Ruth Stephanie McColl (born 1950) is a judge of the Court of Appeal of the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

, the highest 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 ...

Education

McColl studied at Willoughby Girls' High School. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws 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 ...

in 1975.Who's Who in Australia

Career

McColl worked as a solicitor in the NSW Crown Solicitor's Office from 1976 to 1980. In 1980, McColl was admitted to the NSW Bar. She was appointed senior counsel in 1994. From 1981 until 2001 McColl was elected as a member of the Bar Council of the NSW Bar Association and from 1999 to 2001 she was president of the New South Wales Bar Association – the first woman to serve in that position. From 2001 to 2002, McColl was president of the Australian Bar Association, McColl has also served as vice-president of Australian Women Lawyers (1996–99) and President of NSW Women Lawyers (1996–1997). She has been a part-time Commissioner of the New South Wales Law Reform Commission, President of the Public Interest Law Clearing House (1999–2002), Assistant Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (1998–2000), and Counsel assisting the Coroner in relation to the inquest into the 1997 Thredbo landslide. In 2003, McColl was appointed a judge of appeal of the

NSW Court of Appeal The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeal operates pursu ...

. McColl is the current president of the Judicial Conference of Australia.

Honours

In 2004, McColl was made an Officer 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 ...

for service to the law, to continuing professional development and education, particularly for women, and to the community in matters affecting Indigenous groups and youth.''Order of Australia''
in ''The Australian'', 26 January 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McColl, Ruth Living people Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Australian women judges 1950 births Australian Senior Counsel Officers of the Order of Australia