Sir Kevin Victor Anderson (1912 – 14 October 1999) was an Australian lawyer and judge who served on 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 ...

from 1969 to 1984.

Education and early career

Anderson was educated at Xavier College,

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 ...

, and became a clerk of courts in what is now the Magistrates Court of Victoria on leaving school in 1929. He completed a part-time

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

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 ...

in 1937. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was commissioned in the

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, and served in Operations and Naval Intelligence. Towards the end of the War, he was a liaison officer in the

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headquarters of General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

, and was present at the Japanese surrender in

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in September 1945. He was admitted to the Victorian Bar on 24 November 1945 and 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 ...

(QC) on 14 August 1962.

Scientology inquiry

As a QC, Anderson was appointed in late 1963 as a one-man Board of Inquiry into Scientology that sat until April 1965. He concluded that it was "a delusional belief system, based on fiction and fallacies and propagated by falsehood and deception" that was "a serious threat to the community, medically, morally and socially". His report influenced Victoria and other states to enact (or attempt to enact) banning Scientology. It is regarded as controversial by the

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of the Commonwealth of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body ...

, in the context of the recognition of new religious movements in Australia's increasingly

multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

society.

Judicial career

Anderson served as Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council in 1966–1967, and on 29 April 1969 he was appointed to the

. He became a figure of controversy in 1971 when the Victorian Parliament passed the second ''Evidence (Boards and Commissions) Act''. This Act amended the ''Evidence Act, 1958'' to grant retrospective immunity from suit to persons who had been associated with a

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

or a Board of Inquiry, equivalent to the immunity of those associated with an action in the Supreme Court. In his autobiography ''Fossil in the Sandstone'', Anderson quipped that this legislation was known informally as the 'Anderson Protection Act' because its immediate effect was to protect him and his assisting counsel Gordon Just from writs issued in the Supreme Court on 28 April 1970 that charged them with misfeasance, breach of duty and recklessness during their conduct of the Inquiry into Scientology.

Retirement and later life

Anderson was knighted on 14 June 1980 and retired from the bench on 31 August 1984. He was a devout

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, and after his retirement argued for the retention of the traditional swearing-in of witnesses in court.Anderson, K.V. (1987) Oaths are as old as a belief in God. ''Law Institute Journal'' May 1987: 502-503. He died on 14 October 1999 aged 87. He and his wife Claire (who predeceased him) had six daughters and 20 grandchildren.

References

* Anderson, K.V. (1986) ''Fossil in the Sandstone: The Recollecting Judge''. Spectrum Publications: Melbourne. 287pp. * Obituary

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Media Books * 999 (anthology), ''99 ...

1 Victorian Reports, p xii.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Kevin Victor 1912 births 1999 deaths Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria People educated at Xavier College Melbourne Law School alumni Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Australian King's Counsel 20th-century Australian lawyers Australian Knights Bachelor