Solicitor-General of Victoria

The Solicitor-General of Victoria, known informally as the Solicitor-General, is the state's Second Law Officer and the deputy of the Attorney-General. The Solicitor-General acts alongside the Crown Advocate and Crown Solicitor, and serves as one of the legal and constitutional advisers of the Crown and its government in the Australian state of Victoria.

The Solicitor-General is addressed in court as "Mr/Ms Solicitor". Despite the title, the position may only be filled by a barrister admitted serving as Senior Counsel, for a period specific by the Governor of Victoria. The inaugural Solicitor-General was Redmond Barry, who serviced from 15 July 1851 to 18 January 1852. The current Solicitor-General is Rowena Orr KC.

History and function

Formerly, they were elected members of parliament, but have not been so since the early/mid twentieth century.[1] The functions of the Victorian Solicitor-General are two-fold. First, they act as Victoria's senior legal adviser. Second, they represent the state in significant legal proceedings where Victoria is party, or where the Victorian Attorney-General intervenes either in Commonwealth matters under section 78A of the Judiciary Act 1903 or in matters concerning the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 under s 34 of that Act. In 2003, Victoria appointed its first female Solicitor-General, Pamela Tate, following an unprecedented public advertising of the position.[2]

Name Appointed Concluded Comments Notes
Redmond Barry15 July 185118 January 1852Appointed Judge of the Supreme Court[3][4][5]
Edward Williams13 April 185220 July 1852Appointed Judge of the Supreme Court[3][6][7]
James Croke21 July 185228 November 1855[3][8][9]
Robert Molesworth4 January 1854 [lower-alpha 1]17 June 1856Appointed Judge of the Supreme Court[3][11][12]
Thomas Fellows27 June 185625 February 1857Appointed Attorney-General[3][13][14]
Robert Sitwell25 February 185711 March 1857[3][15][16]
John Wood11 March 185729 April 1857[3][17][18]
Thomas Fellows29 April 185710 March 1858[3][14][19]
Richard Ireland10 March 185827 October 1858[3][20][21]
Travers Adamson27 October 18595 March 1860[3][22][23]
James Martley5 March 186026 November 1860[3][24][25]
vacant27 November 18601 September 1869[3]
James Casey2 September 186920 September 1869Appointed Judge of the County Court[3][26][27]
Cole Aspinall [lower-alpha 2]19 January 18709 April 1870[3][28][29]
Henry Wrixon9 April 187019 June 1871[3][30][31]
Howard Spensley19 June 187110 June 1872[3][32][33]
George Kerferd10 June 187231 July 1874[3][34][35]
Townsend McDermott31 July 18747 August 1875[3][36][37]
vacant8 September 18758 July 1881[3]
Frank Dobson9 July 18818 March 1883[3][38][39]
Alfred Deakin12 March 188323 April 1884Elected Prime Minister of Australia[3][40][41]
vacant24 April 188431 August 1890[3]
Alfred Deakin1 September 18905 November 1890Elected Prime Minister of Australia[3][41][42]
vacant6 November 189015 February 1892[3]
George Turner16 February 189223 January 1893[3][43]
Isaac Isaacs23 January 189323 May 1893[3][44]
Agar Wynne6 June 189327 September 1894[3][45]
Sir Henry Cuthbert27 September 18945 December 1899[3][46]
John Davies5 December 189919 November 1900[3][47]
Agar Wynne19 November 190010 June 1902[3][45]
John Davies10 June 19026 February 1903[3][47]
William Irvine [lower-alpha 3]6 February 19037 September 1903[3][48]
vacant8 September 190315 February 1904[3]
John Davies [lower-alpha 3]16 February 190428 February 1908[3][47]
John Mackey28 February 19088 September 1908[49][50]
John Davies [lower-alpha 3]8 September 19088 January 1909[47][51]
James Drysdale Brown [lower-alpha 3]8 January 19099 December 1913[3][52]
William Evans [lower-alpha 3]9 December 191322 December 1913[3][53]
Donald Mackinnon [lower-alpha 3]22 December 19139 November 1915[3][54]
Harry Lawson [lower-alpha 3]9 November 191528 November 1917[3][55]
Agar Wynne [lower-alpha 3]29 November 191720 March 1918[56][45]
Arthur Robinson21 March 191820 January 1920[56][57][58]
Harry Lawson20 January 192020 September 1920[56][55][59]
Arthur Robinson [lower-alpha 3]20 September 192011 July 1924[56][60][58]
Henry Cohen KC [lower-alpha 3]11 July 192417 July 1924[56][61][62]
Bill Slater [lower-alpha 3]18 July 192418 November 1924[56][63][64]
Sir Frederic Eggleston [lower-alpha 3]18 November 192427 April 1927[56][65]
John Allan [lower-alpha 3]28 April 192719 May 1927[56][66]
Bill Slater [lower-alpha 3]20 May 192721 November 1928[64]
Ian Macfarlan [lower-alpha 3]26 November 192811 December 1929[56][67]
Bill Slater [lower-alpha 3]12 December 192918 May 1932[64]
Robert Menzies [lower-alpha 3]19 May 193224 July 1934[56][68]
Ian Macfarlan [lower-alpha 3]25 July 193420 March 1935[56][67]
Harold Cohen20 March 19352 April 1935[56][69][70]
Lou Bussau [lower-alpha 3]2 April 19351 April 1938[56][71][72]
Albert Dunstan22 April 193813 September 1943[56][73][74]
Bill Slater [lower-alpha 3]14 September 194317 September 1943[64]
Ian Macfarlan [lower-alpha 3]18 September 194320 November 1945[56][67]
Bill Slater [lower-alpha 3]21 November 194519 November 1947[64]
Trevor Oldham [lower-alpha 3]20 November 194726 June 1950[56][75]
Tom Mitchell [lower-alpha 3]27 June 195012 December 1951[56][76]
Sir Henry Winneke QC12 December 19511 September 1964Senior Counsel to the Attorney-General (1950-1951).
Appointed Chief Justice of Victoria		[77][78]
Tony Murray QC2 September 19644 September 1974[79][80]
Daryl Dawson QC5 September 197415 August 1982Appointed Justice of the High Court of Australia[81]
Hartog Berkeley QC16 September 19821992[82][83]
Raymond Finkelstein QC (acting)19921992[56]
Douglas Graham QC19922002[84]
Pamela Tate SC8 July 20031 September 2010Appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal[2]
Stephen McLeish SC1 April 201110 March 2015Appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal[85]
Richard Niall SC10 June 201528 November 2017Appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal[86]
Kristen Walker QC28 November 201710 May 2021Appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal[87]
Rowena Orr KC10 May 2021[88]

