ACT Magistrates Court welcomes four new magistrates

The ACT Magistrates Court announced the appointment of one new magistrate and three special magistrates last month.

ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury named Clayton Utz partner Ian Temby as magistrate, while Rebecca Christensen SC, Sean Richter, and Dr. Gregor Urbas were the new special magistrates. Rattenbury expressed his excitement for the four magistrates’ service to the Canberra community.

Temby has been in law for 20 years, 19 of which were spent practising in Canberra. He has worked across courts and tribunals in various jurisdictions, including the Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, and Victoria. He was a member of ACT Law Society Council in the year 2021-2022.

He has experience in administrative law, commercial law, property disputes, coronial inquiries, royal commissions, and investigations. He will commence in his new role on 30 January.

Meanwhile, the three special magistrates will take up their positions on the bench on 18 January. Their terms will last three years.

Crown prosecutor Christensen was appointed senior counsel last year. She has worked in the office of the ACT director of public prosecutions since 2016 with previous experience in Queensland, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands.

Richter has more than 25 years’ experience as a barrister, solicitor, and police prosecutor, practising primarily in the criminal, civil, industrial and workers compensation jurisdictions.

Ubas is an adjunct associate professor of law at the Australian National University. He is internationally recognised for his expertise in cybercrime, evidence law and intellectual property enforcement.

The ACT Law Society applauded the announcement and welcomed Richter to Canberra.