Attorney General Michael Daley today announced the appointment of 2 highly respected barristers, Grant Brady SC and David Barrow SC, to the District Court.
Mr Brady has been a legal practitioner since 1990 and was admitted to the NSW Bar in 2000 becoming Senior Counsel in 2015. He has appeared in numerous District Court and Supreme Court trials in NSW and other Australian jurisdictions. He has appeared in the Court of Criminal Appeal as well as appearing as Counsel Assisting for the Independent Commission Against Corruption and in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Mr Brady has also coached advocacy for the past 20 years all around Australia as well as in England, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore and India.
Mr Barrow comes to the bench after an esteemed career with Legal Aid. He was recently appointed as a Senior Counsel and has extensive court experience that includes appearing in criminal trials and sentence proceedings in the Local, District and Supreme jurisdictions.
In the Coroners Court, he has appeared as Counsel Assisting the Coroner and represented family members and interested parties. Mr Barrow has also appeared as junior counsel in the High Court and appeared in numerous matters before the Court of Criminal Appeal.
The 2 appointments will support the expansion of the Child Sexual Offence Evidence Program to all District Court locations in NSW. A third judge will be appointed in due course.
The program provides crucial support to child complainants and child prosecution witnesses in sexual offence proceedings. It allows them to have their evidence pre-recorded, with the recording later played in court. This approach aims to reduce the stress and trauma experienced by these children and enables them to complete their evidence at an early stage of the trial. It is expected that more than 140 extra pre-recorded evidence hearings will take place each year.
Grant Brady SC will be sworn in at a ceremonial sitting at 9am on Friday 9 February 2024.
David Barrow SC will be sworn in at 9am on Monday 12 February 2024.
Quotes attributable to the NSW Attorney General Michael Daley:
“I would like to congratulate Mr Brady and Mr Barrow on their appointments to the District Court.
“They are highly credentialed, and their deep experience will be extremely valuable to the Court. I would like to thank them for agreeing to join the bench.”