James B. Thomas

James Burrows Thomas, QC, BA, LLB, A.M was an Australian Judge serving on the Supreme Court of Queensland in Queensland (Qld).

Thomas brought an unusually broad knowledge of life into his judicial career commencing his education at a public school Windsor State School and being a former builder's labourer. [http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/publications/articles/speeches/2002/Thomas220302.pdf Retirement Speech - Thomas JA] , "Queensland Courts", 23 March 2002] [http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/about/bios/ca_thomas.htm The Honourable Justice James Burrows Thomas, A.M.] , "Queensland Courts", 10 March 2003] At high school at age 16 he commenced work as a builder's labourer and continued that work 2 months each year for six years. Later as a Judge his work included decisions in Criminal Law. [ [http://www.austlii.edu.au//cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/cases/qld/QCA/2001/327.html?query=james%20and%20thomas Supreme Court of Queensland - Court of Appeal R v Schaefer 2001 QCA 327 (10 August 2001)] , "Australasian Legal Information Institute", 21 September 2001]

He completed a law degree at University of Queensland in 1958 and commenced practice as a barrister the same year. As a barrister he was promoted to Queens Counsel in 1976.

In 1993 he submitted a paper on jury reform. [ [Reform of the Jury System in Queensland] , "Report of the Criminal Procedure Division of the Litigation Reform Commission" , August 1993] In 1994 he received a Member of the Order of Australia award (AM) for services to music education and legal ethics.

In 1998 he was promoted to the Queensland Supreme Court, Court of Appeal. [ [http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/about/former/default.htm#Qld%20Court%20of%20Appeal Queensland Judges Past and Present] , "Queensland Courts", 2003] Work as a Supreme Court Judge appealed to his intellect as he enjoys solving puzzles and described his work as a Judge as "being paid to do puzzles that I enjoy doing".

He retired in 2002 citing the fact that he was an outdoor person and the desire to retire early enough to "get a life while he still has one".

In 2007 the Queensland DPP reportedly relied upon his Criminal Law expertise in seeking his advice before making a decision regarding evidence in the Chris Hurley case. [ [http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21146124-5007200,00.html DPP had a second opinion] , "Courier Mail", 31 January 2007]

ee also

* Palm Island 2004

References