Reflections on the County Court Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court

Established under the Justice Legislation Amendment (Drug Court and other Matters) Act 2020 (Vic), the County Court Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court is a therapeutic court designed to assist those who might benefit from intensive support to address substance dependence to access appropriate services and thereby reduce their contact with the criminal justice system.

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About the presenter

His Honour Judge Paul Higham was appointed as a Judge of the County Court on 15 August 2017 after a career in the law spanning more than 35 years.

Judge Higham was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales in 1982. While in England, as well as being a leading advocate of class revolution, he was a founding member of the Bar Lesbian and Gay group, which received the official endorsement of the British Bar Council.

As an adolescent, His Honour would get beaten up on the street for his sexuality and when first applying for chambers he was told that being queer would mean he would never get a place in chambers. His Honour is now both a Judge and has a lawful wedded husband.

His Honour relocated to Melbourne in 2005 and was admitted in 2006, practicing as in-house Counsel for a large Melbourne criminal law firm, before signing the Bar Roll in 2007.

After being appointed to the bench in August 2017, his Honour took on the role of Head of the Sexual Offences List at the Court in January 2018. During his time as head of the List, his Honour helped implement many of the reforms instituted by the Court in recent times in regard to these specific offences including:

• the implementation of the special hearing reforms, which abolished committals for sexual offence cases involving a child complainant or person with a cognitive impairment
• leading the way the Court’s IT team, to develop a process and utilise remote platforms which enabled special hearings to continue during COVID-19 restrictions

After more than three years, His Honour stood down as Head of the List in May 2021 in order to focus on the implementation of the County Court Drug and Alcohol Treatment Count (DATC) as the Inaugural Head of the Court.

His Honour is also currently the Vice-President of the International Commission of Jurists Victoria (ICJV).