Catherine Holmes

The Honourable Justice Catherine Ena Holmes was appointed as a judge on 16 March 2000 to the Supreme Court of Queensland, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Queensland.

Education

Holmes graduated with an Economics degree from the Australian National University in 1976. After this, she moved to Brisbane and enrolled in the University of Queensland Law School. She graduated from law school in the early 1980s, joined the office of the Official Receiver in Bankruptcy before completing the Legal Practice Course at the Queensland Institute of Technology.

Early career

In 1982, Holmes began her employment with the Prosecutions Section of the Deputy Crown Solicitor's Office; during this time, she was appointed to the Bar. In 1986, she began private practice. The focus of her practice was criminal and administrative law. She was a member of the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal and in 1998-99 was appointed as Counsel Assisting the Forde Commission of Inquiry into Abuse of Children in Queensland Institutions.

Judicial career

Justice Holmes was appointed to the Supreme Court of Queensland on 16 March 2000 and from 2005 until her elevation to the Court of Appeal, was the judge for the Mental Health Court. On 26 May 2006 Holmes was appointed to the Court of Appeals Division.

On 18 January 2011, it was announced that Justice Holmes would be appointed to head an inquiry into the 2011 Queensland floods[1]. The following day the Bar Association of Queensland criticised the appointment, making the following comments:

Since 1987 the Queensland judiciary has adhered to a convention that a serving judge ought not accept appointment to head a commission of inquiry... It is clear that the present inquiry involves real potential for political controversy as to administrative conduct of successive state and local government administrations since (the last major flood in) 1974...It must be recognised that commissions of inquiry, by their nature, will find themselves examining issues of a character not contemplated upon commencement. The issues for inquiry may become far more politically charged than first imagined.[2]

However, the Chief Justice of Queensland, Paul de Jersey defended the appointment, arguing that it was appropriate because of the apparent absence of any suggestion of political or institutional corruption[3].

See also

• Judiciary of Australia
• List of Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland