Margaret Stone (judge)
{{Short description|Australian judge (died 2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Margaret Stone
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|AO|FAAL}}
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| office = Judge of the Federal Court of Australia
| term_start = 9 October 2000
| term_end = 22 March 2012
| office2 = Additional Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory
| term_start2 = November 2003
| term_end2 = 22 March 2012
| office3 = Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
| term_start3 = 24 August 2015
| term_end3 = 23 August 2020
| predecessor3 = Vivienne Thom
| successor3 = Christopher Jessup
| birth_date = ?
| birth_place =
| death_date = 1 September 2021
| death_place =
| nationality = Australian
| occupation = Judge
| alma_mater = University of Sydney;
Australian National University;
Yale Law School
}}
Margaret Ackary Stone {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AO|FAAL}} (died 1 September 2021) was an Australian judge who served on the Federal Court of Australia. Stone served as the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security from August 2015 until her retirement in August 2020.{{cite news |url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/margaret-stone-to-replace-vivienne-thom-as-inspectorgeneral-of-intelligence-and-security-20150716-gidxec.html |title=Margaret Stone to replace Vivienne Thom as Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security |work=The Canberra Times |author=Thomson, Phillip |date=16 July 2015 |accessdate=28 January 2016 |archive-date=17 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717145823/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/margaret-stone-to-replace-vivienne-thom-as-inspectorgeneral-of-intelligence-and-security-20150716-gidxec.html |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|last=Canales|first=Sarah Basford|date=28 November 2020|title=National security law watchdog appointed after four months|url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7032296/national-security-law-watchdog-appointed-after-four-months/|access-date=4 September 2021|website=The Canberra Times|language=en-AU}}
Education
Stone obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Laws with honours from the Australian National University, and a Master of Laws from Yale Law School.
Career
Stone taught law at the University of New South Wales for over 15 years, including a role as Sub-Dean in 1981. She also worked as a solicitor becoming a partner at Freehills in 1993, where she worked in the areas of commercial property, infrastructure development, commercial financing, and taxation.
=Federal Court=
Stone was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Australia in October 2000.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/about/judges/former-judges|title=Former Judges of the Federal Court of Australia|work=Federal Court of Australia|accessdate=17 December 2012}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.vicbar.com.au/GetFile.ashx?file=pdf/WBAJusticeStoneBreakfast.pdf |title=Women Barristers' Association Networking Breakfast 2010 - Guest Speaker |publisher=Victorian Bar Association |archive-date=5 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205043230/https://www.vicbar.com.au/GetFile.ashx?file=pdf%2FWBAJusticeStoneBreakfast.pdf |url-status=dead}} Whilst a federal court judge, she was also appointed an Additional Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory.{{cite web |title=Former and Current Judges, Associate Judge and Masters |url=https://www.courts.act.gov.au/supreme/about_the_court/former_and_current_judges_associate_judge_and_masters |publisher=Supreme Court of the ACT |access-date=9 January 2018 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073403/https://www.courts.act.gov.au/supreme/about_the_court/former_and_current_judges_associate_judge_and_masters |url-status=dead }} Stone retired from both judicial positions in March 2012.
=Subsequent career=
Since retiring from the Federal Court Stone was a Judge in Residence at the Melbourne Law School in 2012.{{cite web|title=Judge in residence|url=http://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/visitors/judge-in-residence|publisher=University of Melbourne|accessdate=9 January 2018}} In 2013 she was appointed a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the University of NSW.{{Cite web|url=http://www.law.unsw.edu.au/news/2013/02/former-federal-court-judges-residence-unsw-law|title=Former Federal Court judges in residence at UNSW Law|accessdate=13 May 2014}}
Between December 2012 and December 2014 she served as Australia's Independent Reviewer of Adverse Security Assessments. Adverse security assessments are findings by the Australian Security and intelligence Organisation that a person who has been found to be a refugee is a security risk. Such people are kept in detention until such time as it is determined that they are no longer security risks. They do not have access to the evidence on which the assessments are made; but in some cases may have some indications of the nature of the accusations. Stone had reviewed 22 of 52 adverse assessments as of June 2014, as a result of which four people have had their adverse assessments removed.{{cite web|title=ASIO Report to Parliament 2013–2014|url=https://www.asio.gov.au/sites/default/files/ASIO%20Report%20to%20Parliament%202013-14.pdf|accessdate=9 January 2018|pages=48}} By June 2015 Stone finalised a further 24 reviews, finding that five adverse assessments were either flawed or not appropriate.{{cite web|title=ASIO Report to Parliament 2014–2015|url=https://www.asio.gov.au/sites/default/files/ASIOReportToParliament2014-15.pdf|accessdate=9 January 2018|pages=45}}
Stone was appointed the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security from 24 August 2015 until her retirement in August 2020.{{cite web|title=The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security|url=https://www.igis.gov.au/about/inspector-general-intelligence-and-security|website=igis.gov.au|accessdate=9 January 2018}}
Death and legacy
Stone died on 1 September 2021 and was survived by three daughters and their families.{{Cite web|title=Margaret STONE Death Notice - Sydney, New South Wales {{!}} Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/419570/margaret-stone/?r=https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/smh-au/|access-date=4 September 2021|website=tributes.smh.com.au}}
The Margaret Stone Lecture was inaugurated in her honour in 2023, a joint initiative of the University of New South Wales and Herbert Smith Freehills.{{Cite web |last=Newton |first=Kate |date=2023-09-11 |title=The late Honourable Margaret Stone celebrated in inaugural lecture |url=https://www.unsw.edu.au/news/2023/09/margaret-stone-celebrated-inaugural-lecture |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=University of New South Wales |language=en}} Lectures have been given by The Honourable Justice Michelle Gordon (2023) and The Honourable Justice Nye Perram (2025).{{Cite web |title=The Margaret Stone Lecture |url=https://www.unsw.edu.au/law-justice/news-events/events/margaret-stone |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=University of New South Wales |language=en}}
References
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{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef |before= James Burchett }}
{{s-ttl |title= Judge of the Federal Court of Australia |years= 2000–2012 }}
{{s-aft |after= John Griffiths }}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef |before= Vivienne Thom }}
{{s-ttl |title= Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security |years= 2015–2020 }}
{{s-aft|after=Christopher Jessup }}
{{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Margaret}}
Category:Year of birth missing
Category:Judges of the Federal Court of Australia
Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory
Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of Law
Category:Yale Law School alumni
Category:Australian National University alumni
Category:University of Sydney alumni
Category:Academic staff of the University of New South Wales
Category:Ombudsmen in Australia
Category:20th-century Australian lawyers
Category:21st-century Australian judges
Category:Officers of the Order of Australia