Her Honour Judge Dzenita Balic believes her “complicated background” will assist in her new District Court role as she was welcomed in a formal ceremony in Brisbane yesterday.
Her Honour fled war-torn Bosnia as a teenager, along with her family, and later arrived in Australia as a 14-year-old without fluent English. She went from being a refugee to a member of the Bar within 10 years.
Speaker after speaker at the Banco Court ceremony, where fellow District Court Judge Philip McCarthy KC was also welcomed, acknowledged Judge Balic’s challenging arrival in Australia.
However Judge Balic told the court that despite everything the court had heard, she had “a really good life, although my childhood was interrupted and many things happened”.
“My family and I, and over two million or so people, escaped the atrocities of war and started their lives again afresh,” she said.
“Not having possessions, and being able to go back from where you came from, can be significantly illuminating for one’s character. That isn’t the case for everyone but thankfully it was for me.”
Her Honour thanked “the wonderful people” – her parents – for making the life-altering decision to leave their home country.
“I am so grateful to be their daughter, without them and the decisions they really made in life-and-death situations who knows where I would be.”
Damien O’Brien KC, President of the Bar Association of Queensland, said Her Honour’s back story was well known to many, “fleeing to Australia as a refugee following the Bosnian war”.
“It should be said the composition of the courts of this country should reflect who we are as a country,” he said. “Australia has a proud history of immigrants, a proud history of taking refugees from all around the world, the face of our courts should reflect that fact.
“Your Honour’s appointment goes some way to ensuring that this is the case.”
Her Honour started as a legal support officer with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), working her way through the ranks to become Principal Crown Prosecutor in Ipswich, Maroochydore and Brisbane.
She was called to the bar in 2006, and later appointed as a Magistrate in 2022 at Southport, which Mr O’Brien said was “one of the busiest criminal courts in this state”.
“In your two years on this court you built up a reputation as a hard-working, efficient, courteous and fair judicial officer,” he said.
She paid tribute to her husband for his support throughout her career, “by simply always saying ‘if that’s what you want to do, then do it. Don’t stop yourself’. His words. Even some times to his own detriment.”
Her Honour enjoyed her work as an advocate, and at the ODPP, and is actively involved in several law associations.
“My husband will say it is because I like to argue and cross-examine family members and friends, and perhaps there is some truth in that. But in reality I enjoyed being able to see how an argument can morph; how powerful words can be. They have the capacity in fact to change people’s lives through the law and it’s impact.
“I wanted to do it all. Yet my English was still a stumbling block, particularly the accent. But survive I did.”
Survive and thrive she did, as when she became a Trial Counsel, Her Honour took on many cases.
“There was not a trial I would say no to. The ones that nobody wanted to do, I did. Back-to-back trials, over and over again. I was tired but I learnt. I learnt quickly and significantly although it was hard, gruelling and continuous, that was a beneficial learning curve for me when I look back at that time.”
Her work ethic continued at the Southport Magistrates Court, where she emailed the co-ordinator and simply said “what nobody else wants, I want”.
“She gladly obliged,” Her Honour told the court to much laughter. “Within that role I was exposed to large volumes of matters. The amount of work that jurisdiction attempts to go through is profound. It’s not an easy job.”
She thanked the leadership trio of the Magistrates Court for their support and the Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath for the honour of the appointment.
“To effect change, you must be the change,” she said. “My appointment here today is somewhat different. I am different. I have a complicated background but I’m not special.
“There are millions of others in the world that have complicated backgrounds. There are in fact many in this state that want opportunities but don’t necessarily know how to get it or where to seek it.
“It is incumbent on us to provide that. It is one of the many reasons I continue being involved, and will continue to being involved, particularly in the subject matter of access to justice.”
The Attorney-General said Her Honour had a reputation as being “a workhorse”, prosecuting more than 150 criminal trials to verdict primarily in the District Court and argued more than 120 appeals in the Court of Appeal.
“All of your achievements are objectively impressive but when one considers that English is Your Honour’s third language, well that’s a whole other level of inspiring,” she said and spoke of Her Honour’s flight from her home country in 1996.
“During the conflict, Your Honour’s home city … was the scene of some of the most severe and systemic ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses experienced in Bosnia. To progress from teenage refugee to a member of the Queensland Bar in just 10 years is a testament of Your Honour’s determination, resilience and intellect.”
Queensland Law Society Deputy President Genevieve Dee said Her Honour’s appointment as Magistrate in 2022 was celebrated by the profession.
“Your contribution to the Magistrates Court of Queensland is nothing short of exceptional and your industrious efforts and commitment to the role cannot be understated,” Genevieve said.
“Our members have consistently describe you as gracious with your time and supportive of your colleagues. One of our members commented that you are the most generous human being, always speaking very candidly about your career path and encouraging others to seek out opportunities that they would otherwise not even dream of.”
His Honour Chief Judge Brian Devereaux SC said Judge Balic graduated with two degrees – Laws and International Business.
“Something international was perhaps inevitable,” he said. “Her Honour came to Australia at the age of 14. English is her third language – Bosnian first, then for a period it was necessary to speak German and learn that. Upon arrival in Queensland it was necessary to speak English.”
Read Judge McCarthy’s story in Proctor tomorrow.
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