The Guardian(London)

Thursday 1:01 PM GMT

Robertson frequently criticises refugee policy, warning Australia seen as 'mean and miserable'

 

by Anne Davies

 

 

He's been a frequent critic of Australia's refugee policy, warning Australia risks being seen as "mean and miserable"; he's defended our highest profile fugitive, Julian Assange, and lived for the bulk of his life outside the country.

 

Now Geoffrey Robertson QC, human rights lawyer and civil rights advocate, has been made an officer of the Order of Australia.

 

The UK-based barrister was recognised for his "distinguished service to the law and the legal profession as an international human rights lawyer and advocate for global civil liberties". He was also recognised for his contribution to legal education as an academic and publisher.

 

Related: Journalist Tracey Spicer 'humbled' by Australia Day honour

 

Born in Australia, the 71-year old Robertson is a regular visitor.

 

In the 1980s he was host of the popular ABC television program Hypotheticals, in which prominent people were asked to respond to moral dilemmas and outline what they would do.

 

Robertson grew up in Eastwood and studied law at Sydney University before winning a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford where he was awarded a bachelor of civil law.

 

Early in his career he forged a reputation for defending artists, writers and publications against Britain's strict laws against indecency. Many of the cases were brought by Christian campaigner Mary Whitehouse.

 

He has also acted in prominent libel cases, including defending the Guardian against conservative MP Neil Hamilton, who was accused of taking cash for questions in parliament.

 

Robertson was threatened by terrorists for representing Salman Rushdie, whose novel the Satanic Verses was labelled hate speech by Muslims in Britain and prompted a fatwa from Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.

 

In 2010 Robertson unsuccessfully defended Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, in extradition proceedings in the UK. Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and remains there.

 

Closer to home, Robertson took on the cause of Aboriginal Tasmanians who were seeking to recover 15 sets of bones from London's Natural History Museum. He accused the museum of "genetic prospecting".

 

Related: Oxfam Australia chief Helen Szoke recognised in Australia Day honours

 

In 2015 Robertson and Amal Clooney, who has rooms in Doughty Chambers which Robertson founded, represented Armenia at the European Court of Human Rights over claims of genocide.

 

Robertson is also a prolific author. He has written about legal issues, famous cases and some controversial subjects.

 

In The Case of the Pope, Robertson claims Pope Benedict XVI is guilty of protecting paedophiles because the church swore the victims to secrecy and moved perpetrators in Catholic sex abuse cases to other positions where they had access to children while knowing the perpetrators were likely to reoffend.

 

In 1990, Robertson married the author Kathy Lette, and they lived together in London with their children until their separation in 2017.