Perth judge has
Irish roots Alan Troy is a good judge of character, starting with his own. The Perth district court judge grew up in Plymouth in the UK but from a young age he knew he was Irish. Both his parents are originally from Co. Waterford - Ardmore for his mum and Cappoquin for his dad - who moved to Clonmel, Co. Tipperary as children. His dad moved to England at the age of 15 and they spent their working lives in England, returning to Clonmel, where they still live, in 1997. “I lived in Plymouth,” he said. “I started to identify as Irish from about the age of nine or 10. Probably because I have no brothers and sisters and so my extended family, in particular my cousins all of whom lived in Ireland, assumed a great significance in my life. I also went to a Christian Brothers school.” Even as a young teenager Alan had a good indication what he wanted to do in life. “I was always reasonably good at debating and public speaking and gravitated fairly naturally towards a career in the law by the age of 15 or 16,” he said. Alan completed his legal education at the University of Wales in the UK in 1988 and completed a Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law, City University London in 1990. From 1991 to 2002, he practised at the independent bar in the UK, specialising in criminal law. “I went to Australia initially in 2000 and because I was admitted in Queensland I did not have to undergo any further examinations, although that situation has now changed,” he explained. “I returned to the UK, but then successfully emigrated to Western Australia in 2002, where I obtained employment with the Commonwealth
Director of Public Prosecutions. I was quickly immersed into one very large tax fraud case and so I did not have the immediate pressure of multiple court appearances while getting used to a new jurisdiction. All in all, I found the transition from working as a lawyer in the UK to one in Australia fairly manageable. There were more similarities than differences in terms of the rules of evidence and procedure, although having to start again with a whole new landscape of opponents and judges was obviously challenging.” From 2005 to 2010 he worked he worked with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), first as a Senior State Prosecutor and then as an acting Consultant State Prosecutor. After leaving the DPP, he worked as a barrister with Francis Burt Chambers, specialising in criminal law. The retirement of Judge Richard Keen created a vacancy in the courts service he was to fill. “I was appointed a District Court Judge in 2016,” he added. “I spend a lot of my time presiding over trials involving a jury as well as sentencing offenders for a wide range of serious crimes. I also spend about eight weeks a year dealing with civil litigation including, for example, cases of medical negligence. Although the District Court is based in Perth, I travel to the regional courts across Western Australia for two weeks at a time, about three or four times a year.” He has some advice for anyone considering pursuing a legal career abroad. “Definitely go for a salaried position as opposed to working in a self-employed capacity as I erroneously did in 2000,” he said. “Be prepared to take one step backwards to go to step forwards. If you can find a position that is not completely alien to your current experience, that will keep you busy and which has an engaging group of colleagues, in my experience you will succeed in making the transition. It is a big step obviously. Try to give yourself 12 months at least before deciding that it is not for you. When I moved from the UK to Australia I was single and so it was much more challenging than if one was moving with a family. It rather helped that I met my wife two years after I arrived.” Today the couple have two children - Isabella (14) and Patrick (12, pictured above with Alan) and live happily in Perth. “My children consider themselves Australian, but are very aware of their Irish THE IRISH SCENE | 46
