Tasmania considers Noga’s appeal over judge’s posts — ABC News Australia

In Hobart, Australia, a court has begun hearing the appeal of 76-year-old Stephen Fane Noga against a ruling by the Supreme Court of Tasmania, which had previously upheld the claim of his former student. Noga is challenging the decision on four grounds, including posts and shared posts by Justice Stephen Estcourt on social media that expressed general support for victims of sexual abuse.

As reported by ABC News Australia, a former student of Hobart Matriculation College, now aged over 60, sued Noga over alleged sexual abuse in the 1980s. She also sued the state of Tasmania, claiming that the authorities had failed in their duty of care. Justice Estcourt ruled in the woman’s favour and awarded total compensation of 1.6 million.

The plaintiff’s position

The woman’s lawyer, Bruce McTaggart, told the court that there was no logical connection between the judge’s posts and the consideration of the specific case. According to him, sympathy for victims of child sexual abuse does not in itself mean that a judge is unable to assess the evidence in the case impartially.

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Noga’s defence arguments

Noga’s lawyer, Chris Gunson, insisted that the totality of the judge’s posts had a logical connection to the outcome of the proceedings, as their common theme was public support for victims of child sexual abuse. He also explained that during the initial hearing, the defence deliberately did not inform the judge about one of the posts because at the time it did not consider it sufficient grounds for recusal. The plaintiff’s representative said that the defence decided to raise the issue only after an unfavourable ruling.

Other grounds of appeal concern the defence’s claims that the judge made errors in applying the law, including criticism of Noga’s testimony and acceptance of the plaintiff’s arguments, which Noga’s side described as highly implausible. The hearing is ongoing.