In 14 years on the bench, Magistrate Maria Doogan's built herself a reputation as a tough-talking and hard-working judge but she might need all those skills for her next task - helping organise a spring wedding in Italy for her daughter.
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Ms Doogan hung up her judicial robes for the last time today and is looking forward to retirement and new ventures, including a European family holiday.
A former prosecutor she worked on high profile cases including the initial investigation into the Anu Singh murder trial and the trial for the 1991 murder of Christopher Wilder.
She was appointed a magistrate from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in 1998 and will be remembered by many Canberrans for the inquest into the devastating 2003 bushfires that killed four.
"It was a personally traumatic and difficult experience because I knew the people [there], my children had played in the pine forest across the street," she said.
As coroner, Ms Doogan presided over a prolonged and often controversial inquest with public protests when the ACT Government tried to force her removal on the grounds of bias. That legal challenge was eventually settled in the Supreme Court, which backed Ms Doogan.
"It was my view it was rather unprecedented that the Government would have its own coroner removed for bias and that caused a complication in what already was a very difficult and complicated matter, because [the bushfires were] a disaster," she said.
ACT Law Society president Noor Blumer also paid tribute to Ms Doogan's handling of the bushfire inquest, saying issues raised during the inquest resulted in well-overdue reforms to coronial legislation.
But while cases such as the bushfires inquest received huge public attention, others that stick in her mind are a little smaller, such as an inquest into the death of a six-year-old girl who was abused and may have been pushed down a set of stairs.
"Investigations into coronial matters are very important - it's the last act that the community can do for somebody, to determine how they died. It's an overused word, closure, but the families really look for closure from coronials," she said.
Ms Doogan was born in Germany to Polish parents who had been rounded up to work on farms and came to Australia after the war with her family and “a big metal chest with all their possessions”.
A champion athlete at school, there was talk of her as an Olympic hopeful but she pursued studies and a career instead, working for the Australian Tax Office and the Department of Industry before studying law and joining the DPP.
She is married to Chris Doogan, a lawyer who rose to become the first High Court registrar, and they have three children and three grandchildren.
Director of Public Prosecutions Jon White, a former colleague, said Ms Doogan was particularly renowned for her work prosecuting sexual offences. "She had great common sense – a quality not always present in lawyers - with an ability to sum up witnesses and defendants, but she was also compassionate," he said.
Bar Association president Philip Walker said Ms Doogan was switched-on at court and had a fine reputation for hard work.
Ms Doogan said her time on the bench had always been varied. “I always think I've heard it all but I haven't - there is always something more bizarre the next day,” she said.
