Len Roberts-Smith

Major General Leonard William Roberts-Smith, (born 25 October 1946) is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. From February 2005, he was one of the inaugural Judges of the Court of Appeal Division, having been first appointed to the Supreme Court on 6 November 2000. From May 2007, he served as Commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia, having been appointed for a five-year term. He retired on 31 January 2011.

Early life and family Born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 25 October 1946 to Doreen Roberts and Norman Smith, Roberts-Smith was educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Adelaide, and graduated in law from the University of Adelaide in 1969. Roberts-Smith and his wife Sue have two sons, Ben and Sam.

Legal career After graduating, Roberts-Smith went to Papua New Guinea in 1970, where he held various positions in the Crown Law Department, ultimately becoming Chief Crown Prosecutor. On 6 June 2002, Roberts-Smith was appointed Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Australian Defence Force and was promoted to major general, having been acting in the position since 3 October 2001. As JAG, Roberts-Smith was responsible for reporting annually to Parliament on the operation of the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 and any other Commonwealth or Australian Capital Territory law relating to the discipline of the Defence Force. He was also responsible for making procedural rules for Service tribunals, providing the final legal review of proceedings with the Defence Force, and participating in the appointment of Judge Advocates, Defence Force Magistrates, Presidents and members of the courts martial. His appointment to the substantive position was for a three-year term. In 2005, he was reappointed by the Governor-General of Australia for a further two years.

On 26 November 2012 the Australian Government Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith, announced that Roberts-Smith had been appointed chair of an independent Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART), to deal with individual complaints of sexual and other abuse in the Australian Defence Force.