Migrant swearing-in narratives at the Supreme Court of New South Wales

While Australian swearing-in ceremonies have been analysed through feminist perspectives, there has been less of a focus on the swearing-in of racialised judges. In this article, I examine the swearing-in ceremonies of two migrant judges on the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Justice Dina Yehia and Justice Hament Dhanji. I find that both ceremonies involve migrant narratives which centre individualism and exceptionalism, perpetuating model minority myths and entrenching verticality between the judge and the judged.