Ninian Stephen
| The Rt Hon Sir Ninian Stephen | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
| In office 29 July 1982 – 16 February 1989 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir Zelman Cowen |
| Succeeded by | Bill Hayden |
|
|
|
| In office 1 March 1972 – 11 May 1982 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir Victor Windeyer |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Deane |
|
|
|
| Born | 15 June 1923 Oxfordshire, United Kingdom |
| Profession | Barrister and Judge |
Sir Ninian Martin Stephen, KG, AK, GCMG, GCVO,
Early life
Ninian Martin Stephen was born on 15 June 1923 in Oxfordshire, England. His father, Frederick, who had been a motorcycle courier in the Great War, died before Sir Ninian was a year old, leaving him to be raised by his mother Barbara and with the assistance of Miss Milne, to whom Mrs Stephen was a companion. He migrated to Australia as a child. He was educated at the University of Melbourne, but his studies were interrupted by World War II, in which he served in the Australian Army in New Guinea and Borneo and rising to the rank of lieutenant. He completed his legal studies in 1950, and was called to the Victorian Bar in 1952. By the 1960s he was one of Australia's leading constitutional and commercial lawyers. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1966.
Judicial career
On 30 June 1970 Stephen was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Victoria. He held this position until 29 February 1972.
Stephen was later appointed as a Justice to the High Court of Australia.
Although Stephen was appointed by a Liberal government, he proved not to be a traditional conservative upholder of states' rights. He joined the "moderate centre" of the court, between the arch-conservatism of Sir Garfield Barwick and the radicalism of Lionel Murphy. In 1982 he was part of the majority that decided on a broad interpretation of the "external affairs power" of the Australian Constitution in the Koowarta case.
Governor-General
Later that year Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser appointed Stephen Governor-General. Like his predecessor, Sir Zelman Cowen, he was a "safe" choice: discreet, politically neutral and with a wide knowledge of constitutional law. When Fraser was defeated by the Labor Party under Bob Hawke in 1983, Stephen had no difficulty working with a Labor government. In 1987 Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of Prime Minister Hawke extended his term by 18 months, as a mark of personal respect and also to allow Bill Hayden (to whom Hawke had promised the position) to leave politics at a time of his choosing.
Later Work
In 1989 Sir Ninian became the first Australian Ambassador for the Environment, and in his three-year term was particularly energetic in working for a ban of mining in Antarctica. In 1991 he undertook one of the most difficult of all tasks when he was appointed chairman of the second strand of the Northern Ireland peace talks. Between 1993 and 1997 he was a judge on the international tribunals investigating war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. He has also been chairman of the Citizenship Council since 1998.
Honours
Stephen was made a Knight Commander of the
In 1983 he received the Legion d'Honneur.
Stephen delivered the first Sir Ninian Stephen Lecture at the University of Newcastle's Law School in 1993, giving his name to this lecture series.
Private Life
Sir Ninian married Valery Sinclair in 1949, and is the father of five daughters.
References
See also
External links
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Zelman Cowen |
Governor-General of
Australia 1982 – 1989 |
Succeeded by Bill Hayden |
| Governors-General of Australia |
|---|
| Justices of the High Court of Australia |  |
|---|---|
| Chief Justices of Australia | |
| Griffith · Knox · |
|
| 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 | |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
