Virginia Bell (judge)

Early life and education

Virginia Margaret Bell was born on 7 March 1951 in Sydney, New South Wales, the daughter of a naval captain, John Bell. As a child, she lived for some years at the Garden Island naval base in Sydney, where her father was general manager. John Bell was estate manager for the University of Wollongong, and oversaw the design and layout of the campus. He was made a Fellow of the University in 1986. She has one brother.

Bell was educated at SCEGGS Darlinghurst, where she excelled academically and took an interest in drama.

She then attended both Dame Doris Fitton's School of Dramatic Art at the Independent Theatre

As a young woman, Bell was a prominent advocate of prison reform, and a member of the group Women Behind Bars.

Legal career

Bell was admitted as a solicitor of New South Wales in 1977 and worked as a solicitor at the Redfern Legal Centre in Sydney from 1978 to 1984, and was involved in several landmark civil liberties cases. She was also instrumental in the establishment of the Prisoners' Legal Service.

On 20 December 1984,

Between 1982 and 1984, Bell was a member of the Board of Governors of the Law Foundation. She was one of the counsel assisting the Wood Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service between 1994 and 1997. On 6 November 1997, she was appointed Senior Counsel.

From 1997 to 1999, she served as a part-time Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission of New South Wales.

Judicial career

On 25 March 1999, Bell was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. She also served as chair of the University of Wollongong Law Faculty Advisory Committee from 2007 to 2008.

Bell was elevated to the New South Wales Court of Appeal in early 2008, resigning on 19 December 2008 in order to be appointed to the High Court of Australia.

In December 2008, Attorney-General Robert McClelland announced that Bell would succeed Michael Kirby on the High Court. She was sworn in on 3 February 2009. She was the 48th person and the fourth woman appointed to the High Court since the federation of Australia in 1901.

Bell retired on 28 February 2021.

Significant cases

Bell was one of six High Court Justices who presided over the case Monis v The Queen in 2013, which was headed by Chief Justice Robert French. The case dealt with implied freedom of political communication, examining the constitutionality of a law that prevents people from targeting others through the mail using "offensive and harassing speech". In their judgments, Bell and the two other justices upheld this law, while three justices (including French) dissented.

Other activities

Bell has long been involved in the LGBT and human rights issues, participating in the first Mardi Gras LGBT rights rally in Sydney in 1978, which was broken up by police. In 1979 she participated in the inaugural "Gays and the Law" forum as part of the National Summer Offensive for Gay Rights, where she advocated for the equal right of lesbian prisoners to conjugal visits.

Bell is a lover of theatre, and known for her sense of humour. Under the stage name "Ginger de Winter", she was barrel-spinner on television game shows, and was president of the "Australian Barrel Girls Association". She was patron of the Rose Scott Women Writers' Festival for some years.

Bell was appointed host of the ABC Radio National program Late Night Live in 1990, succeeding fellow lawyer Richard Ackland.

Speeches

Bell has been called upon to give a number of addresses and lectures during her time at the High Court, the transcripts of which are available online. These include:

• 2013: "Section 80 - The Great Constitutional Tautology", for The Lucinda Lecture, Monash University
• 2014: Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation Lecture, honouring Tristan Jepson, a law graduate and comedic actor and writer who suicided aged 26 in 2004
• 2015: "Magna Carta – Resonances in the Common Law of Australia", Spring Conversazione, Melbourne
• 2016: "Equality, Proportionality and Dignity: The Guiding Principles for a Just Legal System", the Sir Ninian Stephen Lecture, University of Newcastle Conservatorium Concert Hall, Newcastle, New South Wales
• 2017: "Examining The Judge", speech at the launch of volume 40 of the University of New South Wales Law Journal
• 2018: Criminal Law Stream, Australian Bar Association & New South Wales Bar Association National Conference
• 2019: The Sir James Martin Oration, honouring SirJames Martin, who was premier of the Colony of New South Wales three times before becoming the fourth Chief Justice

Post-retirement appointments

Inquiry into joint ministerial positions

On 26 August 2022, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced that the government had appointed Bell "to lead an inquiry into the appointment of former Prime Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, to administer departments other than the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and related matters". The report was published on 25 November.

Royal Commission into anti-Semitism

On 8 January 2026, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, following the 2025 Bondi Beach shooting, to be led by Bell. Its terms of reference and overall direction have been supported by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Zionist Federation of Australia, and the Business Council of Australia.

Albanese said that the appointment had been decided after consultation and discussion, after looking at over a dozen suggested names. However, there was nobody else of Bell's standing, as a former High Court justice and who has a background in criminal law and is "widely respected across the board". While various mainstream media have reported that some Jewish Australians wanted a commissioner whom they saw may be more sympathetic to anti-Semitism concerns, and Liberal politician Josh Frydenberg expressed his disagreement with the choice, the Law Council of Australia, which had advocated for the establishment of the Royal Commission, expressed appreciation for her appointment. LCA president Tania Wolff said that she is "an eminent Australian jurist", and that "the conduct of royal commissions are governed by clear and well-established legal principles... In Australia, judges decide matters impartially and independently, by applying the law to the evidence before them. They do not act on personal views, political considerations, or public pressure". Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said "Her experience speaks for itself".

