• Taken at the High Court of Australia in Canberra on 6 November 2023 showing Johan van Vloten and Michael Kirby.
    This was at the Welcome Ceremonies for Chief Justice Stephen Gageler and Justice Robert Beech-Jones.
  • A portrait of Michael Kirby painted by Drewfus Gates a noted portraitist from Perth, Western Australia.
    The portrait was completed by the subject in 2022 for the opening of the Michael Kirby Chambers in Perth.
    The portrait is one of a series of portraits by the artist. It measures 130cm x 90cm and has been privately acquired in Perth.
    Copyright in the portrait and photos are held by Drewfus Gates; Mark Greenland and Brian Nugawela.
  • A portrait of Michael Kirby painted by Drewfus Gates a noted portraitist from Perth, Western Australia.
    The portrait was completed by the subject in 2022 for the opening of the Michael Kirby Chambers in Perth.
    The portrait is one of a series of portraits by the artist. It measures 130cm x 90cm and has been privately acquired in Perth.
    Copyright in the portrait and photos are held by Drewfus Gates; Mark Greenland and Brian Nugawela.

The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG

Michael Kirby is an international jurist, educator and former judge.  He served as a Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (1975-83); Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission (1975-84); Judge of the Federal Court of Australia (1983-4); President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal (1984-96); President of the Court of Appeal of Solomon Islands (1995-96) and Justice of the High Court of Australia (1996-2009).

He has undertaken many international activities for the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the OECD and the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  He has also worked in civil society, being elected President of the International Commission of Jurists (1995-8).  His recent international activities have included member of the Eminent Persons Group on the Future of the Commonwealth of Nations (2010-11); Commissioner of the UNDP Global Commission on HIV and the Law (2011-12); Chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on DPRK (North Korea) (2013-14); and Member of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Access to Essential Healthcare (2015-16).  He is also heavily engaged in international arbitrations; domestic mediations; and teaching law.  He is Honorary Professor at 12 Australian and overseas universities.

In 1991 he was awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal.  In 1998, he was named Laurette of the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education. In 2010 he was named co-winner of the Gruber Justice Prize.  In 2011 he received the inaugural Australian Privacy Medal.  The honorary degrees of Doctor of Letters, Doctor of Laws and Doctor of the University have been conferred on him by universities in Australia and overseas.  He lives in Sydney with his partner since 1969, Johan van Vloten.

Photo from the Archives

 

A photo from the archives of the Australian Institute of Criminology showing Michael Kirby at an event at the Institute, circa 1975

Areas of Interest


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