Wayne Martin
Encyclopedia
Wayne Stewart Martin QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

(born 28 December 1952) is the current Chief Justice of Western Australia
Chief Justice of Western Australia
The Chief Justice of Western Australia is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the highest ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of Western Australia. The Chief Justice is both the judicial head of the Supreme Court as well as the administrative head...

. He was formally appointed on 4 April 2006.

Education

Martin graduated from the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...

 with 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...

 with Honours in 1973. He completed a Master of Laws
Master of Laws
The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...

 at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...

 and was admitted to practice in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 in 1977. He was a partner of the law firm Keall Brinsden (now Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Corrs Chambers Westgarth is an Australian commercial law firm. It was founded in 1841.-History:Corrs Chambers Westgarth traces its history back to 1841 with the founding of the firm's first office in Melbourne. Corrs has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth...

) until joining the independent bar in 1988. He was made a QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 in 1993.

Legal career

In addition to his work as a barrister, Martin is a former chairman of the Western Australian Law Reform Commission, president of the Administrative Review Council, chair of the Defamation Law Reform Committee and president of the Western Australia Bar Association
Bar council
A bar council , in a Commonwealth country and in the Republic of Ireland, the Bar Council of Ireland is a professional body that regulates the profession of barristers together with the King's Inns. Solicitors are generally regulated by the Law society....

. In addition, he is a former president of the Law Society of Western Australia and a director of the Law Council of Australia
Law Council of Australia
The Law Council of Australia is an association of law societies and bar associations from the States and territories of Australia, and the peak body representing the legal profession in Australia. The Council was formed in 1933 to unite the various state legal associations, in order to represent...

.

Judicial career

Since becoming Chief Justice, Martin has spoken out about the need to enhance access to justice and improve the efficiency of the legal system. He has also come to the defence of the legal system in the wake of criticisms in some sections of the media that resulted from several high profile miscarriages of justice. As chief justice of the WA Supreme Court Justice Martin earns a salary of $396,545, which will increase with effect from 1 July 2010 to $408,441.
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