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Australian PM names first female Chief Justice of High Court

Xinhua, November 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday named Susan Keifel as the country's first female Chief Justice of the High Court.

Turnbull told a press conference that Keifel, 62, would take over the role in January when current Chief Justice Robert French formally retires from the role.

"The Governor-General has accepted the advice to accept Susan Keifel as the next Chief Justice of the High Court - the 13th Chief Justice of Australia and first woman to hold that role," Turnbull said.

Keifel currently presides as senior judge of the High Court, and Turnbull praised her resilience from a young age, describing her journey to become the nation's highest legal officer as an "inspiration."

"She left school at 15. She began her working life as a legal secretary and studied for her completion of high school qualifications part-time," Turnbull said.

Keifel studied law part-time through the Barristers Admission Board and was admitted to the bar in 1975.

Turnbull also took the opportunity to announce that Justice James Edelman would be taking Keifel's place as of the seven presiding High Court judges, describing him as "one of the most outstanding legal minds of his generation."

Keifel will become the naiton's first female Chief Justice in the role's 115 year history. Endit