Albert Wolff (judge)

Sir Albert Asher Wolff KCMG (30 April 1899 – 27 October 1977) was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Western Australia. Wolf also served as Lieutenant Governor of Western Australia.

Born on 30 April 1899 at Geraldton, Western Australia, and registered as Asher Albert, he was the only son and second of four children to a Russian-born jeweller, and his English wife. From an orthodox Jewish family, Wolff was educated at Geraldton State and Perth Boys' schools and won a scholarship to Perth Modern School.

In 1924 he married schoolteacher Ida Violet Jackson, at the district registrar's office in Perth.

After serving articles in a legal firm, he was admitted to the Supreme Court on 20 October 1921, and practised at Goomalling and in Perth until appointed crown prosecutor in 1926.

Wolff prosecuted constables J. G. St Jack and R. H. Regan for murder following the 1926 Forrest River massacre; they were acquitted. In 1929 he was promoted crown solicitor and parliamentary draftsman and won repute for his drafting skills. He was appointed to the Supreme Court bench in 1938.

In 1949 Wolff presided over an Air Court of Inquiry into the crash of a Douglas DC-3 aircraft at Perth Airport which killed all 18 people on board. The aircraft was operated by West Australian airline MacRobertson Miller Aviation. The Court was unable to determine the precise cause of the accident.

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