The Hon. Justice Ralph Lloyd Simmonds was born in

Sydney, NSW Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in May 1950, and educated at Nedlands Primary School and Christ Church Grammar School in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

in 1972 and a Master of Laws from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

Ontario, Canada Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, in 1976. He was admitted to practice in Western Australia in 1974, after articling at Muir Williams Nicholson & Co (now Freehills). He was a law lecturer at the

University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public univers ...

, Ontario, together with his Quebec-native wife, a multilingual academic who obtained her PhD from the University of Toronto, and then

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, 1980-89. Canada's province of Quebec has French rather than English law other than for the federal Criminal Code, but McGill's faculty of law provides legal education to students in both French and English law. Simmonds was Foundation Dean (1992–95, 1997-2003) and Foundation Professor of Law at

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...

in Perth. He has also served on the Law Reform Commission of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

and as National Convenor of the Committee of Australian Law Deans (1994–95). He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in February 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmonds, Ralph 1950 births Living people 20th-century Australian lawyers People educated at Christ Church Grammar School Judges of the Supreme Court of Western Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Law 21st-century Australian judges Academic staff of Murdoch University