Sir William Flood Webb (21 January 1887 – 11 August 1972) was an Australian lawyer. He was the Chief Justice of Queensland and a judge of the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

. He was appointed President of the

International Military Tribunal for the Far East The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on 29 April 1946 to Criminal procedure, try leaders of the Empire of Japan for their cri ...

by 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 ...

, commonly known as the Tokyo trial, after the end of

World War II 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 ...

Early life and education

William Flood Webb was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

on 21 January 1887. He was educated at St Mary's School in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

, Queensland before graduating from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

with a

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 ...

degree. Webb was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in Queensland on 4 June 1913, after scoring a very high 71.5% on the bar examination on 20 May 1913.

Solicitor

In 1915, Webb was the State

Public Defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

for Queensland and, from 1917 to 1922, was the Crown Solicitor. He was promoted to be Solicitor-General of Queensland in 1922, a position he held until 1925.

Arbitration Court

Webb was also a Judge of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration from 1922 to 1927 and, from 1925 to 1945, was President of the Queensland Court of Arbitration.

Supreme Court

Webb was appointed as a puisne judge on 24 April 1925 to the

Supreme Court of Queensland The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...

. He held this position until, on 17 May 1940, he became senior puisne judge of the same court. On 27 June 1940 he was promoted to Chief Justice of Queensland, an office he held until 15 May 1946, when he left to take a seat on the

. In 1943, during his tenure on the court, Webb was appointed by the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...

to investigate allegations of

Japanese war crimes During its imperial era, Empire of Japan, Japan committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity across various Asian-Pacific nations, notably during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars. These incidents ...

during

. Between 1943 and 1945, he produced three reports, known as the Webb reports, into crimes against Australian

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. He also visited

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1944 to give advice on his reports to the United Nations War Crimes Commission.

High Court

Webb began his tenure on the

in May 1946. During his tenure, he was President of the

, the tribunal which tried

from

, from 1946 to 1948. Webb was involved in a minor scandal late in 1947, in the leadup to the bank nationalisation case, the Government of Australia tried to recall Webb from

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, by requesting General

to release him, because they believed that he would decide the case in a way that was favourable to the Commonwealth. However, after pressure from Justice

Owen Dixon Sir Owen Dixon (28 April 1886 – 7 July 1972) was an Australian judge and diplomat who served as the sixth Chief Justice of Australia. Many consider him to be Australia's most prominent jurist.Graham Perkin �Its Most Eminent Symbol Hidde ...

, Chief Justice John Latham contacted Webb and encouraged him not to leave Japan. On 12 November 1948, after more than two years of trials, Webb, as President of the Tribunal, handed down the sentences on all of the people whom the Tribunal had found guilty. Webb said that the series of trials conducted in Tokyo were the most "important criminal trials in all history." Webb retired from the High Court on 16 May 1958 after serving exactly twelve years on the bench.

Personal life

On 17 March 1917, Webb married Beatrice Agnew at the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

Church in Sandgate. They had four daughters and two sons.Webb, Sir William Flood (1887–1972)
—

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

. Retrieved 20 December 2014. He died in

on 11 August 1972, and was buried in Nudgee Cemetery.

Honours

In 1942, Webb was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

for his services as Chief Justice of Queensland.It's an Honour
– Knight Bachelor (Imperial) – 1 January 1942
Citation: ''Chief Justice of Queensland.'' In 1954, Webb was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

.It's an Honour
– The Order of the British Empire - Knights Commander (Civil) (Imperial) – 10 June 1954
Citation: ''Judge of the High Court.'' In 1967, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the

. The road William Webb Drive in the district of

Belconnen Belconnen () is a Lands administrative divisions of Australia#Australian Capital Territory, district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. As at the , the ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

is named after him.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, William 1887 births 1972 deaths Justices of the High Court of Australia Chief justices of Queensland Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland 20th-century Australian judges Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Lawyers from Brisbane Judges of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Burials at Nudgee Cemetery Australian judges of international courts and tribunals Solicitors-general of Queensland Public defenders