Elizabeth Evatt

Elizabeth Andreas Evatt , AC (born November 11, 1933 in Sydney ) is an Australian lawyer . She was the first chairperson of the Family Court of Australia , the highest Australian court in family matters, between 1976 and 1988 .

Family and education

Evatt is the daughter of the politician Clive Evatt and his wife Marjorie Hannah Andreas. In addition to her father, her paternal uncle, Herbert Vere Evatt , was also active in politics. Evatt received her education at Presbyterian Ladies' College in Pymble . After graduating from high school, she began studying at the University of Sydney . She was the youngest student at the university to date. She completed her studies in 1955 with a Bachelor of Law and was the first woman to win a medal from the University of Law. In the same year Evatt was admitted to the bar in New South Wales and then went to Harvard University for a year of study abroad , where she was awarded a Master of Laws in 1956 .

Professional background

After her admission as a lawyer at the Inner Temple , Evatt initially worked as a barrister in London and also worked in the library of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law . In 1968 she became a member of the English Law Commission and specialized in family law issues under the direction of Leslie Scarman, Baron Scarman . In 1973 Evatt returned to her home country and became the first woman to become vice chairman of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission , a position she held until 1989. At the same time she took over the chairmanship of a parliamentary committee of inquiry between 1974 and 1977 , which dealt with questions of family coexistence, abortion , contraception and problems of family law. The work of this committee resulted in the passage of the Family Law Act 1975 , which not only fundamentally reformed Australian divorce law , but also created the Family Court of Australia as the highest federal court for questions of family law. Evatt was named its first presiding judge in 1976. She held this office until 1988. Then she moved as President of the Australian Law Reform Commission , where until 1993 she mainly dealt with questions of gender equality . Even while she was working as a judge, she also performed legal tasks on an international level. From 1984 she was a member of the UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women , which she chaired from 1989 to 1991. In 1992, Evatt was the first Australian to be elected to the UN Human Rights Committee, of which she was a member until 2000. From 1998 to 2007 she was also a member of the Administrative Court of the World Bank . Evatt has always been an advocate for human rights and the protection of minorities . For example, in 1995 she was commissioned by John Herron , a member of the Australian Senate , to review the laws protecting the Aborigines . She repeatedly criticized the inadequate protection of women's rights through Australian legislation. Evatt was also a signatory to the Yogyakarta Principles in 2006 . She also does a lot of voluntary work. Between 1988 and 1994 she was Chancellor of the University of Newcastle and was elected to the International Commission of Jurists in 2003 .

Awards

On June 14, 1982 Evatt was raised by Elizabeth II to officer of the Order of Australia and on June 12, 1995 to Companion and thus in the highest order class. 1985 awarded her their alma mater , the honorary doctorate and in 1994 they honored the Flinders University in the same way.

Publications (selection)

• The international covenant on civil and political rights: cases, materials, and commentary . 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-928541-9 .
• Women and Human Rights . In: Monash University law review , 28, 2002, No. 1, ISSN  0311-3140 , pp. 1-16.
• How Australia “supports” the United Nations human rights treaty system . In: Public law review , 12, 2001, No. 1, pp. 3-8, ISSN  1034-3024 .

literature

• Living History Interview with Justice Elizabeth A. Evatt . In: University of Iowa College of Law (Ed.): Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems . Vol. 3, No. 2 . Iowa University, 1993, ISSN  1058-1006 , pp. 469 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Chris Cunneen, John Kennedy McLaughlin: Evatt, Clive Raleigh (1900-1984) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 17. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 2007, ISBN 978-0-522-85382-7 , pp. 367 f. (English).
2. ↑ Falling short on women's rights: mis-matches between SDA and the international regime ( memento of October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 11, 2016
3. ↑ Elizabeth Evatt (PDF; 129 kB) In: UNIFEM Australia: Powerful Women, Exhibition Images . Hawke Center, University of South Australia . 2007-2009. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2013.