Kenneth William Asprey (15 July 1905 – 28 October 1993) was an Australian judge. He was judge of the

New South Wales Court of Appeal The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeal operates pursu ...

, the highest court in the State of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, which forms part of the

Australian court hierarchy The judiciary of Australia comprises judges who sit in federal courts and courts of the States and territories of Australia, States and Territories of Australia. The High Court of Australia sits at the apex of the Australian court hierarchy as t ...

. He came to public prominence as a Royal Commissioner appointed to the second Voyager Royal Commission and on handing down of his review of the tax system in

in 1975. Although controversial at the time, the Asprey report on taxation has acted "as a guide and inspiration to governments and their advisers for the following 25 years." The main recommendations of the report have all been implemented and are today part of Commonwealth taxation in Australia. Professor

Gillian Triggs Gillian Doreen Triggs (born 30 October 1945) is an Australian and British public international lawyer, specialising in human rights and trade and commercial law. She is also an academic, barrister, and director. She became widely known in Aust ...

, Dean of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

Law School, at the 2011 launch of the Asprey Law Library Collection, described him as being "widely regarded as a leader of the NSW Bar. He was a noted mentor of young barristers, greatly admired by them and by his peers. He was a justice of the inaugural NSW Court of Appeal, and a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

was awarded to him in recognition of his services to the law."Asprey Law Library Collection
Retrieved 24 August 2012

Early life

Asprey was born in Sydney and educated at

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1914–1922) and the University of Sydney (1923–1928), where he graduated in

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Legal career

In 1929, Asprey commenced practising as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and in 1929 went to the bar. He took

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

in 1952 and was appointed to the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

in 1962. On its commencement in 1966, he was appointed to the NSW Court of Appeal. In the same year he was appointed to the second Voyager Royal Commission. Asprey retired from the bench in 1975. An

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

, written by Sir Anthony Mason, was published in

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

on 5 November 1993. At the opening of the 2008 law term Mason spoke of his memories of working with Asprey.

Government appointments

* Chairman, NSW Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal (1975–1976) * Chairman, Commonwealth Tax Review Committee (1972–1975)

Honours

* Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(1977) in recognition of service to the governmentIt's an Honour
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Asprey Law Library Collection

In 2011, Asprey’s daughter, Sally Stitt, and her husband, Robert Stitt QC, donated his law library to the University of Sydney. Known as the Asprey Law Library Collection, it features a comprehensive array of English and Australian law journals, reports and textbooks, with some reports dating back to the early days of the Colony. Many of the journals contain Asprey's detailed annotations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asprey, Kenneth 1905 births 1993 deaths People educated at Newington College 20th-century King's Counsel Australian King's Counsel Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Sydney Law School alumni