Michael Rozenes is the former Chief Judge of the County Court of Victoria, an intermediate court in Victoria, Australia. He presided over the County Court for thirteen years, retiring in June 2015.
Early life
Rozenes was born in the Polish city of Sosnowiec and migrated with his family to Australia at the age of three. He was educated at the North Caulfield State School and then at Brighton Grammar School. At Brighton Grammar Rozenes represented the school in football, cricket and tennis and was an accomplished sprinter. He then attended Monash University, graduating with a Bachelor of Jurisprudence in 1967 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1969.
Professional life
After graduating from university, Rozenes then served articles with Frank Galbally of the firm Galbally & O'Bryan and was admitted to the Supreme Courts of Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia in 1971, and subsequently signed the Bar Roll in 1972. From 1972 to 1976 he had a general criminal and common law practice and from 1977 to 1991 he practised exclusively in the criminal jurisdiction with a specialisation in complex taxation, corporate and appellant criminal cases. He appeared before numerous Royal Commissions, including the HIH Royal Commission, Builders' Royal Commission and Melbourne Ambulance Service Royal Commission. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1986. Over the course of his career at the Bar, Rozenes sat on the Victorian Bar Council, the Criminal Bar Association of Victoria Committee and the Victorian Bar Ethics Committee. In February 1992, he was appointed Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, and his initial three-year term was extended for a further two years. In 1997 Rozenes returned to practice at the private Bar and from 1998 to 2001, was Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association of Victoria. On 25 November 2002 Rozenes was appointed as the Chief Judge of the County Court of Victoria. He retired from the Court on 22 June 2015 and was eventually succeeded as Chief Judge by Senior Crown Prosecutor Peter Kidd SC.
"R v McManus and Harvey" Rozenes presided over the landmark media case during which two journalists refused to reveal their sources for a story they wrote for the Herald Sun newspaper. In sentencing the two journalists, Rozenes said: "Courts in Australia and England have made clear statements to the effect that journalists are not above the law and may not without penalty expect to be permitted to follow their personal collegiate standards where those standards conflict with the law of the land. Until that law is altered, if it is ever to be, then journalists remain in no different position than all other citizens." As a consequence of the case, federal and state governments in Australia moved to change the law to permit judges discretion to take into consideration the journalist's code of never revealing their source.
Junior in
A v Hayden 156 CLR 532 to G. Griffith QC;
Baker Plaintiff; and Campbell Defendant 153 CLR 52 to D M J Bennett QC.
Board memberships
Current board member, Judicial College of Victoria.
Current board member, Monash Law Foundation.
Current chairman, Victorian Electoral Boundaries Commission.
Current Convener, Life in the Law; a support group for law practitioners who are considering leaving the legal profession.
Former Council Member, The Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration Incorporated; Member, Project and Research Committee.
