Selden Society lecture series Australia

In the early hours of a cold Brisbane morning in 1968, David Bertram Brooks entered the unlocked front door of Queensland’s historic Supreme Court. Resentful of the police and the justice system for his frequent arrests, Brooks made his way to the judges’ chambers and set the building alight.  In the days following the fire, judges, their associates, members of the legal profession and law student...

Sir Harry Talbot Gibbs PC AC GCMC QC served as a Justice of the High Court of Australia for more than 16 years (1970–87), rising to the office of Chief Justice from 1981 to 1987. As a judge of exemplary ability and integrity, with no political affiliations, Sir Harry Gibbs played a key role in maintaining public confidence in the High Court during this challenging period of controversy and change....

In this episode Professor Warren Swain examines Lord Mansfield and his influence in developing the common law to meet the growing needs of commercial practice. In particular, his judgments shaped the law in relation to bills of exchange, marine insurance and intellectual property and he drew upon equitable concepts to create the groundwork for the later development of doctrines of estoppel and res...

Barrister, legal scholar, parliamentarian, and judge, Sir Edward Coke (1552–1634) was at the very centre of some of the most dramatic moments in England's legal history including the trials of the Earl of Essex (1600), Sir Walter Raleigh (1603) and the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot (1605). His outspoken conduct as a Member of Parliament soon led to his arrest and imprisonment in the Towe...

The appointment of Thomas William McCawley to the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1917 was a decision destined to provoke controversy. The challenge to his appointment was based on what were called 'purely legal and constitutional grounds', but personal motives, partisan manoeuvring and ideological goals were never far from the surface.   The case was heard by the Supreme Court, the High...

In this episode of the podcast, the Hon Margaret McMurdo AC pays tribute to the life and work of Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to be appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.  Throughout her long and distinguished legal career, Justice O’Connor bore witness to changing attitudes and opportunities for women in the law.  She became one of the most influential members of t...

Lord Thomas Bingham of Cornhill was described in his obituary as the greatest English judge since the Second World War. He was the first modern judge to hold all of the positions of Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice, and Senior Law Lord.  In this lecture, the Honourable Justice James Edelman pays tribute to the life and legacy of Lord Thomas Bingham. His Honour considers the elements of styl...

What role does history play in the law, and how are claims about history proved? This lecture explores this question through a series of case studies, with a particular focus on constitutional cases. Claims about law and claims about history are interwoven in the common law. With its apparent neutrality and certainty, history holds a particular appeal for lawyers as an interpretative source. This...

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr (1841–1935) was a scholar and jurist of indisputable brilliance, widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential judges in the English speaking world. Of all of his opinions, nothing defines his life’s work better than his famous approach to the First Amendment. Although no right seems more fundamental to American public life than freedom of speech, the Supreme...

In Victorian England the work of the courts was a subject of immense public interest, with the leading barristers of the day enjoying celebrity status. In this era there was no litigation more closely followed than the trials of Oscar Wilde. This fascinating lecture, presented by The Honourable Alan Wilson AC, charts the course of libel and criminal trials that ultimately led to Wilde’s conviction...

This month we have a special edition of the podcast featuring a panel discussion on the relationships between art, aesthetics and justice.    The event was a part of the recent Next Witness exhibition in the library featuring the works of contemporary Australian artist Julie Fragar. Inspired by her experiences as an observer in the Queensland Supreme Court, Fragar’s large, layered paintings reveal...

One of the world’s leading art prizes, The Archibald Prize, has been the battleground for debates and disputes about the definition of portraiture since its inception in 1921. It was established in 1919, pursuant to the will of Mr J F Archibald (a former editor of The Bulletin). Its annual exhibitions at the Art Gallery of NSW have reflected the evolving tastes and trends of Australia’s visual art...

In this lecture, Professor Paul Brand looks at the different rhetorics of legislation enacted during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, a period when the initiative in legislation still clearly lay with the King and his advisers (rather than with the Commons in parliament) and also a period which saw the enactment of legislation with a major and continuing impact and importance.  Visit...

Lord Atkin's first encounter with a doctor was in 1867, when Dr Kevin O'Doherty attended his birth in Brisbane. Twenty years earlier O'Doherty had been transported to Tasmania for his advocacy of Irish nationalism. By 1867 he was a leading surgeon in Brisbane, and, like his friend Robert Atkin, an advocate of liberal democracy. He was one of the first presidents of the Queensland Me...

This lecture explores Lord Atkin’s famous dissent in the 1941 case of Liversidge v Anderson , where he sought to strike down a wartime internment decision that had been given without reasons. More about the case can be found in the Supreme Court Library’s online exhibition celebrating Lord Atkin .  The lecture is presented by the Hon Susan Kiefel AC. Her Honour was appointed Chief Justice of Austr...

This episode of the podcast gives a first-hand account of one of the most important judgments ever delivered by the High Court, Mabo v the State of Queensland (No.2) . It was presented as part of our 2016 lecture series . The presenter is the Honourable Margaret White AO, who acted as junior counsel for the Queensland Government during the Mabo case. This year marks the 27th anniversary of the Mab...

This lecture examines the celebrated 1971 English case of McKenzie v McKenzie , in which the Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed the important principle that any person conducting proceedings in court is entitled to quiet assistance from a person of their choice. 2019 marks fifty years since the initial divorce trial of McKenzie v McKenzie in London.  The lecture is presented by Ian Hanger AM QC,...

Antonin Scalia was a prominent and controversial member of the Supreme Court of the United States: February marks the anniversary of his unexpected death in 2016. The lecture is presented by the Honourable Justice Glenn Martin, judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland. A video of the lecture and copy of the paper are available on the Supreme Court Library Queensland website, https://legalheritage....