Kerri Judd

Kerri Judd (born 1966) is an Australian lawyer who has been a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria since 17 September 2024. She was previously the Director of Public Prosecutions for the state of Victoria from 2018 to 2024, the first woman to be appointed to the role.

Early life and education Judd attended Croydon Secondary College, a public high school from which no student had previously been accepted to study law. When Judd told a careers teacher she wanted to become a lawyer, she was told not to waste her time. She studied at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1987 and a Master of Laws in 1995.

Career Judd was admitted to practice in law 1989 and worked as a judge's associate for Supreme Court judges Ian Gray and William Crockett, before joining the bar in 1991.

Judd was appointed Senior Counsel in November 2007 and Senior Crown Prosecutor in 2016. She appeared in the case of Akon Guode, a mother who drove her four children into a lake, as well as the rape and murder of Bega schoolgirls Lauren Barry and Nichole Collins. From December 2017, she was acting Chief Crown Prosecutor. The DPP is the head of the state's public prosecutions service, responsible for prosecuting indictable offences. On her appointment, she said "I would love to think that we’re getting to a point in time where appointing a woman to something like this is unremarkable, but I recognise that it is remarkable at the moment. So, I am very proud and I hope that I will be a role model." In 2019, she prosecuted George Pell for historic child sex offences. After a nationwide suppression order was imposed during the case, Judd charged over sixty journalists, publishers and broadcasters, including the Herald Sun, The Age, News Corp, Nine Network and the ABC with contempt of court. Most of the charges were later dropped. In March 2020, Judd represented the state in Pell's successful appeal to the High Court against his conviction.