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

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of the

Court of Appeal of New South Wales A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordan ...

, the highest civil court in the State of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, 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. The High Court of Australia sits at the apex of the Australian court hierarchy as the ultimate court of appeal on matte ...

, 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 is a statutory agency with responsibility for the administration, organisation, and supervision of elections in New South Wales. It reports to the NSW Government Department of Premier and Cabinet. ...

Biography

Mason graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

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 in 1970 and to the

New South Wales Bar The New South Wales Bar Association is a professional body of lawyers responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The body administers the bar examination in accordance with the Legal Profe ...

in 1972. He was appointed as a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

(QC) in 1981. He became president of the Court of Appeal in 1997. Mason was chairman of the

New South Wales Law Reform Commission The New South Wales Law Reform Commission is a commission to investigate, review and advise on the reform of the law in New South Wales, a state of Australia. The present commission came into existence on 25 September 1967 although it had been ...

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 The Supreme Court of Fiji is one of three courts established by the now-defunct Chapter 9 of the Constitution, the others being the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court is declared to be ''"the final appellate court of the S ...

. In 2006, he joined the Faculty of Law at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

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

ecclesiastical court An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than ...

of appeals in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the ...

. Mason was appointed a Companion of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

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