If the gospels are anywhere near correct, then on Easter Sunday in either AD 30 or AD 33, Jesus rose from the dead and 40 days later “ascended” into heaven.
This amazing feat of ascension was not Jesus’ alone, for Judge Sophie Given of the Circuitous Court also claims to have “ascended”.
In KGO24 v The Minister for Immigration, HH was dealing with an application for judicial review, where HWL Ebsworth for the minister had not turned up.
Judge Given was quite unhappy about this.
It’s a case with a checkered history of not turning up. Before the AAT the applicants had failed to attend a scheduled hearing, resulting in a dismissal of their application, which was later confirmed.
Now it was the minister’s turn to be absent without leave. HH said:
“In those circumstances and prior to me ascending the Bench, my Associate made attempts via telephone to contact the solicitor who had appeared on 9 September 2025 (solicitor with carriage), by telephone, but could not find him …”
There was further explanation from the judge:
“At or about 10:30 am, I ascended the Bench with the aforementioned solicitor present via speakerphone. She too was unable to assist beyond suggesting that she might make some further inquiries to see if a colleague might be able to attend at some point, albeit this would not be the solicitor with carriage because he was on leave.”
Ascent is associated with an elevation in height or rank, so it is rather grandiose of a judge to use the word when she means “entering the courtroom” or maybe “constituting the court”.
At a stretch, it could possibly be used when a judge is appointed to the bench for the first time or moves from one court to another higher court.
Research suggest that Judge Given is a rare, if solitary, judicial offer who describes the judicial act of sitting as “ascending”.
The term is explored in various learned texts.
Gabriel Moens, from the University of Queensland, in a review of Justice J.B. Thomas’ book Judicial Ethics in Australia, had this to say:
“An elegant appearance in the saddling paddock has sometimes assisted the odd unremarkable jurist to ascend the bench, but Justice Thomas has his doubts about ‘prestigious turf club’ connections.”
In a treatise on legal history and the reception of English law into Australia by Annesley Athaide the word popped up again.
“… the sole textbook readily available at the time on legal history were the Lectures on Legal History by W.J.V. Windeyer, later to ascend to the bench of the High Court. This series of lectures covered the reception of English law into Australia in only one chapter.”
In December 2007, Ms S.A. Sirtes appeared for the Minister in SZKDT where she explained to Dicey Heydon in the High Court about the late receipt of a document:
“I was given a copy this morning, your Honour, by the Registry staff about five minutes before your Honour ascended the bench, but otherwise the Minister has not seen it.”
She was at it again about three years later in SCDTQ v The Minister, where the transcript shows she was asked by Dicey:
“Ms Sirtes, are you content for the matter to be discontinued?
Ms Sirtes: “Yes, subject to an order for costs. The first we heard of it was just before your Honour ascended the bench.”
Other than the firmly ascended Dicey and Judge Given’s recent ascension, the term is usually reserved for the one and only who miraculously rose from the dead for 40 days before ascending heavenward.
Justinian has mentioned Sophie in previous dispatches, where she is fond of giving little lectures on professional behaviour and rectitude: here, here and here.
Naturally, we can still be impressed that Judge Given ascended to the bench of the Circuit Court.
The Cane Toads’ Mates Club
Late last month, news swirled through the corridors and alleyways of the Banana Benders Bar that barrister Ryan Haddrick had been appointed an acting judge of the District Court. He took up the gig on April 1, alongside a role as a Supplementary Member of QCAT.
He’s doing both those jobs for the next four months.
In fact, he is laden with government appointments and ascensions, including membership of the Councillor Conduct Tribunal for the Department of Water, Local Government and Volunteers, and the Senate of the University of Queensland.
Our Brisbane field agent, Pineapple Pol, tipped us off in August 2024 that several movers and shakers from Level 17 Inns of Court were likely peas for judicial selection by the David Crisafulli’s coal loving, law ‘n’ order regime in Queensland.
This included Haddrick, whose credentials for appointment are impeccable – he was chief of staff to the former Conveyancer General, Jiving Jarrod Bjelke-Bleijie, now deputy premier of Qld.
The then bar president, Peter Davis, outlined the horrors of the Bjelke-Bleikie era, which saw the unpalatable appointment of Timbo Carmody as Chief Justice:
“From the moment an inexperienced and under-educated and, in my view, incompetent, attorney general was appointed in 2012, the bar was faced with huge trials …
Lawyers who dared to challenge laws introduced by the Newman government were besmirched as part of the ‘criminal gang machine’. Judges whose decisions did not accord with the government’s view were publicly disparaged …
One result of this failure was that the association was shamed, to a degree which I found almost unbearable …”
Tony Fitzgerald, the former corruption buster, added more colour and flavour:
“Shortly after the election, the Attorney-General, Jarrod Bleijie, a junior, inexperienced solicitor, appointed a junior, inexperienced barrister, Ryan Haddrick, as his interim Chief of Staff. Haddrick, who had previously worked in the offices of Commonwealth Liberal Party Ministers and a former Queensland LNP opposition leader, had been admitted as a barrister in 2010. At the time of the election, he was a member of a small group of barristers which also included Aaron Simpson, the husband of a media adviser to Bleijie, and Tim Carmody SC, a competent but unremarkable senior counsel in the limited fields in which he practised, who had briefly been a Family Court judge.”
Here’s acting judge Haddrick in full flight about the evils of a Bill of Rights … among other things, he claims that a federal statutory Bill of Rights would be unconstitutional.
Haddrick’s “ascension” follows the LNP regime’s uplift of Thomas Bradley to the Court of Appeal. Tom is a good ole National Party mover and shaker and parliamentary aspirant, famous for his failed campaign to stop women joining Tattersall’s Club as members.
At the same time, another LNP favourite and keen military buffer, Judge Paul Smith was moved from the Dizzo to Supremes.
In November 2025, defamation silk Patrick McCafferty KC was appointed a Supreme Court judge, and Martin Burns became the senior judge administrator – appointments aligned to legal quality.
Sign of the times
Another marker of status and distinction can be seen in the way lawyers sign their names.
In the Farrugia case, the High Court is dealing with different sentences for co-offenders in the same criminal enterprise. They were jointly represented by the same counsel, and the submissions on parity were favourable to one offender and adverse to the other. Was there an injustice because of a conflict of interest?
Bret Walker SC appeared for the appellant, NSW DPP Sally Dowling SC intervened, and Raelene Sharp KC, Cth DPP, appeared for the King.
A field agent noted that Bret Walker simply signs his submissions “Bret Walker”, while the NSW DPP signs as “Sally Dowling SC”.
In another life, predating Senior Counsel, there was discussion at the NSW Bar Council about whether HM’s counsel should sign as QC.
Peter Young piped up that he always added QC to his signature – whereupon Smiler said:
“I suppose the advice wouldn’t otherwise contain internal evidence that it came from a silk.”