Edward McTiernan

Infobox Judge
name = Sir Edward McTiernan


caption = McTiernan in his chambers, 1954.
order =
office = Puisne Justice of the High Court of Australia
term_start = 20 December 1930
term_end = 12 September 1976
appointer = James Scullin
predecessor = Sir Isaac Isaacs
successor = Sir Keith Aickin
birth_date = February 16 1892
birth_place = Glen Innes, New South Wales, Australia
death_date = January 9 1990
death_place =

Sir Edward Aloysius McTiernan KBE (February 16, 1892 - January 9, 1990) was an Australian jurist, lawyer and politician. He served as an Australian Labor Party member of both the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and federal House of Representatives before being appointed to the High Court of Australia in 1930. He sat on many significant cases on the bench, eventually becoming the longest-serving judge in the court's history, before finally retiring in 1976.

Early years

McTiernan was born in Glen Innes and studied arts and law at the University of Sydney. He graduated in 1915 and was called to the bar the following year.

Political career

After five years as a barrister, McTiernan was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1920 as the Member for Western Suburbs. McTiernan served in the ministry as Minister for Justice from April to December 1920 and Attorney-General of New South Wales from April 1920 to May 1927,cite web
title =Sir Edward Aloysius McTiernan (1892 - 1990)
work =Members of Parliament
publisher =Parliament of New South Wales
url =http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/1fb6ebed995667c2ca256ea100825164/abc12799355f63acca256e450011def9!OpenDocument
accessdate = 2007-04-24] and was heavily involved in Premier Jack Lang's attempt to abolish the New South Wales Legislative Council. He retired from the Assembly in 1927 and took up a position as a law lecturer with his "alma mater". Two years later, however, he was elected to federal parliament as the member for Parkes. This was to be short-lived, as in 1930, one year into McTiernan's term, Prime Minister James Scullin controversially appointed him to the High Court of Australia.

High court

As a judge of the High Court, McTiernan oversaw several of the most significant cases in Australian legal history, including "Bank of New South Wales v Commonwealth", which struck down an attempt to nationalise the banks, "Australian Communist Party v The Commonwealth", which struck down an attempt to ban the "Communist Party of Australia" and "R v Kirby; ex parte Boilermakers' Society of Australia", which reinforced the doctrine of the separation of powers. He served under five Chief Justices - Sir Isaac Isaacs Sir Frank Gavan Duffy, Sir John Latham, Sir Owen Dixon and Sir Garfield Barwick, and was knighted himself in 1951. In total, McTiernan was a member of the High Court for 46 years, making him the longest-serving judge in its history. This is a record not now likely to be broken, as constitutional changes in 1977, perhaps sparked by McTiernan's extremely long term, introduced compulsory retirement ages for judges.

McTiernan had no intention of resigning from the bench even into the 1970s, but a stroke ultimately forced him to resign in 1976, at the age of 84 - it is said that this was finally prompted by the Chief Justice Garfield Barwick's refusal of a request for a wheelchair ramp to be installed at the new High Court of Australia building.Fact|date=June 2008 He died in 1990, at the age of 97.

References