Philip Henry Napoleon Opas AM OBE QC (24 February 1917 – 25 August 2008) was an Australian

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

. He was best known for his unsuccessful attempts to prevent the execution of

Ronald Ryan Ronald Joseph Ryan (21 February 1925 – 3 February 1967) was the last person to be legally executed in Australia. Ryan was found guilty of shooting and killing warder George Hodson during an escape from Pentridge Prison, Victoria, in 1965. R ...

, the last Australian person to be legally executed.

Early life

Opas was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 24 February 1917. He was the oldest of five children born to Sarah () and Joseph Henry Opas; his father was an accountant. He was of Portuguese-Jewish descent. Opas grew up in the suburb of St Kilda, attending

Melbourne Church of England Grammar School Melbourne Grammar School is an Australian Independent school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Day school, day and boarding school. It comprises a co-educational preparatory school from Prep to Year 6 and a middle school and seni ...

until the age of 15. He was subsequently apprenticed to

Roy Schilling Reginald Ernest Roy Schilling (30 August 1896 – 7 May 1979) was an Australian politician. He was born in Bendigo, Victoria, Bendigo to blacksmith Frederick William Carl Schilling and Isabella Cameron. He attended state schools and became a ...

as a law clerk and went on to complete the degree of

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. In 1939, Opas enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF). He served in New Guinea during World War II and retained an involvement with the military after the war's end, serving as judge advocate-general and reaching the rank of air commodore in the

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...

Career

Opas was admitted to the

Victorian Bar The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australian State of Victoria. The current President of the Bar is Roisin Annesley KC. Its members are barristers registered to practice in Victoria. On 30 June 2020, there were 2,179 counsels ...

in 1942, while on leave from the RAAF. He read with Robert Monahan in 1946 and practised as a junior barrister until his appointment as

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1958. He had a wide-ranging practice that included criminal law, commercial law and local government matters. He retired from the bar in 1989.

Ronald Ryan

In 1966, Opas became the defence counsel to

, who had been charged with murdering a prison warder while escaping from

HM Prison Pentridge HM Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison that was first established in 1851 in Coburg, Victoria. The first prisoners arrived in 1851. The prison officially closed on 1 May 1997. Pentridge was often referred to as the "Bluestone College", ...

. Ryan was convicted of murder and in February 1967 became the last person to be legally executed in Australia. Opas was convinced of Ryan's innocence, believing it was impossible for him to have shot the warder at the angle at which he was shot. He attributed Ryan's execution to political interference from the Victorian premier

Henry Bolte Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG (20 May 1908 – 4 January 1990) was an Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Victoria. To date he is the longest-serving Victorian premier, having been in office for over 17 consecutive years. E ...

. The case reportedly "turned him from a supporter of capital punishment into a lifelong opponent". Following Ryan's execution, Opas was charged with unprofessional conduct by the Ethics Committee of the Victorian Bar Council in connection with his public appeals for assistance with the case. He was prosecuted by

Ninian Stephen Sir Ninian Martin Stephen (15 June 1923 – 29 October 2017) was an Australian judge who served as the 20th governor-general of Australia, in office from 1982 to 1989. He was previously a justice of the High Court of Australia from 1972 to 198 ...

but retained

Richard McGarvie Richard Elgin McGarvie, (21 May 1926 – 24 May 2003) was a judge in the Supreme Court of Victoria from 1976 to 1992, and the 24th Governor of Victoria from 1992 to 1997. Early life McGarvie was born and brought up on his parents' dairy farm a ...

and

Ivor Greenwood Ivor John Greenwood QC (15 November 192613 October 1976) was an Australian barrister and politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and held senior ministerial office in the McMahon and Fraser Governments. He served as Minister for Healt ...

in his defence and had the charges dismissed. He was disillusioned by the experience and left the bar for four years to work as group legal officer for Conzinc Rio Tinto of Australia.

Personal life and honours

In 1939, Opas married Stella Sonenberg, the daughter of a prominent criminal lawyer. The couple had two daughters, including Lynnette Schiftan who became one of Victoria's first female QCs and the first woman to sit on the

County Court of Victoria The County Court of Victoria is the intermediate court in the Australian state of Victoria. It is equivalent to district courts in the other states. The County Court is the principal trial court in the state, having a broad criminal and civi ...

. He was widowed in 2005 and died at

Epworth Freemasons Established in 1937, Epworth Freemasons (formerly the Freemasons Hospital), located at 166 Clarendon St in East Melbourne, was a practical expression of the work of Freemasonry in the Victorian community. It is now run by Epworth Healthcare. ...

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 ...

on 25 August 2008, aged 91. Opas bred racehorses at a property in

Mathoura Mathoura is a small town in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia, in the Murray River Council local government area. At the , Mathoura had a population of 938. The town's name is derived from an aboriginal word for 'windy' ...

, New South Wales. In the 1970s he defended an owner accused of using ring-ins, subsequently writing a book titled ''The Great Ring-In''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opas, Philip 1917 births 2008 deaths Australian barristers Anti–death penalty activists People educated at Melbourne Grammar School Melbourne Law School alumni Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Australian King's Counsel Lawyers from Melbourne Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Order of Australia