ANJeL is delighted to join in congratulating its member and longstanding supporter the Hon Tom Bathurst AC KC, former Chief Justice of New South Wales and now King’s Counsel with 6 Selbourne Wentworth Chambers, for being awarded recently this year a very high Honour from the Emperor on the advice of the Japanese Government. Very few jurists have been accorded this Honour, but among them are French law reform advisor and professor Gustave Emile Boissonade (1825–1910) and former High Court of Australia justice the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG (awarded in 2017).
Photos from the conferment ceremony, attended also by the immediate past President (now NSW governor) and current President of the NSW Court of Appeal as well as ANJeL visiting Judge Kohei Sasaki and others, can be found here along with the Consulate-General’s further explanation:
“On 29 April, Mr Tom Bathurst was announced as a recipient of The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, in the 2023 Spring Imperial Decorations, in recognition of his contribution to strengthening ties between Japan and Australia and the promotion of mutual understanding in the judicial field.
On 6 July, at his official residence, Consul-General Tokuda presented the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star to Mr Bathurst, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and former Chair of the Judicial Section of the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA). During the ceremony, a video message from Japan’s Chief Justice TOKURA Saburo was played to Mr Bathurst and assembled guests.”
ANJeL is also very grateful for support over the last two decades from the current NSW Chief Justice, the Hon Andrew Bell (launching on 3 August Luke Nottage’s book co-edited with Prof Makoto Ibusuki, comparing online legal education) and Mr Bathurst’s predecessor, the Hon J J Spigelman who first collaborated with ANJeL in its formal judicial exchange program with the Supreme Court of Japan. ANJeL also thanks Mr Shuichi Tokuda and his predecessors as Consul-General of Japan in Sydney, who have assisted with this program and other ANJeL activities while serving on its Advisory Board.
