The Victorian Government has today made four appointments to the County and Coroners Courts of Victoria.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes congratulated former Deputy State Coroner Caitlin English and barrister Peter Rozen QC on their appointments as County Court judges, former Coroner Jacqueline Hawkins on her appointment as a magistrate and Deputy State Coroner, and barrister Catherine Fitzgerald on her appointment as a coroner.
Judge English brings more than 22 years of judical experience to the County Court, having served at the Coroners Court since 2014, including as Acting State Coroner, and as a magistrate in the Melbourne and Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Courts from 2000.
Judge Rozen was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1988 and signed the Victorian Bar Roll in 1998. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2019.
That same year Judge Rozen was appointed senior counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, and in 2021 he served as counsel assisting in the St Basil’s nursing home inquest.
Deputy State Coroner Hawkins has served the Coroners Court since 2011, first as principal in-house solicitor, before being appointed as a coroner in 2014. Prior to this she was a partner at Lander & Rogers Lawyers. She has conducted numerous coronial inquests, including the Bourke Street tragedy inquiry.
Ms Fitzgerald was admitted to practice in 2004 and signed the bar roll in 2016. She has extensive experience in criminal law and coronial inquests.
Prior to her career as a barrister, she was a prosecutor at the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and Western Australian Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
As stated by Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes
“I commend these well-deserved appointments and look forward to their continued strong contribution to the County and Coroners Courts of Victoria.”
“These appointments bring broad and extensive experience from their respective legal careers and will be excellent additions to the Victorian court system.”
