Len Roberts-Smith

Leonard William Roberts-Smith RFD QC (born 1945) is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Western Australia. He serves in the Court of Appeals Division, and was first appointed on 6 November 2000. As of May 2007, he is also the serving Commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia, having been appointed for a five-year term.

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.

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 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.

Other

* His son, Sam Roberts-Smith (born 1986), is an opera singer who, having completed two years of classical voice training at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, transferred to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in early 2005.

ee also

* Judiciary of Australia

External links

* [http://www.apcml.org/latest_news/pushing_the_envelope/bio_len_roberts_smith.doc Biographical Details] (Asia-Pacific Centre for Military Law)
* [http://www.supremecourt.wa.gov.au/content/news/media/2005/default.aspx Media Statement, 5 December 2005] (Supreme Court of Western Australia)
* [http://www.defence.gov.au/jag/jag.htm Judge Advocate General] (Department of Defence)

Further reading

*"Len Roberts-Smith QC : administrative reformer and legal gladiator". Brief, Dec. 2000, p.27.