Name Henry Fryberg | ||
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Justice Henry George Fryberg was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Australia. Justice Fryberg was sworn in on 23 September 1994. His Honour retired in 2013 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Contents
- Brisbane City Council v Matthews
- Legal Services Commissioner v Quinn
- R v Bruce Gordon Ward
- R v Hargraves and Stoten
- R v Patel
- References
Henry George Fryberg was born on 29 November 1943 Brisbane, to Lt Col Abraham Fryberg, then acting director-general of health, and his wife Vivian Greensill (née Barnard). Fryberg completed his primary education at Ascot State School (1949-57) and his secondary education at Brisbane Grammar School (1958-61), and studied at the University of Queensland, graduating Bachelor of Arts with honours (1965) and a Bachelor of Laws with honours (1967). He was awarded Wilkinson Memorial Prize and the Henderson Prize for law.
On 13 December 1967, Fryberg was admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland and in New South Wales, Papua New Guinea, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and the Solomon Islands. Fryberg served as associate to Windeyer J of the High Court of Australia (1968–70), before commencing practice at the bar in Brisbane. Fryberg took silk in Queensland on 1 December 1983, in New South Wales (1988) and the Northern Territory (1992).
On 23 September 1994, Fryberg was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland. He also served on the Land Appeal Court (1995-96) and the Medical Assessment Tribunal (1996–2001) and has taught leading evidence in the bar practice course since the 1980s.
Brisbane City Council v. Matthews
Brisbane City Council v. Matthews [2006] QSC 25, involved an application brought under the Vexatious Proceedings Act as a result of the numerous proceedings brought by the respondent Mathews against the Brisbane City Council (BCC) and other parties. Mathews was a disability pensioner as a result of a head injury he had sustained many years before, and his injuries affected his ability to concentrate for long periods. Justice Fryberg heard the application before all chamber applications in the list that day in order to assist the respondent, who was self-represented, in being able to present his case. After noting that Mathews had brought multiple proceedings, Justice Fryberg found that they were vexatious under the meaning of the Act:
As a result, Justice Fryberg declared Mathews a vexatious litigant and made an order prohibiting him from commencing any new proceedings against BCC.
Legal Services Commissioner v Quinn
The case of Legal Services Commissioner v Quinn [2008] QLPT 19 concerned a Discipline Application brought against a solicitor in the Legal Services Tribunal. The Application followed Quinn’s guilty plea and conviction for importing child pornography, possessing a child abuse computer game and possessing child abuse photographs in the District Court of Queensland in 2007. The Application was brought by the Legal Services Commission following the convictions. Justice Fryberg’s judgment was delivered ex tempore and was notably brief, since this was an extremely uncomplicated case for the tribunal. At the hearing, His Honour stated that:
As a result, Quinn’s entitlement to practice was removed.
R v Bruce Gordon Ward
The accused, a surgeon, was accused of negligently cutting a patient's vein during an operation and prescribing blood-thinning drugs that hastened her death.
On 5 March 2009, a hearing took place in order to resolve disclosure issues, as well as when the trial would be held. His Honour rejected the proposed directions submitted by the defence because they would not provide sufficient disclosure to the proxsecution of the expert evidence to be presented by the defence.
In August 2009, new evidence emerged from nurses, leading to Justice Fryberg suggesting that the case against the accused was not strong enough to likely lead to conviction. The prosecution subsequently dropped the charge, and so Ward was acquitted.
R v. Hargraves and Stoten
In 2010, Justice Fryberg heard the case of R v. Hargraves and Stoten [2010] QSC 188, two men charged with count of conspiracy to dishonestly cause a loss to a Commonwealth entity between May 2001 and June 2005. After they were convicted by a jury, Fryberg sentenced Hargraves to a sentence of imprisonment of 6½ years, with a non-parole period of 3 years and 9 months and Stoten a term of imprisonment of 6½ years, with a non-parole period of 3 years and 9 months.
R v. Patel
In 2013, Justice Fryberg presided over the retrial of former Bundaberg surgeon Jayant Patel for one of the manslaughter charges, which sat for 22 days and heard from 25 witnesses. Patel was acquitted of the charge by the jury.