Michael Kirby

Michael Kirby   (judge)
Born	8 March 1939
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	Fort Street High School, University of Sydney
Religion	Anglican
Siblings	David Kirby
Spouse	Johan van Vloten
Member of	Australian Institute of International Affairs, Trilateral Commission
Australian judge later joining the international atrocity propaganda circuit  Justice of the High Court of Australia In office 6 February 1996 - 2 February 2009  Chancellor In office 1984 - 1993 Employer Macquarie University

Michael Donald Kirby is an Australian jurist and academic who is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, serving from 1996 to 2009. He has remained active in retirement; in May 2013 he was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to lead an inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea, which reported in February 2014.

UN Report into North Korean Human Rights Abuses

His commission based its report and positions almost exclusively on the testimony of defector Shin Dong Hyuk, which easily could be shown to have serious credibility problems. A member of the commission referred to him as the world's "single strongest voice" on alleged North Korean human rights abuses. Shin was the first defector to have his testimony on human rights in North Korea heard by the United Nations.

Career

Kirby was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1967.

Kirby became the youngest man appointed to federal judicial office in 1975, when he was appointed Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, a tribunal which adjudicated labour disputes.

In 1983, Kirby was appointed a judge in the Federal Court of Australia, before an appointment as President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal, a superior court in that state's legal system, in 1984. During that period, he was also the President of the Court of Appeal of Solomon Islands from 1995 to 1996.

From 1984 until 1993, Kirby held the position of Chancellor at Macquarie University.

In February 1996, Kirby was appointed to the High Court of Australia. He has served on many other boards and committees, notably the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) and the CSIRO. He is Patron of the Friends of Libraries Australia (FOLA) and many other bodies.

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