Philip Damien Cummins (9 November 1939 – 24 February 2019) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

lawyer and judge of the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court comprises ...

. Cummins was the presiding judge in the trials of the

Silk–Miller police murders The Silk–Miller murders (also known as the Moorabbin Police murders) was the name given to the murders of Victoria Police officers Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller in Cochranes Road, Moorabbin, Victoria, Australia on 16 Au ...

, the

death of Daniel Valerio Daniel Valerio (21 April 1988 – 8 September 1990) was an Australian boy who was beaten to death on 8 September 1990 by Paul Aiton, his mother's boyfriend at the time. His death caused outrage amongst the public and led to the introduction of m ...

and the trial of

Robert Farquharson Robert Donald William Farquharson (born 1969) is an Australian man convicted of murdering his three sons on 4 September 2005, by deliberately driving his car into a farm dam. Farquharson was convicted in an earlier trial and was sentenced to ...

. He chaired the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry in 2011 before being appointed chairperson of the Victorian Law Reform Commission. He was made a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours. Cummins died in office on 24 February 2019 following a short illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cummins, Philip 1939 births 2019 deaths Judges of the Supreme Court of Victoria University of Melbourne alumni Melbourne Law School alumni Academic staff of the University of Melbourne People educated at Xavier College Australian King's Counsel Members of the Order of Australia