Keith Mason, (born 18 February 1947) is a former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales, the highest civil court in the State of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, which forms part of the

Australian court hierarchy The judiciary of Australia comprises judges who sit in federal courts and courts of the States and territories of Australia, States and Territories of Australia. The High Court of Australia sits at the apex of the Australian court hierarchy as t ...

, serving between 1997 and 30 May 2008. Mason is currently the chairman of the

New South Wales Electoral Commission The New South Wales Electoral Commission, known as the NSWEC or the NSW Electoral Commission is a statutory agency with responsibility for the administration, organisation, and supervision of elections in New South Wales. It reports to the NS ...

Biography

Mason graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

with degrees in Arts (1967) and law (1970). The university awarded him an honorary doctorate of laws in 2005. Mason was admitted as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

in 1970 and to the New South Wales Bar in 1972. He was appointed 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 ...

(QC) in 1981. He became president of the Court of Appeal in 1997. Mason was chairman of the New South Wales Law Reform Commission from 1985 to 1987 and 1989 to 1990. He was Solicitor-General of NSW from 1987 to 1997. Mason became president of the Children's Medical Research Foundation in 1995. Mason has also been a justice of the Supreme Court of Fiji. In 2006, he joined the Faculty of Law at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

as a Professorial Visiting Fellow. He is also a senior fellow at

Melbourne Law School Melbourne Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Melbourne. Located in Carlton, Victoria, Melbourne Law School is Australia's oldest law school, and offers Juris Doctor, J.D., Master of Laws, LL.M, Doctor of P ...

. For many years Mason has been chancellor of the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Diocese of Armidale. He is also the president of the National Appellate Tribunal, the highest

ecclesiastical court In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Histo ...

of appeals in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...

. Mason was appointed a Companion of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 2003 for service to the law and legal scholarship, to the judicial system in New South Wales, to the Anglican Church, and to the community.

Honours

Mason was appointed a Companion of the

(AC) in 2003 for "service to the law and legal scholarship, to the judicial system in New South Wales, to the Anglican Church, and to the community".

Publications

Mason is co-author of ''Restitution Law in Australia'' (1995) with Professor John Carter, as well as the second edition, ''Mason & Carter's Restitution Law in Australia'' (2008).

References

External links

Law Reform Commission of New South Wales
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Keith 1947 births Living people Australian King's Counsel Companions of the Order of Australia Solicitors general for New South Wales Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Presidents of the NSW Court of Appeal Supreme Court of Fiji justices Australian judges on the courts of Fiji University of Sydney alumni