Франсис Бреннан: Австралияның бас судьясы және жергілікті халық құқығының қорғаушысы

Australian judge (1928–2022)

Sir Francis Gerard Brennan (22 May 1928 – 1 June 2022) was an Australian lawyer and jurist who served as the 10th Chief Justice of Australia. As a judge in the High Court of Australia, he wrote the lead judgement on the Mabo decision, which gave rise to the Native Title Act.

Brennan was born on 22 May 1928, in Rockhampton, Queensland.

Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser appointed Brennan to the court in 1981. As a High Court judge, Brennan wrote the lead judgement on the Mabo decision, which overturned the doctrine of terra nullius used to justify the Crown's sovereignty over Australia, replacing it with the doctrine of native title, and thus protecting Aboriginal people's claims to land. This decision eventually gave rise to the Native Title Act. He was appointed by prime minister Paul Keating to become the 10th Chief Justice of Australia in 1995.

In 1953, Brennan married Patricia O'Hara. Lady Brennan died on 3 September 2019. Their first child, Frank Brennan, born in 1954, became a Jesuit priest, a human rights lawyer and an advocate for the rights of Aboriginal peoples. Their second child, Madeline Brennan KC, is a barrister in Brisbane and has served as a director of a number of Catholic health and education providers. Their third child Dr Anne Brennan is a psychiatrist who came to prominence in the Barrett Adolescent Centre Commission of Inquiry. Their fourth child Tom Brennan SC is a barrister in Sydney. A son Paul was CEO of Polynovo Ltd an ASX listed biotechnology manufacturer until his resignation in 2021. A daughter, Bernadette, is the author of renowned literary biographies This Writing Life: Helen Garner and her Work; and Leaping into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears. Brennan died on 1 June 2022 in Sydney, aged 94, two days before Mabo Day and the 30th anniversary of the Mabo decision.

In 1981, Brennan was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and, in 1988, appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in recognition of his service to the law. Brennan was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Melbourne (Hon. LL. D.), the University of Technology, Sydney (Hon. LL. D.), the University of Queensland (Hon. LL. D.), Griffith University (Hon. D. Univ. ), Central Queensland University (Hon. D. Litt. ), Trinity College Dublin (Hon. LL. D.) and the Australian Catholic University (Hon LL. D). He was a life fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. He served as chancellor of the University of Technology, Sydney, from 1998 to 2004. In 2013, Brennan was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.