Major General Leonard William Roberts-Smith, (born 25 October 1946) is a former Justice of the

Supreme Court of Western Australia The Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters (although it usually only hears matters involving sums of or more ...

. From February 2005, he was one of the inaugural Judges of the Court of Appeal Division, having been first appointed to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

on 6 November 2000. From May 2007, he served as Commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia, having been appointed for a five-year term. He retired on 31 January 2011.

Early life and family

Born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, South Australia, on 25 October 1946 to Doreen Roberts and Norman Smith, Roberts-Smith was educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Adelaide, and graduated in law from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

in 1969. Roberts-Smith and his wife Sue have two sons,

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

and Sam.

Legal career

After graduating, Roberts-Smith went to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

in 1970, where he held various positions in the Crown Law Department, ultimately becoming Chief Crown Prosecutor. On Independence in 1975, he became the first public prosecutor under the new Constitution. As

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

, he had responsibility for all criminal prosecutions throughout the country. He returned to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

in 1976 and became a stipendiary magistrate. In 1978, he was appointed the foundation director of the Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia and held this position for 11 years. In February 1989, he returned to private practice, as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, and was appointed 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 December 1989. Roberts-Smith held numerous prominent community positions. He was a former chairman of the Citizens' Advice Bureau of WA (Inc), chairman of the State Advisory Panel for Translators and Interpreters, and the president of the Civil Rehabilitation Council of WA (Inc) from 1980 to 1982. He chaired the State Government Committee of Review into the Administration of Criminal Justice in Queensland in 1993, which reported in September that year. He was counsel to the WA Parliamentary Committee on Delegated Legislation from 1989 to 1998. In 1989, he was appointed deputy president, and in 2000, president of the Equal Opportunity Commission of Western Australia. Roberts-Smith has been an accredited Australian Advocacy Institute teacher since 1992 and was a member of the Legal Practice Board of WA between 1989 and 2000. Between 1992 and 2000, he was deputy chairman of the Legal Practitioners Complaints Committee. From 1999 to 2000, he was chair of the

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its ...

Board of Discipline, before resigning upon his appointment to the Bench. In 2002, prior to his appointment to the Bench, he conducted a Ministerial Review into the Western Australia Witness Protection Program and the death of a protected witness.

Military career

Roberts-Smith joined the Australian Army Reserve in 1964, being commissioned as a second lieutenant (Royal Australian Infantry) in 1969. When he moved to Port Moresby in 1970, Roberts-Smith transferred to the Australian Army Legal Corps as a reservist with the rank of captain. During his time in Papua New Guinea, he was promoted to major. In 1985, he was appointed as a judge advocate and a defence force magistrate. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1986 and colonel in June 1994. On 6 June 2002, Roberts-Smith was appointed Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

and was promoted to major general, having been acting in the position since 3 October 2001. As JAG, Roberts-Smith was responsible for reporting annually to Parliament on the operation of the ''Defence Force Discipline Act 1982'' and any other Commonwealth or Australian Capital Territory law relating to the discipline of the Defence Force. He was also responsible for making procedural rules for Service tribunals, providing the final legal review of proceedings with the Defence Force, and participating in the appointment of Judge Advocates, Defence Force Magistrates, Presidents and members of the courts martial. His appointment to the substantive position was for a three-year term. In 2005, he was reappointed by the Governor-General of Australia for a further two years.JAG Appointment – Media statement
5 December 2005, Supreme Court of Western Australia On 26 November 2012 the Australian Government Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith, announced that Roberts-Smith had been appointed chair of an independent Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART), to deal with individual complaints of sexual and other abuse in the Australian Defence Force.

Early life and family

Legal career

Military career

See also

References

Further reading