Former Victorian Supreme Court judge George Hampel AM KC has died at the age of 91.
The Victorian Bar’s president Georgina Schoff KC said Mr Hampel signed the Bar Roll in 1958 and was a member for 65 years.
He worked as a criminal defence barrister and then was a Justice of the Supreme Court from 1983 to 2000.
Mr Hampel presided in more than 100 murder trials, including that of Julian Knight over the 1987 Hoddle St massacre in the Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill, in which seven people were shot dead.
‘He was engaging and urbane and always had a twinkle in his eye,’ Ms Schoff wrote.
Mr Hampel is said to have ‘inspired and taught advocates at the Bar and throughout the common law world’.
This included teaching at the Inns of Court in the UK where the flag of the Inner Temple will be at half-mast in his honour.
‘I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to his widow, her Honour Felicity Hampel AM SC, and to the rest of his family, his friends, colleagues and countless mentees,’ Ms Schoff said.
Fellow retired Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry also paid tribute, writing on X that ‘On any view George was a trail blazer in the days when being a criminal defence barrister was somewhat less fashionable than it is now.’
Barrister Stephen Warne posted on social media that Mr Hampel was ‘A great teacher of advocacy.’
Mr Hampel was born in Poland just before World War Two and then moved with his family to .
He studied at Melbourne High School and then did law degree at Melbourne University.
His funeral will be held at Carousel in Albert Park on Friday from 10.30am.
More to come…