New Judge Announced

31 October 2022

Attorney General Mark Speakman SC today announced the appointment of barrister Dr Sarah Pritchard SC as a judge of the Land and Environment Court​. View the media release (PDF, 159.4 KB). Dr Pritchard SC will be sworn in on 15 November 2022 at 9:15am in the Banco Court, Level 13, Law Courts Building, Queens Square, Sydney.

Dr Pritchard is a leading barrister in administrative, criminal, planning and environmental, native title and human rights law. Dr Pritchard was called to the Bar in 1999 and appointed Senior Counsel in 2012. Prior to this, she was an Australian Research Council post-doctoral fellow, senior lecturer in law and Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She is a former director of the Australian Human Rights Centre at UNSW. Dr Pritchard was associate to Justice Michael McHugh AC KC in the High Court of Australia and previously in the NSW Court of Appeal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (UNSW) 1985, a Bachelor of Laws (UNSW) 1986, a Master of Laws 1988 and a Doctor of Laws (magna cum laude) (Universität Tübingen) 1994.

Dr Pritchard is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and has been actively involved with legal professional bodies, including the Law Council of Australia and NSW Bar Association as a member of various committees and working groups, and as Chairperson of their respective Human Rights Committees.