Christopher Jessup is an Australian lawyer who serves as Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. Between 2006 and 2017, he was a judge of the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

Early life

Jessup was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He attended Malvern Memorial Grammar School and

Scotch College, Melbourne Scotch College is an independent school, independent Presbyterian Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, Victoria, Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Aus ...

. He graduated from

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

with a

Bachelor of Economics The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon), or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics; the ...

with honours in 1968 and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

with honours in 1970. He finished equal-first in his graduating year and shared the Supreme Court Prize with Justice

Mark Weinberg Sir Mark Aubrey Weinberg (born 9 August 1931) is a South African-born British financier. He is the Life President of St. James’s Place Wealth Management. Early life and education Weinberg was born in South Africa and educated at King Edwa ...

of the Federal Court and later the Victorian Court of Appeal.

Career

Jessup completed his articles of clerkship with Stephen Alley, who later became a judge on the

Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), known from 1956 to 1973 as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and from 1973 to 1988 as the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, was a tribunal with power ...

, in the firm Moule, Hamilton and Derham. In 1974, Jessup completed a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

at the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, where his thesis focused on the operation of industrial relations law on trade unions in the United Kingdom and Australia. In 1975, Jessup commenced practice as a barrister at the Victorian Bar, specialising in employment law and industrial relations. Jessup was appointed to the

in 2006. He retired in 2017 and returned to practice as a barrister. In 2019, the

Family Court of Australia The Family Court of Australia was a superior Australian federal court of record which deals with family law matters, such as divorce applications, parenting disputes, and the division of property when a couple separate. Together with the F ...

announced that it appointed Jessup to oversee the development of unified family law processes, including the functioning of the Family Court and case management. In December 2020, the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

announced the appointment of Jessup as Acting Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, to take effect from 18 January 2021. On 4 February 2021 his appointment was confirmed in the role for a five year term.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jessup, Christopher Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Lawyers from Melbourne Monash Law School alumni