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Deputy Chief Magistrate Jane Mottley AM will be sworn in as Senior Judge of the NSW Drug Court when his Honour Judge Roger Dive officially retires on 6 August.

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said Deputy Chief Magistrate Mottley would be an “ideal candidate” to fill the position, and “brings a wealth of knowledge and skill to the role”.

“Her Honour’s warmth, insight and intelligence will be invaluable to an area of justice system which has a proven record of turning lives around,” Speakman said.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Mottley was admitted as a solicitor in 1989 and became a magistrate in 2000. She has served on the bench of the Children’s Court, in Local Courts, and has been an acting judge of the District Court since 2017 while presiding as a judge of the Drug Court.

She will step into the imposing shoes of Judge Roger Dive, who led the specialist Drug Court in NSW for 17 years. Under his watch the Drug Court program assisted in lowering the reoffending rate of participants in the program by up to 17 per cent, according to a 10-year BOCSAR study published in 2020.

“Judge Dive has been the father of the Drug Court and it’s an honour to be able to continue his work. I hope I can achieve as much as him in the time that I lead the court,” Deputy Chief Magistrate Mottley said.