Recognition and honours

On 26 January 2012, Bell was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for "eminent service to the judiciary and to the law through leadership in criminal law reform and public policy development, to judicial administration, and as an advocate for the economically and socially disadvantaged".

On 19 December 2013, Bell received a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from the University of Wollongong. She was also a recipient of an honorary degree from the University of Sydney.

Commentary

On her appointment to the High Court, Australian Law Reform Commission president David Weisbrot opined that Bell would be a "progressive" jurist in the tradition of Michael Kirby. Kate Hannon wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald that her appointment was "welcomed as redressing a lack of criminal law expertise on the bench of Australia's superior court, and as going some way towards correcting the gender imbalance". Commentator Natasha Stojanovich noted the "disproportionate media focus on Justice Bell's gender and commitment to social justice sadly distract from the strong merit of her appointment".

Jeremy Gans, a Melbourne Law School professor, wrote in 2018 that Bell's partnership with Susan Kiefel and Patrick Keane was "the most powerful bloc of judges in the court's history". Gans found that the three justices had been in agreement in 88 percent of the 116 cases where they had sat together.

Personal life

As of 2009 Bell was living in inner Sydney with her partner, a barrister.

Bell has retained a strong interest in the arts and theatre throughout her life.

References

References

1. McClelland, Robert. (15 December 2008). "New Justice of the High Court". Attorney General for Australia.
2. "Virginia Margaret Bell".
3. Gullett, Warwick. (19 December 2013). "The Hon Justice Virginia Bell AC".
4. Busch, Brittany. (8 January 2026). "Virginia Bell: Meet the woman flagged by Albanese government to lead antisemitism royal commission".
5. Hole, Margaret. (25 March 1999). "Swearing in Ceremony of The Honourable Virginia Margaret Bell, SC as a Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW". Supreme Court of New South Wales.
6. (14 July 1981). "Dugan on charge of attempted armed robbery". The Canberra Times.
7. Narushima, Yuko. (16 December 2008). "On a roll: from barrel girl to High Court judge".
8. Hannon, Kate. (15 December 2008). "Virginia Bell to be High Court judge". The Sydney Morning Herald.
9. (3 February 2009). "Justice Bell to be sworn in as High Court judgeJustice Bell to be sworn in as High Court judge". ABC News.
10. (Winter 2009). "Appointments: The Hon Justice Virginia Bell". Bar News.
11. (15 December 2008). "High Court gets fourth woman". The Sydney Morning Herald.
12. (2021). "The books that shaped me".
13. (19 December 2025). "The Mason Conversation".
14. (27 February 2013). "Monis v The Queen [2013] HCA 4 (27 February 2013)".
15. Levy, Ron. (9 January 2026). "Virginia Bell's record on the High Court shows why she might be the right person to lead the royal commission into antisemitism". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]].
16. (17 December 2008). "New justice a '78er". Sydney Star Observer.
17. (19 December 1979). "Gay summer offensive". Tribune.
18. (12 February 1990). "A late-night spot of mental stimulation". [[The Canberra Times]].
19. (21 January 1991). "ABC Radio secure Phillip Adams coup on second swoop". The Canberra Times.
20. (9 September 2019). "Speeches/Articles".
21. (7 September 2006). "Down by law, with the black dog".
22. Dreyfus, Mark. (26 August 2022). "Establishment of Inquiry into the appointment of The Hon Scott Morrison MP to multiple departments".
23. Grattan, Michelle. (4 October 2023). "Former High Court judge Virginia Bell to investigate Morrison's secret ministries".
24. Bell, Virginia. (25 November 2022). "Report of the Inquiry into the Appointment of the Former Prime Minister to Administer Multiple Departments".
25. (10 January 2026). "Minute paper for the Executive Council".
26. (8 January 2026). "Former High Court justice Virginia Bell to lead Bondi royal commission".
27. Viñales, Pablo. (8 January 2026). "Who is Virginia Bell, the woman who will head the royal commission into antisemitism?".
28. Doraisamy, Jerome. (9 January 2026). "Virginia Bell's experience 'speaks for itself': A-G, PM defend royal commission appointment".
29. Wood, Richard. (8 January 2026). "Prime Minister rejects criticism of former judge leading Bondi attack royal commission".
30. (26 January 2012). "Bell honoured for life of social justice". The Sydney Morning Herald.
31. (16 December 2008). "Virginia Bell rings in new era for High Court". [[The Australian]].
32. Pelly, Michael. (31 July 2018). "High Court troika 'the most powerful bloc of judges in history'". The Australian Financial Review.
33. (20 December 2008). "NSW Supreme Court farewells High Court appointee Virginia Bell". The Australian.
34. Marsden, John. (c. 2004). "I am what I am: my life and curious times". Penguin.