Sanctus – Supreme Court Associate Justice Georgina Reding will be announced by the Government tomorrow as their nominee to replace outgoing Chief Justice Patrick Grey as the nation’s highest ranking jurist. Reding, who has been an associate justice on the Supreme Court since 2012, would be the first female Chief Justice if confirmed, as well as the first Chief Justice who previously served as an associate justice.
According to sources in the Department of Justice, Reding has been the frontrunner for the job for many months now, ever since Grey indicated privately to the government earlier this year that he wished to retire. It is believed that a number of other candidates were also interviewed, including former Attorney General Tara Gregory, and that all shortlisted candidates were female; Chancellor Ethan Ringrose had promised on the campaign trail during last year’s general election that he would be prioritising female and minority jurists for promotion to the federal court system when the opportunities arose.
It is also understood from the same sources, who cannot be named as they are not authorised to divulge this information, that Secretary for Justice Xander Morgan sought and received Chief Justice’s Grey opinion on Reding before the government moved forward with her nomination.
Educated at the Sanctus Academy of Law, Reding worked initially as a commercial lawyer specialising in contract law and mergers and acquisitions before switching to the family law department in the prestigious Brosnan, Connery, & Moore national law firm. She was nominated to the old Sanctarian 5th Circuit Court (now analogous to the 1st and 2nd federal district courts for Haven) by the Dawson government in 2001, and then to the old Sanctarian High Court in 2008 by the Turner government. She was nominated to the Supreme Court in 2012, also by the Turner government, following the impeachment of former Justice Julian Young.
After her formal nomination by Secretary Morgan in the House of Deputies tomorrow, it is expected the Senate Sub-committee on Justice will hold hearings next week, with potentially a confirmation vote by the whole body before the end of the month. Chief Justice Grey had previously said he would resign upon confirmation of his successor, and it’s believed the government is hoping for a 1st August start for the new Chief Justice, pending a successful confirmation by the upper house.
LOUISA SOUTER, Crime & Justice Correspondent
