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The Hon G Tony Pagone, QC, has been elected as the President of the International Association of Judges (IAJ).  This is the first time an Australian has held this high office.

The IAJ is the pre-eminent international association of judges, bringing together almost 90 national associations of judges from all parts of the world.  Individual judges are not members.

The Hon G Tony Pagone is a co-opted member of the Governing Council of the Judicial Conference of Australia.  He recently retired from the Federal Court of Australia bench where he served as the national co-ordinating judge of the Taxation National Practice Area.

The Hon G Tony Pagone served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria before his appointment to the Federal Court. Prior to that he practised as the Victorian Bar.  He holds an LLD from the University of Melbourne for his research and published work on anti-tax avoidance provisions.

The IAJ was founded in 1963 with the aim of safeguarding the independence of the judiciary, which is an essential element of the judicial function, guaranteeing the rule of law, human rights and freedom.  One of its central functions is to highlight and make representations where judicial impendence is threatened or has been attacked.  This has occurred recently in countries such as Hungary, Turkey and Poland.

In accepting the Presidency, at the Annual Meeting of the IAJ currently being held in Marrakesh, the Hon Tony Pagone said:

We know and understand the work that judges do, and we know and understand the vital importance of that work to freedom, safety and an orderly society.  We know also about the vulnerability under which judges work and live, and therefore of the need to foster and preserve judicial impartiality and the rule of law.

The Hon G Tony Pagone will hold office as President of the IAJ for two years.

 

The Judicial Conference of Australia is the professional association of judges and magistrates in Australia.

For further information, contact the Judicial Conference of Australia Secretariat.

The President of the JCA is not available for broadcast or television interviews on this matter.