Chris Kourakis

Christopher John Kourakis (born 17 June 1958) is a Greek Australian lawyer and judge. Since 2012 he has been Chief Justice of South Australia.

The Honorable
Chris Kourakis
SC
9th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia
Assumed office
25 June 2012
Preceded byJohn Doyle (judge)
Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia
Assumed office
21 August 2008
Solicitor-General of South Australia
In office
3 February 2003 – 2008
Preceded byBradley Selway QC
Succeeded byMartin Hinton QC

Early life and education

Kourakis was born on 17 June 1958[1] grew up in Port Lincoln as one of ten children[2] of Greek migrants Evangelos and Roxani Kourakis.[1] His parents originated from the Greek island of Ikaria.[3]

He was educated at the University of Adelaide.[1]

Career

Kourakis practised at the Independent Bar in South Australia from 1989 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1997. He was President of the Law Society of South Australia from 2001. In 2003 he was appointed as the Solicitor-General of South Australia.[1][4][5]

When the South Australian government decided to cease appointing Queen's Counsel and the Chief Justice of South Australia began appointing Senior Counsel, Kourakis resigned his commission as Queen's Counsel to become Senior Counsel instead.

In 2008, Kourakis was appointed to the Supreme Court of South Australia and in 2012, he was elevated to the position of Chief Justice.

In August 2022, he overturned a decision by the former Premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall, to allow for exploratory mining to go ahead on Lake Torrens, citing concerns that Kelaray's heritage plan and procedures would "substantially detract" from the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988.[6][7]

In February 2023, together with Attorney-General of South Australia Kyam Maher, Kourakis announced several new appointments to the SA judicial system. Among the appointees were the first two Aboriginal Australians to be appointed to the Magistrates Court of South Australia, Lana Chester and Natalie Brown.[8]

References
  1. Emerson, John (2006). History of the Independent Bar of South Australia. Papinian Publishing. p. 179. ISBN 0-86396-835-X.
  2. Pappas, Penni (23 November 2012). "Chris Kourakis: right place, right time". Neos Kosmos. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  3. "Supreme Court Justice Chris Kourakis on growing up in a migrant family". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 June 2012.
  4. Williamson, Brett (2 July 2012). "Getting to know South Australia's new Chief Justice". ABC. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  5. Appleby, G (2016). Role of the Solicitor-General. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 322. ISBN 9781509903962.
  6. Richards, Stephanie (25 August 2022). "Chief Justice overturns drilling approval at Aboriginal heritage site". InDaily. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  7. Ward, Nicholas (26 August 2022). "Supreme Court overturns miner's authorisation to drill at Lake Torrens". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  8. Katsaras, Jason (2 February 2023). "SA's first Aboriginal magistrates appointed". InDaily. Retrieved 4 February 2023.


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