Garfield Barwick

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick AK , GCMG , PC (born June 22, 1903 in Sydney , New South Wales , † July 14, 1997 in Sydney, New South Wales) was an Australian politician and, among other things, foreign minister of the country. He was also Chief Justice with the longest tenure in Australian history.

Early life

Barwick was born in Sydney , New South Wales and attended Fort Street High School. For his degree from the University of Sydney , he received the University Medal in Law for special effort as a student. His Methodist family lived in modest circumstances. Although he was a good student and opened his own law firm, he suffered badly from the Great Depression . After unable to repay a cousin's bank loan that he had vouched for at the bank, he went bankrupt. This has been followed throughout his career. As a barrister he was able to earn a good reputation in many courts. He was involved as a lawyer in many nationally significant court cases. In 1973/1974 he also served as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague . On February 6, 1954, he was knighted as a Knight Bachelor .

One of his greatest successes in court was rescuing 12 of 13 Malaysians sentenced to death because he found inaccuracies in the formulation of arrest warrants. The Malaysian who hired another team of lawyers was executed because they were not convincing enough to explain their objections.

Political career

Barwick was elected as a member of the Liberal Party of Australia in the Parramatta constituency in a by-election on March 8, 1958 in the Australian House of Representatives and re-elected in the federal elections in 1958, 1961 and 1963. During his tenure in the Australian Parliament, he served as Advocate General and Secretary of State . As Advocate General, he supported the introduction of the Matrimonial Causes Act and the Crimes Act . He led the Australian delegation to the 15th, 17th and 18th General Assemblies of the United Nations .

On April 27, 1964, he was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, making him the country's first graduate from the University of Sydney. He was instrumental in creating the building for the High Court in Canberra . In 1966 he became the first president of the Australian Conservation Foundation , a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Australian nature.

On January 1, 1965 he was beaten to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George , on June 8, 1981 to the Knight of the Order of Australia .

In 1981 he resigned from his court position - after almost 17 years (April 1964-February 1981). Barwick died in 1997 in his hometown of Sydney at the age of 94 .

Fonts

  • A Radical Tory. Garfield Barwick's Reflections and Recollections . Federation Press, Sydney, 1995, ISBN 1-86287-236-8 .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Knights and Dames at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
  2. ↑ The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Volume 17, No. 3 (Jul., 1968), pp. 782-783
personal data
SURNAME Barwick, Garfield
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barwick, Sir Garfield Edward John (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian politician and foreign minister
DATE OF BIRTH June 22, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Sydney
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1997
Place of death Sydney