Peter Cadden Heerey was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n Federal Court Judge of the Federal Court of Australia

Federal Court of Australia

The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law , along with some summary criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance by single Judges...

 between 1990 and 2009.

Heerey attended university in Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 and a Bachelor of Laws

Bachelor of Laws

The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

 (first class honours). He practiced as a solicitor in Hobart, before moving to Melbourne to become a barrister in 1967, and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1985.

In addition to his role as a Federal Court Justice, Heerey is also President of the Defence Force Discipline Appeals Tribunal, a Deputy President of the Australian Competition Tribunal and a Presidential member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

He has presided over a number of high profile Australian cases, including the collusion

Collusion

Collusion is an agreement between two or more persons, sometimes illegal and therefore secretive, to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair advantage...

 charges against businessman Richard Pratt

Richard Pratt

Richard Pratt may refer to:*Richard Pratt , MP for Ripon* Richard Henry Pratt , founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School* Richard L...

, which resulted in the largest fine for collusion against an Australian business in history.

Heerey retired from the court on 16 February 2009.