Aboriginal Elder Robbie Thorpe Loses Legal Bid to Prosecute King Charles for Genocide
- Victoria’s Court of Appeal has dismissed a landmark legal bid by Krautatungalung elder Robbie Thorpe to prosecute King Charles III over the alleged genocide of Aboriginal and Torres...
- The court action contends that King Charles III, the Australian government, and associated bodies are continuing genocide by upholding frameworks that leave Indigenous Australians behind across multiple social...
- The latest ruling leaves Mr Thorpe with one final domestic legal option: seeking permission to appeal to the High Court of Australia.
Victoria’s Court of Appeal has dismissed a landmark legal bid by Krautatungalung elder Robbie Thorpe to prosecute King Charles III over the alleged genocide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The ruling marks the third legal defeat for the 68-year-old activist since he began trying to bring private charges against the monarch in 2023, leaving him with few remaining domestic options.
Legal Hurdles in Victoria Courts
The court action contends that King Charles III, the Australian government, and associated bodies are continuing genocide by upholding frameworks that leave Indigenous Australians behind across multiple social and economic indicators. Mr Thorpe’s latest filing accused the monarch of continuing acts of genocide committed since September 28, 2022, contrary to common law, federal law concerning genocide, and First Peoples’ sovereign laws.
However, the initial filing was knocked back by a senior registrar of the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on the grounds that it did not reference any proper source of law. A subsequent judicial review by the Supreme Court of Victoria upheld the registrar’s decision.
In dismissing the application to appeal, the Court of Appeal stated that the primary judge acted correctly and self-evidently because the only jurisdiction she could exercise was that of the Supreme Court of Victoria. The appellate panel observed that the accusations contained within the charge-sheet failed to establish any crime recognized under Victorian law.
Next Steps at the High Court and International Criminal Court
The latest ruling leaves Mr Thorpe with one final domestic legal option: seeking permission to appeal to the High Court of Australia. Yet, the activist stated on Monday that he does not expect to receive a fair hearing within Australia.
Once domestic options are exhausted, Mr Thorpe intends to take his allegations against the British monarch to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands.
Under British common law, the sovereign enjoys complete protection from criminal and civil prosecution within the United Kingdom, a status that likely extends to Australia as well. While the ICC does not recognise head-of-state immunity and has jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, an individual cannot launch a private prosecution in the ICC. A prosecution can be referred by the UN Security Council, though that remains unlikely given Britain’s membership. More commonly, individuals make the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor aware of evidence, a path utilized in previous cases involving world leaders. Mr Thorpe suggested that Türkiye might be a country willing to take the charges to an international court, adding that domestic court filings help accrue a record of unwillingness or inability to deal with these issues locally.