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Revision as of 14:22, 23 January 2011
Major General Leonard William Roberts-Smith RFD QC (born 1945) is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Western Australia. He served in the Court of Appeals Division, and was first appointed on 6 November 2000. As of May 2007, was also the serving Commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia, having been appointed for a five-year term.[1]
Background
He was educated at St Ignatius College, Adelaide, and graduated in law from the University of Adelaide in 1969. After serving as Chief Crown Prosecutor in Papua New Guinea, he returned to South Australia in 1976 and became a Stipendiary Magistrate. From 1978 until 1989, he became the foundation director of the Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia, and in December 1989, was named a Queen's Counsel. He served as deputy president of the Equal Opportunity Commission from 1989 to 2000.[1]
Military legal career
Roberts-Smith joined the Australian Army Reserve in 1964. He transferred to the Australian Army Legal Corps in 1970. He was promoted to major in 1985, lieutenant colonel in 1986 and colonel in 1994.
From 3 October 2001, Justice Roberts-Smith served as Acting Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Australian Defence Force, and on 6 June 2002, he was promoted to Major General and appointed to the substantive position for a three-year term, becoming the first Western Australian to serve in the role. In 2005, he was reappointed by the Governor General of Australia for a further two years.[1]
Family
Roberts-Smith has two sons; Sam (born 1986), an opera singer who completed two years of classical voice training at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and transferred to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in early 2005; and Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith (born 1978) who is Australia's most highly decorated currently serving Australian soldier after he was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia by Her Excellency, the Governor General of Australia, Quentin Bryce on 23 January 2011 for most conspicuous gallantry in action in circumstances of extreme peril on 11 June 2010, during the Shah Wali Kot Offensive in Afghanistan.[2][3][4]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "About the CCC - The Commissioner". Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia. Government of Western Australia. 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ^ "Corporal Benjamin Roberts-Smith, VC, MG". Citation - Victoria Cross for Australia. Department of Defence, Commonwealth of Australia. 23 January 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
- ^ AAP (23 January 2010). "SAS digger awarded VC for taking on Taliban". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
- ^ Cowan, Sean; Taylor, Nick (22 January 2011). "WA digger awarded VC medal". The West Australian. West Australian Newspapers. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
Further reading
- Len Roberts-Smith QC : administrative reformer and legal gladiator. Brief, Dec. 2000, p.27.
External links
- Biographical Details (Asia-Pacific Centre for Military Law)
- Media Statement, 5 December 2005 (Supreme Court of Western Australia)
- Judge Advocate General (Department of Defence)