High flyer raises the bar, joins the bench

CROWN prosecutor Jackie Hartnett had already made Tasmanian legal history this month with her appointment as only the fifth female lawyer to ever “take silk” in Tasmania.

But three days after being bestowed the title of Senior Counsel, Ms Hartnett struck gold again with Attorney-General Elise Archer announcing her yesterday as Tasmania’s ninth-ever permanent female magistrate.

The “overwhelmed and honoured” lawyer is the state’s first additional magistrate since 2009, and will take to the bench as of June 29, adding to a team of 15 other magistrates, including five women.

Currently an assistant director at the Office of Public Prosecutions, Ms Hartnett said it was great to see recognition for women in her field.

She said it had been rewarding to help vulnerable people who came to trust the prosecutors, adding it had been “a privilege and an honour” to work for the office.

Ms Hartnett, who will be based in Hobart, but also travel statewide to assist other regions, follows in the footsteps of the state’s first female silk Tamara Jago, who was appointed in 2010 before joining the bench as a magistrate in 2016.

Helen Lambert was the state’s first female magistrate appointed in 1994. Chief Magistrate Catherine Geason was the first woman to take that role in 2016. Ms Hartnett has chaired the Law Society of Tasmania’s Criminal Law Committee since 2010 and lectures at the University of Tasmania.