Geoffrey Michael Eames (born 26 November 1945) is an Australian jurist, who was a judge of the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

. He served in the trial division of the Court from 1992 to 2002, and was then a member of the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

until 2007. He subsequently served as an Acting Judge of the

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory is the superior court for the Australian Territory of the Northern Territory. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. It is a ...

, and as Chief Justice of Nauru.

Early life

Eames was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1945. He was educated at St. Bernard's College in Essendon, then studied law at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Career

Eames did

articles Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article(s) may also refer to: ...

at the firm of Slater and Gordon, and was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1969. In the 1970s he joined the Central Australian Legal Service as its principal Solicitor, and was then seconded to the Central Land Council in Alice Springs where he pioneered all early land claims made under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, Northern Territory, 1976 and the passage of the legislation itself, before heading to the bar in Darwin. In 1980, he was admitted to the bar in South Australia, joining the independent bar in 1984. Eames was a member of Hanson Chambers from 1987 to 1991, and took silk as a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in South Australia in 1989 and in Victoria in 1990. During this time he worked as a barrister in two Royal Commissions: the McClelland Royal Commission (1985) into British nuclear testing in Australia, and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1987–1991).

Supreme Court of Victoria

On 26 May 1992, Eames was appointed as a judge of the

. On 15 March 2002 he was appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal and served until 2007.

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory

Eames was appointed as an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory between 2007 and 2009.

Supreme Court of Nauru

In December 2010, Eames was appointed Chief Justice of the two-member

Supreme Court of Nauru The Supreme Court of Nauru was the highest court in the judicial system of the Republic of Nauru until the establishment of the Nauruan Court of Appeal in 2018. Constitutional establishment It was established by part V of the Constitution, ...

. In January 2014, the Chief Magistrate of Nauru, Peter Law, issued an injunction to prevent the deportation of three foreign nationals. Law was fired by Nauru President

Baron Waqa Baron Divavesi Waqa (; born 31 December 1959) is a Nauruan politician who currently serves as the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum. He was the President of Nauru from 11 Ju ...

and himself deported. Eames, in Australia at the time, issued an injunction to prevent the deportation of Law, however Law was deported. The Nauru government cancelled Eames' visa which prevented his return to Nauru, and he resigned two months later. The incidents involving Law and Eames were criticised by

Mathew Batsiua Mathew Jansen Batsiua (born 27 May 1971) is a Nauruan politician. Batsiua, a former health minister and former foreign minister of Nauru, has served as a member of parliament for the constituency of Boe since 2004. Parliamentary role Batsiua h ...

a member of Nauru's Opposition and precipitated a government crackdown on opposition.

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eames, Geoffrey 1945 births Living people Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria Judges of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory Chief justices of Nauru Australian judges on the courts of Nauru 20th-century Australian judges 21st-century Australian judges Australian King's Counsel Australian barristers Members of the Order of Australia