Robert French.html



Robert Shenton French (b. 19 March 1947) is Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.

Although two other Western Australians, Sir Ronald Wilson and John Toohey, have been High Court judges, Robert French is the first Chief Justice from that state.¹

Education

French was educated at St Louis School (now John XXIII College), in Perth.²

He subsequently attended the University of Western Australia in Perth, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Laws. He was President of the University's Liberal Club³ and served briefly as treasurer of the University of Western Australia Student Guild.

Career

In 1969 at the age of 22, French contested the safe Labor Federal seat of Fremantle for the Liberal Party, which he lost to Kim Beazley, Sr..³ He is a close friend of Kim Beazley, Jr..¹

In 1972, French was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Western Australia.

The Hawke government appointed French to the Federal Court in 1986, at the age of 39.⁴

On 30 July 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that French would succeed Murray Gleeson as Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. He was sworn in on 1 September 2008⁵. He is the first Chief Justice of the High Court that had not taken silk at appointment.

French has served in numerous bodies, including as part-time Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission (2006-08), Additional Judge of the Supreme Court of the ACT (2004-08), a Judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji (2003-08), President of the National Native Title Tribunal (1994-98), Council Member of the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration (1992-08), Chancellor of Edith Cowen University (1991-97), Member of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (1986), Chairman of the Town Planning Appeals Tribunal of Western Australia (1986), Associate Member of the Trade Practices Commission (1983-86), member of the Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia (1983-86), a member of the Barrister's Board of Western Australia (1979-86), and Chairman of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (1973-75).²

Beliefs and positions

On republicanism

French said in a WA Law Society speech in May 2008:¹

"It is unacceptable in contemporary Australia that the legal head of the Australian state ... can never be chosen by the people or their representatives, cannot be other than a member of the Anglican Church, can never be other than British and can never be an indigenous person."

Indigenous issues

Justice French is known for working for the rights of Indigenous Australians; in the early 1970s he helped found the WA Aboriginal Legal Service.¹ He was also the first president of the National Native Title Tribunal.

At his swearing in ceremony as Chief Justice, French specifically referred to the long history of indigenous Australia, noting that:

Recognition of their presence is no mere platitude. The history of Australia's indigenous people dwarfs, in its temporal sweep, the history that gave rise to the Constitution under which this court was created.Our awareness and recognition of that history is becoming, if it has not already become, part of our national identity.⁶

Awards

• Honorary Doctor of Laws, Edith Cowan University, 1998
• Western Australian Citizen of the Year – Professions, 1998
• Centenary Medal, 2001

References