New appointment to the Court of Appeal

Attorney-General Robert Clark today announced the appointment of Joseph Santamaria QC as a judge of the Court of Appeal.

Mr Clark said Mr Santamaria was a leading member of the Victorian Bar of over 35 years’ standing.

Mr Santamaria was admitted to practice in 1973 and joined the bar in 1978, becoming a Queen’s Counsel in 1994.

He has an extensive practice in commercial law, equity, superannuation, taxation and public law.

Mr Santamaria has served on numerous professional and public bodies relating to the law, including the Companies Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, the Ethics Committee of the Victorian Bar and the Council of Legal Education.

He has also served as Chairman of the Continuing Education Committee of the Bar and as a member and Chairperson of the Board of Examiners.

Mr Santamaria graduated from the University of Melbourne with first class honours in Law before studying at Oxford University, where he completed a BCL and B.Litt.

He was for many years a lecturer in Law at the University of Melbourne, where between 1977 and 1986 he lectured in subjects including Advanced Criminal Law, Advanced Administrative Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Public International Law, Company Law and Jurisprudence. Later, Mr Santamaria taught Company Reconstructions, Company Takeovers, and Biomedical Ethics and the Law in the LLM Program.

Mr Santamaria is also the co-author of the leading text on mergers and acquisitions in Australia.

“I congratulate Mr Santamaria on his appointment to the Court of Appeal, and look forward to his further contribution to Victoria’s legal system,” Mr Clark said.