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The Southern Cross : April 2011
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April 2011 Page 15 www.thesoutherncross.org.au The Southern Cross feature | Justice Kevin Duggan AM has been a Supreme Court Judge in South Australia for the past 23 years and has passed judgment on some of the State's most notorious cases. Now, Justice Duggan has been charged with helping Catholics think about life after death and how, in an increasingly materialistic world, they might wish to leave their worldly possessions behind. He outlines some of his ideas to REBECCA DIGIROLAMO. "No-one likes to speak of death," says Justice Duggan from his Supreme Court chambers on Victoria Square. The 69-year-old judge is heading-up the first official Bequest Committee of the Adelaide Archdiocese. It meets for the fourth time this month. As chairman, Justice Duggan wants to bring to the forefront of the Catholic conscience the idea that the Church is worthy and in need of donations made beyond the grave through bequests. "It is something of a taboo topic," he says. "And because of that, I think it is important to bring it out in the open." Now more than ever the Church needs more funding to ensure it can carry on its many and varied good works such as hospital and prison chaplaincy, social justice and community welfare programs, conservation of heritage buildings, lay ministry and care for priests. While the church has been blessed with generous bequests over the years, much of this has been through word of mouth. Justice Duggan says one of the first tasks of the eight-member Bequest Committee is to more openly canvas the option of bequests in parishes in a sensitive and sincere way. "Not everyone thinks about a bequest to the church and not everyone gets the chance to have these conversations." Justice Duggan has been involved with the Church since he was an eight-year-old student attending Rostrevor College, at Woodforde. His mother was Matron for the students at the college and his father was schooled by the Christian Brothers in the city. He was the inaugural chairman of the Rostrevor College Board in the 1980s until the 1990s and is represented there today by a fourth generation Duggan -- grandson Charlie. His sons Ben, Tom and Sam -- all lawyers -- attended the college and daughter Emily is a Loreto College old scholar as is her mother Rosemary. Catholic Education, says the former Chief Crown Prosecutor for South Australia from 1971 to 1979, gave him a philosophy of life and a set of principles which he chooses to live by. "I received an enormous grounding ...in not just our religion but in our approach to society generally." Justice Duggan says the law and Catholic education share similar philosophies. "I think one of the most important things we were taught was that it was a level playing field; no one person was better than anyone else and that we were all equal. "And that is one of the best attitudes that one can adopt on the bench because you have to administer justice evenly to all people." At 15 Justice Duggan was actually aspiring to be a journalist. During his senior year school holidays, he was a copy boy at The News. When pressed to continue full-time he decided to keep his mother happy and finish leaving honors. "An English teacher of mine suggested I do law." Soon after graduating from the Adelaide University Law School and being admitted to the bar, he was offered the position of associate to High Court Judge, Sir Edward McTiernan in Sydney. Justice McTiernan was a very prominent Catholic awarded a pontifical honor for his services to the Church. Justice Duggan then went on to private practice before being appointed as a Judge in 1988. He was a Major General in the Army Reserve and was the Judge Advocate General (JAG) for the Australian Defence Force from 1996 until 2001. During this time, he was the senior legal officer charged with overseeing the military justice system of the navy, army and air force. He is a current member of the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal and was a legal adviser for the Academy Award-nominated Australian film Breaker Morant. His greatest accomplishment however comes from his ability to maintain faith in humanity after hearing some of the worst cases of societal abuse and murder while presiding on the bench of the Supreme Court for more than two decades. He sentenced James Vlassakis in the Bodies in the Barrels case, otherwise known as the Snowtown murders. Vlassakis went on to give evidence against the other accused. The story of the murders in the recent film Snowtown is told through Vlassakis's eyes. Justice Duggan was counsel in the Truro murder case and, more recently, he presided as the Judge in a case in which several children were beaten, choked and starved to the point of emaciation. "Sentencing is perhaps the most difficult task for a Judge to perform. Consideration must be given to the background and circumstances of the offender while, at the same time, punishing criminal conduct and having regard to the need for deterrence in order to protect the community. Arriving at the proper balance is no easy task", he reflects. For more information on bequests contact Jane Juniper from the Bequest Committee on 8210 8223 or jjuniper@adelaide.catholic.org.au. Judge happy to talk taboo Photo: Stephen Gray
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