Newsmaker

PERTH barristers Jane Crisford SC, Robert Mazza and Philip Eaton have been appointed District Court judges.

They will replace former chief judge Kevin Hammond who is now heading the new Corruption and Crime Commission, judge Lindy Jenkins who has been appointed to the Supreme Court and judge Alton Jackson who is retiring.

Ms Crisford is currently president of the Equal Opportunity Tribunal. Her 26-year legal career began at Parker & Parker and included stints with the Aboriginal Legal Service and Dwyer and Durack. It also involved her heading the ALS Royal Commission unit for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

Mr Mazza began his 23-year legal career at James Mazza & Co. In 1997 he formed Mazza & Mazza with his late father where he practised almost exclusively as a criminal lawyer, predominantly for the defence but also including prosecutions on behalf of the State Director of Public Prosecutions. He is currently a deputy president of the Equal Opportunity Tribunal.

Mr Eaton started his legal life in the Pilbara 29 years ago before returning to Perth to work with Godfrey Virtue & Co. He has held appointments as a Commissioner of the District Court on four separate occasions and is a former president of the WA Bar Association and the Criminal Lawyers Association. Mr Eaton was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2003 for service to Australian Society and the law.