William Webb
3288061
205749382
2008-04-15T09:04:57Z
Andycjp
55014
{{otherpeople|William Webb}}
{{Infobox Judge
| name = Sir William Webb
| image = William Webb.jpg
| caption = Webb in 1940, as Chief Justice of Queensland
| order =
| office = [[List of Justices of the High Court of Australia|Puisne Justice of the High Court of Australia]]
| term_start = [[16 May]] [[1946]]
| term_end = [[16 May]] [[1958]]
| appointer = [[Ben Chifley]]
| predecessor = ''none''*
| successor = [[Douglas Menzies|Sir Douglas Menzies]]
| birth_date = [[21 January]] [[1887]]
| birth_place = [[Brisbane]], [[Queensland]], [[Australia]]
| death_date = [[11 August]] [[1972]]
| death_place =
| footnotes = <nowiki>*</nowiki>The High Court bench had remained at six since the retirement of Sir Frank Gavan Duffy in 1935. Webb's appointment re-established a seven-member bench.
}}
'''Sir William Flood Webb''' [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]] ([[21 January]] [[1887]] – [[11 August]] [[1972]]) was a judge of the [[Supreme Court of Queensland]] and the [[High Court of Australia]]. He was President of the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]] after the end of [[World War 2]].
==Personal==
William Flood Webb was born in [[Brisbane]] on [[21 January]] [[1887]]. He was educated at St Mary's School in [[Warwick, Queensland|Warwick]], [[Queensland]]. He studied at the [[University of Queensland]], where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws. On [[4 June]] [[1913]], Webb was admitted to the [[Queensland Bar]], after scoring a very high 71.5% on the bar examination on [[20 May]]. On [[17 March]] [[1917]], he married Beatrice Agnew at the [[Sacred Heart]] Church in [[Sandgate, Queensland|Sandgate]]. He died in [[Brisbane]] on [[11 August]] [[1972]].
==Solicitor==
In [[1915]], Webb was the State [[public defender|Public Defender]] for Queensland, and from [[1917]] to [[1922]] he was the Crown Solicitor. He was promoted to be [[Solicitor-General of Queensland]] in [[1922]], a position he held until [[1925]].
==Arbitration Court==
Webb was also a Judge of the [[Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration]] from [[1922]] to [[1927]], and from [[1925]] to [[1945]] was President of the Queensland [[Court of Arbitration]].
==Supreme Court==
Webb was appointed as a puisne judge on [[24 April]] [[1925]] to the [[Supreme Court of Queensland]]. He held this position until he became a senior puisne judge on [[17 May]] [[1940]] on the same court. On [[27 June]] [[1940]] he was promoted to the Chief Judge as the Supreme Court. He kept this position until [[15 May]] [[1946]] when he left to take a position on the [[High Court of Australia]].
In [[1943]], during his tenure on the court, Webb was appointed by the [[Government of Australia]] to investigate allegations of [[Japanese war crimes]] during [[World War II]]. Between [[1943]] and [[1945]], he produced three reports, known as the Webb reports, into crimes against Australian [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]]. {{ref|webb_reports}} He also visited [[London]] in [[1944]] to give advice on his reports to the [[United Nations War Crimes Commission]].
==High Court==
[[Image:IMTFE.jpg|thumb|left|240px|Webb presiding over the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]] in 1946.]]
Webb was began his tenure on the [[High Court of Australia]] in May of [[1946]]. During his tenure, he was President of the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]], the tribunal which tried [[Japanese war crimes]] from [[World War II]], from [[1946]] to [[1948]]. Webb was involved in a minor scandal late in [[1947]], in the leadup to the [[Bank of New South Wales v Commonwealth|bank nationalisation case]], the Government of Australia tried to recall Webb from [[Tokyo]], by requesting General [[Douglas MacArthur]] to release him, because they believed that he would decide the case in a way that was favourable to the Commonwealth. However, after pressure from Justice [[Owen Dixon]], [[Chief Justice of Australia|Chief Justice]] [[John Latham (Australian jurist)|John Latham]] contacted Webb and encouraged him not to leave Japan. {{ref|bank_recall}} On [[12 November]] [[1948]], after more than two years of trials, Webb, as President of the Tribunal, handed down the sentences on all of the people whom the Tribunal had found guilty. Webb said that the series of trials conducted in Tokyo were the most "important criminal trials in all history." {{ref|sentences}} Webb retired from the High Court on [[16 May]] [[1958]] after serving exactly twelve years on the bench.
==Honours==
In [[1954]], Webb was made a [[Order of the British Empire|Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]. In [[1967]], he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the [[University of Queensland]].
The road '''William Webb Drive''' in the district of [[Belconnen]], [[Canberra]] is named after him.
==References==
* {{note|webb_reports}} {{cite web | title=Fact Sheet 61 - World War II war crimes | work=National Archives of Australia | url=http://www.naa.gov.au/publications/fact_sheets/fs61.html | accessdate=1 December | accessyear=2005}}
* {{note|bank_recall}} {{cite web | title=John Latham in Owen Dixon's Eyes | work=The Samuel Griffith Society | url=http://www.samuelgriffith.org.au/papers/html/volume15/v15chap6.html | accessdate=1 December | accessyear=2005}}
* {{note|sentences}} {{cite web | title=Guide to the papers of Sir William Webb | work=Australian War Memorial | url=http://www.awm.gov.au/findingaids/process.asp?collection=private&item=webb | accessdate=1 December | accessyear=2005}}
==See also==
* [[Judiciary of Australia]]
* [[List of Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland]]
{{Justices of the High Court of Australia}}
[[Category:1887 births|Webb, William]]
[[Category:1972 deaths|Webb, William]]
[[Category:Justices of the High Court of Australia|Webb, William]]
[[Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Queensland]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire|Webb, William]]
[[Category:People from Brisbane|Webb]]
[[Category:Australian lawyers|Webb, William]]
[[Category:Australian judges|Webb, William]]
[[ja:ウィリアム・ウェブ]]
[[nl:William Webb]]
[[pl:William Webb]]