Daryl Dawson

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Sir Daryl Dawson
Daryl Dawson

In office
30 July 1982 – August 15, 1997
Appointed by Malcolm Fraser
Preceded by Sir Keith Aickin
Succeeded by Kenneth Hayne

Born 1933
Flag of Australia
Nationality Australian

Sir Daryl Michael Dawson AC KBE CB (born 1933), Australian judge and naval officer, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1982 to 1997.

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[edit] Education

Dawson studied at the University of Melbourne, residing at Ormond College and received a Bachelor of Laws with honours. He later completed a Master of Laws at Yale University, in New Haven, U.S..

[edit] Legal career

Dawson was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1957 (and later to the Tasmanian Bar in 1972). In the 1960s, Dawson was commander of the Royal Australian Navy's legal service in Melbourne, holding the rank of lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve. Dawson was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1971. From 1974 to 1982, Dawson served as the Solicitor-General of Victoria.

[edit] Judicial career

Dawson was a member of the Australian Motor Sport Appeal Court from 1974 to 1986, and was the chairman of this court in 1987. In 1982, Dawson was appointed a Justice of the High Court of Australia, a position he held until retiring on August 15, 1997. He was the only justice in dissent in the case of Mabo v. Queensland [2]. From 1997 until 2003, Dawson served as a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.

In 1998, he became a director and chairman of the Menzies Foundation. Dawson is currently a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and an Adjunct Professor at Monash University.[1]

[edit] Post-judicial activities

Justice Dawson headed a Royal Commission into the 1998 explosion at a natural gas processing plant at Longford, which killed one person and crippled Victoria's energy supply for weeks.

He occasionally adjudicates mooting competitions at the University of Melbourne.

[edit] Honours

In 1980, Dawson was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). Dawson was knighted in 1982, becoming a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), and known formally as Sir Daryl Dawson. In 1986, Dawson was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honour. In 2006, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Monash University.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Monash Memo printable version - 31 May 2006


Justices of the High Court of Australia
Chief Justices of Australia
Griffith · Knox · Isaacs · Gavan Duffy · Latham · Dixon · Barwick · Gibbs · Mason · Brennan · Gleeson
Puisne Justices
Barton · O'Connor · Higgins · Powers · Piddington · Rich · Starke · Evatt · McTiernan · Williams · Webb · Fullagar · Kitto · Taylor · Menzies · Windeyer · Owen · Walsh · Stephen · Jacobs · Murphy · Aickin · Wilson · Deane · Dawson · Toohey · Gaudron · McHugh · Gummow · Kirby · Hayne · Callinan · Heydon · Crennan · Kiefel
current Justices are in italics