John Harber Phillips
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John Harber Phillips, AC, QC (18 October 19337 August 2009) was an Australian lawyer and judge who served as
Chief Justice of Victoria The chief justice of Victoria is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the highest ranking judicial officer in the Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australi ...
from 1991 to 2003. He was first appointed to the Victorian Supreme Court in 1984, having previously been the state's director of public prosecutions as well as a director of the
National Crime Authority The National Crime Authority (NCA) was an Australian law enforcement agency established in 1984 and wound up on 31 December 2002. History The NCA was set up in 1984 in the wake of the Costigan Commission, which investigated tax evasion and or ...
.


Early years

Phillips was born on 18 October 1933 in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
to parents Anthony Michael and Ivy Muriel Phillips.Who's Who Australia He attended Presentation Convent and
De La Salle College, Malvern De La Salle College is a Catholic private school for boys in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern. The college was founded in 1912 by the De La Salle Brothers, a religious order based on the teachings of Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, and is a member ...
and then undertook his tertiary education at the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
where he obtained an LL.B. degree. He undertook his legal articles at the firm of Dooley & Breen solicitors. He was called to the
Victorian Bar The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australian State of Victoria. The 2024-2025 President of the Bar is Justin Hannebery KC. Its members are barristers registered to practice in Victoria. Those who have been admitted to practice ...
in 1959 and read with Victor Belson. He became a Member of the Victorian Bar Council in 1974 and continued to be a member of that Council until 1984. He also served as chairman of the Victorian Criminal Bar Association. He became a
Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...
in 1975 and then a member of
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...
at the English Bar in 1979.


Legal career

In 1982 he was engaged to defend Lindy Chamberlain against a charge of murdering her daughter, Azaria. His co-counsel Andrew Kirkham in the trial remarked that Phillips was "one of the best trial lawyers in the country". His skills as counsel were described as being that of a "very elegant street fighter, swift and deceptive". However, Phillips was unable to convince the jury of Chamberlain's innocence. As a result of the trial, he lobbied Victorian Premier
Jeff Kennett Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian former politician who served as the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1982 to 1989 and from 1991 to 1999, and the Member for ...
for the introduction of an independent
forensics Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...
institute in Victoria. His lobbying efforts were successful, although he put down his success as being able to ask Kennett shortly after his elevation to Premier. Phillips went on to become the Chairman of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine at its inception in 1985, subsequently the National Institute of Forensic Science at its inception in 1992. In February 1983 he became Victoria's first Director of Public Prosecutions. In the following year he was appointed a Justice of the
Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...
, holding that appointment until 1990. In 1990 he was appointed chairman of the National Crime Authority and also at the same time he also was appointed a Justice of the
Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...
. As head of the National Crime Authority and also Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions he worked to improve the efficiency of the Courts.On solid foundations Cite as: (2003) 77(6) LIJ, p.16 He was appointed as Chief Justice of Victoria in 1991. Phillips was appointed to the court under Attorney General Jim Kennan. At the time, critics privately labelled Phillips as not being a “legal luminary” and that he had not delivered any “significant rulings“ prior to his appointment. As Chief Justice, Phillips introduced innovations to Victoria's courts. He appointed Australia's first “Courts Media Liaison Committee” in 1993. He also permitted courts to be used in television and film productions, and organised regular workshops for journalists on the legal pitfalls of court reporting conducted by the Courts Information Officer. He also introduced Open Days at the Court in which he personally gave guided tours of the court building.Victoria Bar News As Chief Justice, he led what was called the “Spring Offensive”. This offensive involved every judge in the Supreme Court hearing civil cases for a month. The judges worked in teams of ten and disposed of over 1000 cases. The success of that offensive led to another offensive which was termed the “Autumn Offensive” to deal with the remaining backlog of civil cases. He introduced a mediation programme in 1995 and introduced pre-trial management under the “Pegasus Two” programme in 1998 for criminal trials. It was also during his time as chief justice that the Victorian Court of Appeal was introduced in 1995, replacing the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria. In 1998 he was made a Companion of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
(AC) for "services to the law, law reform, literature and the visual arts". In 2002, he was the Inaugural Chairperson of the Judicial College of Victoria, and he was also the chair of Working Party that set the college up. He presided over a ceremony that marked appointment of notaries locally rather than by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Victoria University awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Laws for his "exceptional contribution to the law and law reform" on 5 August 2003.


Retirement

Phillips retired on 17 October 2003 when he turned 70, which is the compulsory retirement age for judges in Victoria. He was chief justice for 12 years. At his retirement ceremony he remarked upon receiving a summons to serve on a jury that explained about the
standard of proof In a legal dispute, one party has the burden of proof to show that they are correct, while the other party has no such burden and is presumed to be correct. The burden of proof requires a party to produce evidence to establish the truth of facts ...
in criminal cases. He quipped to the court that he thought that "he knew that already". His retirement dinner was held in the Queen Hall at the Victorian Parliament House on 17 October 2003. P. 18 At the dinner, Phillips talked about Italian judge
Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...
who was murdered in Sicily by explosives placed under a road. Phillips described him as one of his “judicial heroes”. At the dinner, the Attorney General described Phillips as “a man who thinks before he speaks, who measures his words and makes each one count”. He was Patron of the Victorian Women Lawyers (VWL) and patron of Australian Greek Welfare. He was appointed provost of the Sir Zelman Cowan Centre at Victoria University, a joint venture with Cambridge University that provides continuing legal education for lawyers. He had written plays, poetry, a biography, a textbook called “Advocacy with Honour” and had also written a book about Australian criminal
Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 185411 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing armour of the Kelly gang, a suit of bulletproof ...
. In December 2003 he appeared at Victoria Law School as
Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 185411 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing armour of the Kelly gang, a suit of bulletproof ...
in the dramatisation of his play ''An Irish Tragedy''. John Harber Phillips died on 7 August 2009, aged 75, after a long illness.Herald Sun, 8 August 2009
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References


Sources

* *Who's Who Australia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, John Harber 1933 births 2009 deaths Chief justices of Victoria Judges of the Federal Court of Australia Companions of the Order of Australia 20th-century King's Counsel Australian King's Counsel Melbourne Law School alumni