Press Release . Communiqué de presse
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)

The Hague, 8 December 2003
JM/P.I.S./808e

Today, 8 December 2003, Judge Kevin Horace Parker (Australia) was sworn in as a Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia after his appointment by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, effective from 4 December 2003.

Judge Parker was born on 6 February 1937 in Kalgoorlie, Australia. He was educated at the Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia from where he gained an LLB in 1959.

He was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1960, appointed as Queen’s Counsel in 1977 and became a Judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 1994, which he has remained to the present date.

In the course of his career, Judge Parker served as the Senior Assistant Crown Prosecutor for Western Australia between 1967and 1971, and was then the Chief Crown Prosecutor for Western Australia between 1972 and 1974. He was later Solicitor General of Western Australia between 1979 and 1994.

Judge Parker was a member of the Council of the Law Society of Western Australia between 1972 and 1979, a member of the Barristers Board of Western Australia between 1977 and 1979, Chairman of the Barristers Board of Western Australia from 1979 to 1992, Chairman of the Legal Practitioner’s Disciplinary Tribunal of Western Australia between 1992 and 1995, a member of the Council of the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration from 1982 to 1988 and a member of the Australian Law Admissions Consultative Committee from 1983 to the present date.

He served as an officer in the Australian Citizen Air Force and Specialist Reserve from 1959 to 1997, reaching rank of Air Commodore. During that time he was on the Reserve Legal Panel between 1966 and 1977, was the Judge Advocate from 1977 to 1985 and Reviewing Judge Advocate from 1985 to 1997.

Judge Parker was also Hon ADC (air) to the Governor of Western Australia between 1965 and 1970, as well as Hon ADC (air) to Queen Elizabeth II from 1979 and 1981.

In the international field, Judge Parker was Legal Adviser and States’ Representative of the Australian Delegation to United Nation Commission on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), New York, USA (1982), Kingston, Jamaica (1988), New York, USA (1988).

He was also a member of the Australian Delegation to United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Vienna (1992) and member of the Australian Negotiating Party re Maritime Boundaries of Australia and Indonesia (1982-1995).

In 1989, Judge Parker was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, principally in recognition of role in connection with the Australia Acts, (1986) of the Commonwealth of Australia and the United Kingdom, and the Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross Vesting) Acts, (1987) of the Commonwealth, States and Territories of Australia.

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