The ACT Government has expressed its appreciation to Justice Lorraine Walker following her decision to resign from her role as Acting Judge of the ACT Supreme Court on 9 April 2020.
Ms Walker was appointed to assist Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Helen Murrell to oversee the ACT's first Drug and Alcohol Court which started operating on 3 December 2019.
"Ms Walker has played an instrumental role alongside Chief Justice Murrell in helping establish a multi-disciplinary Drug and Alcohol Court team, to support offenders address substance addictions associated with criminal activities," Minister Ramsay said.
"I called Her Honour to personally thank her for her work in leading the Drug and Alcohol team which included members of health, policing and Legal Aid."
Since its inception in December, 20 offenders have been referred to the Drug and Alcohol Court for sentencing and eight have been sentenced to a drug and alcohol treatment order (DATO)".
"Ms Walker will return to Her Honour's substantive role as Chief Magistrate, while Acting Chief Magistrate Glenn Theakston will return to His Honour's role as Magistrate," Minister Ramsay said.
"Mr Theakston has shown great leadership skills stepping up as Acting Chief Magistrate, and I thank His Honour for taking on this challenging role at a critical point in the expansion of the ACT Law Courts' services."
Ongoing Drug and Alcohol Court duties will be performed by Justice Loukas-Karlsson from 10 April 2020.
