William Calanchini retired President of the Court of Appeal Fiji in December 2019. He was educated at Xavier College Melbourne and the University of Melbourne where he obtained his LL.B degree (1969-1972) After completing Articles at the Melbourne law firm of Coltman Wyatt and Anderson he worked as a common law solicitor in Melbourne before signing the Roll of Counsel of the Victorian Bar in 1981. In 1995 he was appointed Solicitor in Charge of the Victorian Legal Aid's Gippsland Regional Office. In 1998 he was appointed Deputy Solicitor-General of Fiji and in 2002 he was engaged as Staff Officer Legal at the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. During these appointments he appeared in a number of significant constitutional and civil proceedings. Between 2003 and 2012 he was appointed Permanent Arbitrator, Acting Chief Tribunal, Chief Tribunal and Puisne Judge of the High Court of Fiji. In 2012 he was appointed Acting President of the Court of Appeal, Fiji which was confirmed in 2013. He graduated as a Commissioned Officer from Melbourne University Regiment in 1975 in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and was awarded the Reserve Forces Decoration (RFD) in 1991