★ 8 October 1951
+ 6 February 2021
You are cordially invited to the Celebration of Life service for The Hon. Justice John Gilmour QC this Thursday, 11th February 2021, at 10 am. The service will be held at St George’s Anglican Cathedral and there will be a wake afterwards at The Westin Hotel.
The Hon. John Gilmour QC was born, educated and initially practised law in Scotland. John migrated to Western Australia in 1975, and was called to the Western Australian Bar in 1989. He practiced as a Solicitor and Barrister in Perth until 1989 when he jointed Francis Burt Chambers. He took silk in Western Australia and Victoria in 1994 and 1996 respectively.
A Justice of the Federal Court of Australia from 2006 to March 2018, with his renowned dignity and marked clarity, John delivered almost 600 judgments spanning the full body of the Court’s work, including important judgments in commercial law, company law and trade practices.
John then became a member of Quayside Chambers, acting as Senior Counsel, Arbitrator and Mediator in commercial disputes. He was also a Panel Member of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
John was an active member the Sheridan Institute’s LLB Advisory Board, where he regularly attended our meetings with great enthusiasm and generosity. He was very pleased to notice that the process of accreditation for the Sheridan Bachelor of Laws with Honours is progressing well.
In June 2019, John gave us the honour of opening our international conference on religious freedom. He also introduced the keynote speaker, Distinguished Professor Emeritus William Wagner, who is also a former Federal Judge (in the U.S., not Australia). The Patron for that conference was former Prime Minister John Howard OM, AC.
Above all, John was one of the kindest, gentlest, warmest, most genuinely Christian human beings I have ever had the privilege to know in my life. For me and for all those who loved John this is a very sad and difficult event. For him, taking up residence in Heaven with our Lord will be pure joy.
We celebrate his glorious promotion, while morning his loss.
Perth, 9th February 2021
Professor Augusto Zimmermann
Head of Law, Sheridan Institute of Higher Education
President, The Western Australian Legal Theory Association (WALTA)
