The Hon Virginia Bell AC

The Hon Virginia Bell AC is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia.

Ms Bell graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Laws in 1977. After seven years as a solicitor with the Redfern Legal Centre, she was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1984.

Ms Bell practised as a public defender between 1986 and 1989 before returning to the private Bar. Between 1994 and 1997 she was a counsel assisting the Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service. She was appointed a Senior Counsel in 1997.

Ms Bell was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in March 1999. She was appointed a judge of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in 2008. She was appointed to the High Court in February 2009, and served until her retirement in February 2021.

Ms Bell was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2012 for "eminent service to the judiciary and to the law through leadership in criminal law reform and public policy development, to judicial administration, and as an advocate for the economically and socially disadvantaged."