NSW Law Service
The annual NSW Law Service was held recently in The Great Synagogue in Sydney.
Rabbi Dr Benjamin Elton, The Hon Tom Bathurst, Rabbi Phil Kaplan
Among those attending were NSW Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, the NSW Attorney General, Mark Speakman, the president of the Court of Appeal Andrew Bell, Justice Julie Ward, Chief Judge in Equity of the Supreme Court of NSW, Justice Derek Price, the Chief Judge of the New South Wales District Court, Michael McHugh, President of the NSW Bar Association, the immediate past President of The Great Synagogue Justice Stephen Rothman, Juliana Warner, President of the Law Society of NSW.
The president of the Great Synagogue David Lewis made a special mention of Ronald Sackville, former acting judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of NSW and judge of the Federal Court. He said: ” He is an esteemed member of The Great and was my Dean at UNSW and has been a major influence in my professional career.”
Others attending were judges from the Family Court, Federal Court, Land and Environment Court.
David Lewis added: We have always had a large and diverse attendance at our Law Service and this is a testament to the relationship we as a community have enjoyed in NSW and Australia.
Whilst we are proud of our contribution to Australian life, we are even more proud of the fact that our country espouses, and practices, strict principles of equity for all peoples. Your attendance this afternoon reinforces those principles.
The synagogue’s spiritual leader Rabbi Dr Ben Elton said: “We were delighted to welcome the judiciary and the legal profession to The Great Synagogue for our annual Law Service.
The Chief Justice was very keen to continue the service, even under Covid conditions, and we worked together to make sure the event was safe and complied with regulations.
The Choir was magnificent and the Chief Justice and Attorney-General spoke with warmth and wisdom as they always do.
We hope that next year the service will be entirely back to normal, with our usual reception to follow.”
