Gerard Brennan

The Honourable Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE QC
10th Chief Justice of Australia
In office 21 April 1995 – 21 May 1998
Appointed by	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Sir Anthony Mason
Succeeded by	Murray Gleeson
Puisne Justice of the High Court of Australia
In office 12 February 1981 – 21 April 1995
Appointed by	Malcolm Fraser
Preceded by	Sir Harry Gibbs
Succeeded by	William Gummow
Personal details
Born	22 May 1928 (1928-05-22) (age 83) Rockhampton, Queensland
Nationality	Australian
Religion	Roman Catholic

Sir Francis Gerard Brennan, AC, KBE, QC (born 22 May 1928), is an Australian lawyer, judge and 10th Chief Justice of Australia. He is father to Jesuit priest and lawyer Frank Brennan.

Born in Rockhampton, he was educated at Downlands College in Toowoomba,^{[citation needed]} and the University of Queensland (BA and LLB). In 1951 he was admitted to the Queensland Bar.^[1] Sir Gerard was appointed a QC in Queensland in 1965 and subsequently in New South Wales, Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Although his practice was based in Brisbane, he was senior counsel for the Alliance Party in Lord Denning's arbitration in Fiji Sugar Industry in 1969; in 1972, senior prosecutor in the long-running trial for the murder of the District Commissioner in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea; and, in 1974, senior counsel for the Northern Land Council in the Woodward Commission into Aboriginal Land Rights in the Northern Territory.

He was President of the Bar association of Queensland 1974-1976 and of the Australian Bar Association 1975 - 1976 and a member of the Executive of the Law Council of Australia 1974 - 1976. In 1975 he was a part-time member of the Australian Law Reform Commission, retiring in 1977.

He was the first President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in 1976, at which time he also served as a Judge of the Australian Industrial Court and an additional Judge of the Supreme Courts of the Australian Capital Territory and of the Northern Territory.^[2]

In 1977 he became a foundation judge of the Federal Court of Australia. He became a Justice of the High Court in 1981, and was appointed Chief Justice in 1995, retiring in 1998.^[3]

Sir Gerard has variously been Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (2000), and External Judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji (1999–2000), Chancellor of the University of Technology, Sydney (1999–2005) and Foundation Scientia Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales (1998). He has been an Honorary Visiting Professor of Law at UNSW. In Hong Kong, he is known by a Chinese name (布仁立爵士, bù rén lì jué shì).

Sir Gerard was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1981,^[4] and a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1988.^[5] He has been awarded honorary degrees by the University of Melbourne (Hon LLD), University of Technology, Sydney (Hon LLD), University of Queensland (Hon LLD), Griffith University (Hon Duniv), Central Queensland University (Hon Dlitt) and Trinity College, Dublin (Hon LLD). He served as Chancellor of the University of Technology, Sydney from 1999 to 2005.^[6]

References

1. ^ Biography^{[dead link]}, Australian Catholic University
2. ^ History of the Sir Gerard Brennan Chair at the TC Beirne School of Law
3. ^ Former Judges
4. ^ It's an Honour - Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
5. ^ It's an Honour - Companion of the Order of Australia
6. ^ UTS (2011). Timeline. Retrieved 14 November 2011.

Legal offices
Preceded by Sir Anthony Mason	Chief Justice of Australia 1995 - 1998	Succeeded by Murray Gleeson
Preceded by New Court	Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong 2000–present	Incumbent
Academic offices
Preceded by none	Chancellor of the University of Technology, Sydney 1999 - 2005	Succeeded by Vicki Sara
Order of precedence
Previous: Lord Hoffmann Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal	Hong Kong order of precedence Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal	Succeeded by Lord Millett Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal

Persondata
Name	Brennan, Gerard
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	22 May 1928
Place of birth	Rockhampton, Queensland
Date of death
Place of death