See also

Notes
  1. acting from 4 January 1854 to 28 November 1855.[10]
  2. Appointed on after his resignation from the Legislative Assembly[28]
  3. Appointed both Attorney-General and Solicitor-General

References
  1. Solicitor-General Act 1951 (Vic) s2(1) "As on and from the commencement of this Act the office of Solicitor-General shall not be held by a responsible Minister of the Crown".
  2. "Media Release: Pamela Tate Victoria's First Female Solicitor-General". Legislation.vic.gov.au. 8 July 2003. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008.
  3. "Part 1 Blue Book" (PDF). Statistical Register of the State of Victoria for the year 1916.
  4. "Appointments – Solicitor General - Redmond Barry". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 15 July 1851. p. 1851:80.
  5. "Sir Redmond Barry". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  6. "Appointments – Solicitor General - Edward Williams". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 13 April 1852. p. 1852:351.
  7. "Williams, Sir Edward Eyre". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  8. "Appointments – Solicitor General - James Croke". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 21 July 1852. p. 1852:716.
  9. "James Croke". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  10. "Appointment Solicitor General Robert Molesworth (acting)". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 6 January 1854. p. 1854:37.
  11. "Appointment Solicitor General Robert Molesworth". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 28 November 1855. p. 1855:3125.
  12. "Sir Robert Molesworth". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  13. "Appointment Solicitor General Thomas Fellows". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 28 June 1856. p. 1856:1083.
  14. "Thomas Howard Fellows". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  15. "Appointment Solicitor General Robert Sitwell". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 26 February 1857. p. 1857:361.
  16. "Robert Sacheverell Wilmot Sitwell". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  17. "Appointment Solicitor General John Wood". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 11 March 1857. p. 1857:469.
  18. "John Dennistoun Wood". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
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  20. "Appointment Solicitor General Richard Ireland MLA". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 10 March 1858. p. 1858:477.
  21. "Richard Davies Ireland". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  22. "Appointment Solicitor-General Travers Adamson". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 27 October 1859. p. 1859:2299.
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  24. "Appointment Solicitor-General James Martley". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 5 March 1860. p. 1860:441.
  25. "James Frederick Martley". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  26. "Appointment Solicitor-General James Casey MLA". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 2 September 1869. p. 1869:1315.
  27. "James Joseph Casey". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  28. "Appointment Solicitor-General Cole Aspinal". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 19 January 1870. p. 1870:69.
  29. "Butler Cole Aspinall". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  30. "Appointment Solicitor-General Henry Wrixon MLA". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 9 April 1870. p. 1870:599.
  31. "Sir Henry John Wrixon". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  32. "Appointment Solicitor-General Howard Spensley MLA". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 19 June 1871. p. 1871:969.
  33. "Howard Spensley". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  34. "Appointment Solicitor-General George Kerford MLA". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 10 June 1872. p. 1872:1125.
  35. "Kerferd, George Briscoe". Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  36. "Appointment Solicitor-General Townsend McDermott MLA". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 31 July 1874. p. 1874:1459.
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  39. Barrow, Elizabeth. "Dobson, Frank Stanley (1835 - 1895)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538.
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  40. "Appointment Solicitor-General Alfred Deakin MLA". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 12 March 1883. p. 1883:2569.
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