Kenneth Madison Hayne (born 5 June 1945) is a former
Justice
In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
of the
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation.
The High Court was establi ...
, the highest court in 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 ...
.
Early life and education
Hayne was born in
Gympie
Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. Located in the Greater Sunshine Coast, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River ( ...
, Queensland and attended
Scotch College, Melbourne
Scotch College is a private, Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The college was established in 1851 as The Melbourne Academy in a house in Spri ...
. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from 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 ...
, during which time he resided at
Ormond College. Hayne was Editor of the ''
Melbourne University Law Review''. He then graduated with a
Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL or B.C.L.; ) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge; at Oxford, the BCL contin ...
from
Exeter College,
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
. He was also a
Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world.
Esta ...
.
He is the husband of another High Court Judge,
Michelle Gordon
Michelle Marjorie Gordon (born 19 November 1964) is a Justice of the High Court of Australia. She was appointed to the High Court in June 2015. Prior to her appointment, she was a Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, to which she was appoi ...
.
Career
Kenneth Hayne was admitted as a barrister and solicitor 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 ...
in 1971 and was appointed as a
Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1984.
Judicial activity
Kenneth Hayne joined the bench in 1992 when he was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. From 7 June 1995 he sat on the Court of Appeal 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 ...
, which is the
highest court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in the
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 ...
n
State
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
of
Victoria.
Hayne was appointed as a Justice of the High Court in September 1997. He retired in 2015 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70, in accordance with Section 72 of the
Australian Constitution
The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...
. He was replaced on the High Court by his wife, Federal Court judge
Michelle Gordon
Michelle Marjorie Gordon (born 19 November 1964) is a Justice of the High Court of Australia. She was appointed to the High Court in June 2015. Prior to her appointment, she was a Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, to which she was appoi ...
.
Hayne has been described as being a part of a 'core' of judges during his time on the High Court, usually forming the majority, and often writing joint reasons with Justice
William Gummow. One notable exception was Hayne's dissent in ''
Thomas v Mowbray'', where he joined Justice
Michael Kirby in holding the Commonwealth's regime of interim control orders applied in respect of suspected terrorists to be unconstitutional. Another, more recent, example is ''Kuczborski v Queensland''
014 014 may refer to:
* Argus As 014
The Argus As 014 (designated 109-014 by the Ministry of Aviation (Germany), RLM) was a pulsejet engine used on the German V-1 flying bomb of World War II, and the first model of pulsejet engine placed in mass pr ...
HCA 46 in which Hayne J was the sole dissenter.
He serves as a
commercial court judge, applying English Common Law, on the ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) Courts.
Royal Commissioner
In December 2017 Hayne was appointed to head the
Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. The inquiry received continual media coverage and the report was delivered on 1 February 2019.
Later public life
In July 2019 (published in early August), in his first public statement since the Commission, Hayne diagnosed an increasing demand for royal commissions as a symptom that "
ust in all sorts of institutions, governmental and private, has been damaged or destroyed". In his view, the public sees Australia's “opaque” decision-making processes as “skewed, if not captured” by powerful vested interests, while leaders are “unable to conduct reasoned debates about policy matters” but instead resort to the “language of war” and seek to “portray opposing views as presenting existential threats to society as we now know it”. He noted, in particular, political reactions to the
Uluru Statement from the Heart.
In August 2020, Hayne called upon all sides in politics to end "dialogue of the deaf", as in hyper-partisan conflict over climate change and over the Indigenous voice to parliament proposed in the Uluru Statement. He hoped that the Covid-19 pandemic would encourage governmental institutions to trust the public more with the truth, so that in response the public might have greater trust in them.
Notable judgments
*''
Al-Kateb v Godwin''
004 indefinite detention of a stateless person
*''
Thomas v Mowbray''
007
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
concerning the validity of interim control orders
*''
''
007
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
concerning the validity of Commonwealth legislation preventing prisoners from voting
*''
HML v The Queen; SB v The Queen; OAE v The Queen''
008 008, OO8, O08, or 0O8 may refer to:
* "008", a fictional 00 Agent
In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the derived films, the 00 Section of MI6 is considered the secret service's elite. A 00 (pronounced "Double O") is a field agent who ho ...
relevance and admissibility of evidence, as well as directions to jury.
*''
Rowe v Electoral Commissioner''
010 concerning the validity of Commonwealth legislation restricting the time in which a voter may seek to enrol in an election
*''
South Australia v Totani
''South Australia v Totani'' is a List of High Court of Australia cases, landmark Australian Judgment (law), judgment of the High Court of Australia, High Court concerning the extent to which the legislative power of an States and territories of ...
''
010 issue regarding the separation of powers and in particular, parliament directing the courts
*''
Australian Electoral Commission v Johnston''
014 014 may refer to:
* Argus As 014
The Argus As 014 (designated 109-014 by the Ministry of Aviation (Germany), RLM) was a pulsejet engine used on the German V-1 flying bomb of World War II, and the first model of pulsejet engine placed in mass pr ...
/small> (sitting alone as the Court of Disputed Returns) invalidating the Western Australian Senate election from the 2013 federal election
Honours
Hayne received Australia's highest civil honour when he 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 ...
(AC) in 2002 for service to the judiciary, to the law as an outstanding scholar, barrister and jurist, and to the community in the advancement of both legal and general education. Hayne is a patron of the ''
Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal''.
See also
*
Judiciary of Australia
*
List of Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria
References
External links
Hayne's biography on the High Court of Australia websiteSupreme Court of Victoria Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayne, Kenneth
1945 births
Living people
Justices of the High Court of Australia
Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria
Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford
Companions of the Order of Australia
Melbourne Law School alumni
Australian Rhodes Scholars
Australian King's Counsel
People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne
People from Gympie