, all areas of the law are interesting if the area is studied in depth. Learning the law, and how to apply it, is a lifelong journey. Working as a lawyer demands constant learning. It is important for law students to obtain an overall perspective of the law. Law students should also strive to acquire the ability to express ideas and opinions in a clear and logical fashion. Finally, it is essential that law students have time for life, including pleasure and fulfilment, apart from their legal studies. Work is part of life, but it is not everything in life. We all need time for leisure and social interaction. In my case, this includes time with my wife, my children and our Labrador retriever.