Michael Hargreaves Whitten

Michael Hargreaves Whitten is an Australian jurist who served as Lord Chief Justice of Tonga from September 2019 to September 2023.

Michael Hargreaves Whitten
Whitten sitting in the Court of Appeal of Tonga.
Chief Justice of Tonga
Assumed office
2 September 2019
Preceded byOwen Paulsen
Personal details
BornMackay, Queensland

Whitten grew up in Mackay, Queensland and is the son of a butcher and a boiler marker.[1] He worked as a public defender in Brisbane from 1986–88, and then as a clerk for a Queensland District Court judge from 1988 - 1989.[2] In 1990 he was admitted to the Queensland bar, and practiced criminal and family law.[2] He moved to Melbourne in 1996, where he practiced civil and commercial law.[2] In 2015 he was appointed a Queen's Counsel.[2]

In July 2019 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Tonga as Lord Chief Justice, replacing Owen Paulsen.[2][3] His term as Chief Justice began on 2 September 2019.[3]

As Chief Justice he presided over the appeal of former Prime Minister Sialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō against his bribery, money laundering and firearms convictions,[4] and over the electoral petition which saw cabinet minister Sione Sangster Saulala lose his seat following the 2021 Tongan general election.[5][6]

In 2020 his home in Tonga was destroyed by Cyclone Harold.[7]

He retired as chief justice in September 2023.[8]

References
  1. Zizi Averill (30 July 2019). "Lawyer's new royal duties; King taps Mackay man on shoulder". Daily Mercury. p. 4 – via GaleOneFile.
  2. "Appointment - Michael Whitten QC". Victorian Bar. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  3. "New Chief Justice named as Justice Michael Hargreaves Whitten". Kaniva Tonga. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  4. "Former Tonga PM fails in appeal bid". RNZ. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  5. "Saulala 'commits bribery', court says : another Tongan MP loses seat in election petitions". Kaniva Tonga. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  6. "Court finds Sangster Saulala committed bribery, Tongatapu no. 7 PR election void". Matangi Tonga. 2 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  7. Zizi Averill (13 April 2020). "Son's home hit by wave". Daily Mercury. p. 5 – via GaleOneFile.
  8. "Special session to farewell Tonga's Chief Justice Michael Whitten". Kaniva Tonga. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.


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