The Senior Public Defender, Mark Ierace SC, has been appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of NSW, Attorney General Mark Speakman announced today.
"Mr Ierace brings nearly four decades of legal expertise to the judiciary, including 37 years as one of the most renowned criminal law barristers in NSW and internationally," Mr Speakman said.
"As the Senior Public Defender, he has appeared in hundreds of serious and high profile criminal trials for clients who have been granted legal aid.
"As a war-crimes prosecutor in the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, he led the team that prosecuted the commander of the Bosnian Serbian forces that perpetrated the siege of Sarajevo."
Mr Ierace has been a Senior Counsel since 1999. He is a member of the NSW Sentencing Council, an independent body which advises the government on issues relating to sentencing.
He has worked for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and as counsel assisting at the NSW Police Integrity Commission.
Mr Ierace has a Masters of International Law from Sydney University. From 2009 to 2012, he was a Senior Visiting Fellow in International Criminal Law at the University of New South Wales where he taught that subject.
In 1989, he published Intellectual Disability; A Criminal Lawyers Manual. In 1998 he was co-author of the second edition of Drug Law in NSW.
"I congratulate Mr Ierace on his appointment and wish him every success in the next stage of his impressive legal career," Mr Speakman said.
Mr Ierace will be sworn in as Supreme Court judge on 31 January 2019. In the Common Law Division he will replace Justice Lucy McCallum, who will join the Court of Appeal at the end of next month.
