In June 2022, after almost 12 years as a judge of the County Court of Victoria, I retired from that position. COVID hastened my departure as the administration of justice became mired in a blur of protocols, RAT tests, WebEx hearings and the constant risk of infection. Just like any other workplace no doubt, although as one judge observed, it isn’t right to sentence an offender to a lengthy term of imprisonment from a kitchen table. From time to time I was sentencing offenders with my Jack Russell, Terry, sitting at my feet. He’d come a long way from the rescue dogs shelter.

A fundamental feature of our system of justice is that it takes place in an open public court. COVID upended this and I found myself hearing complex cases and passing sentence alone and from home. The isolation of life as a judge became more acute; the court building was empty and when it did reopen a RAT tent adorned the forecourt. Plainly, all the protocols were necessary for the court to operate, but the space in the judicial function opened by COVID was quickly filled by administrators and spreadsheets. The lines between the judicial and the executive function had become blurred.