Brian Ross Martin was introduced on Thursday afternoon as the man who would lead the royal commission into juvenile justice in the Northern Territory.
Mr Martin was described by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as an "eminently qualified" person who would bring "a wealth of legal experience".
"He has a deep understanding of the legal and justice systems of the Northern Territory, and a deep familiarity with issues arising from the engagement of Indigenous people with the criminal justice and penal systems," Mr Turnbull said.
Mr Martin has had a long and distinguished career since he began practising law in Adelaide in 1970, including serving as a Crown Prosecutor in the state, before he was appointed as a Queen's Counsel in the 1980s.
In 1997, he was appointed the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, a position he held for two years until he was appointed a Supreme Court Judge in South Australia.
The 68-year-old also served as chief justice in the Northern Territory from 2004 to 2010, an acting Supreme Court judge in Western Australia in 2012, and an acting judge in the ACT Supreme Court in 2013.
In that time, he has overseen Northern Territory court cases involving tribal law, presided over high-profile murder trials in three states, and administered the Eastman Inquiry, which recommended a 1989 murder conviction for the killing of the ACT police chief be quashed.
Cases overseen by Mr Martin include the 2005 conviction of Bradley John Murdoch for the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio and the assault of Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees, and the 2003 Snowtown murder case, where 11 bodies were found in barrels.
Mr Martin also presided over the high-profile West Australian murder trial of barrister Lloyd Rayney, who was found not guilty of killing his wife Corryn.
When he retired from the Northern Territory Supreme Court, Mr Martin was lauded for serving the Territory and the Court well.
"He has led by example both in the quality of his judgments and in the respectful way in which he treated all involved in the Courts whether as staff, litigants, members of the public or as fellow judges," fellow Justice Trevor Riley said.
In June 2011, Mr Martin was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for "distinguished service to the judiciary and to the law, particularly as Chief Justice for the Northern Territory" and for community leadership, including his role as director of the Adelaide Crows AFL club in the 1990s.
He has previous experience with a Royal Commission, as the senior counsel assisting the inquiry into WA Inc in the 1990s.
Speaking to the press conference where his latest appointment was announced on Thursday, Mr Martin said he felt "privileged to have been asked to undertake this important task".
"It is a large task, but it is a vital task," he said. "There is a lot of work ahead of us."
According to Chris Graham, the editor of news website New Matilda, Mr Martin is already "infamous" to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.
Mr Graham cited a case in 2010, where five white men were given "light sentences" by Mr Martin after the death of a 33-year-old Aboriginal man.
