His Honour Magistrate Michael Holmes, a strong and active supporter of UNE’s School of Law, received an OAM for Services to Law and the Community in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours List. This was in recognition of almost 50 years in general legal, law enforcement, investigative, prosecution and judicial roles. Since 2005, Magistrate Holmes has been involved with court circuits in the New England North West areas of NSW including Armidale, Glen Innes, Walcha, Tenterfield, Moree, Boggabilla, Warialda, Mungindi, Inverell, Tamworth, Quirindi and Scone. While working and travelling the court circuits in this region, Magistrate Holmes has assisted with innovative programs to recognise the legal and community needs of individuals and groups in these areas.

The School of Law has developed a strong relationship with Magistrate Holmes during this time and so our students directly benefit from the support and practical assistance he offers. Some examples of our School’s links with Magistrate Holmes include:

• Mentoring law students – both informally and formally during students’ many observational visits to courts and more recently through the School of Law’s innovative unit LAW397 Local Court Internship
• Hosting visiting international students from places such as Thailand and Malaysia at Armidale Local Court. Students were excited to learn how the courts function in Australia and Magistrate Holmes could easily explain the similarities and differences due his years as a Prosecutor, then Magistrate, in Hong Kong.
• Delivering informative and entertaining talks at Law Students’ Society events.
• Keynote speaker at the Law and Business Graduation Ceremony in 2016.
• Member of the UNE School of Law Advisory Committee.

Magistrate Holmes with international visitors

Magistrate Holmes’ advice to all UNE Law students is to visit and observe in a Local Court, District/County Court, Supreme Court – anywhere you are – regardless of your own preferred area of law: Civil/Criminal. See how the Law & Courts really operate in practise, not theory, and in a variety of matters. Observe what makes a ‘good’ lawyer, and why others may be less so. Pick up some ‘tips and tricks’ in managing files, cases and court technique from experienced Magistrates & Judges, Solicitors & Barristers. Even if you don’t want to be a ‘courtroom lawyer’, developing and observing skills in case management and legal advice are essential activities for all law graduates. Let Court staff know you are a Law student – some will invite you to be more engaged, if appropriate. If you are going on holidays or travelling with work, why not visit a different jurisdiction/court system – in a different state or even different country. It is all ‘professional development’. Once you obtain your qualifications you do not stop learning. It is a profession in which you must persist in education and learning on a daily basis.

Magistrate Holmes has a further personal link with the School of Law, as he is also the husband of our First Year Advisor, Nola Holmes, who herself brings to our School and UNE many years of extensive education and senior management experience across multiple sectors in both Australia and overseas.

The School of Law congratulates Magistrate Holmes on the award of the OAM and we look forward to developing more opportunities with our students and staff through ongoing engagement with ‘both of the Holmes’ and our School.