This insightful, rewarding and highly readable volume is a generous selection of the best of Dyson Heydon's speeches and papers. Most have a legal theme, although the book is of broader interest. As the Hon Ian Callinan observes in his foreword, in these papers the author combines the arts of the essayist, historian, orator, obituarist, reviewer, critic, teacher and advocate .
\n\nThe Honourable J D Heydon AC QC was a Rhodes Scholar for New South Wales, elected Dean of the University of Sydney Law School (aged 34), practised as a barrister (including as Queen's Counsel after practising as a junior for a mere 8 years), before being appointed a Judge of Appeal and Justice of the High Court. He was the Commissioner of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption in 2014-2015.
\n\n Any reader of the Papers will be struck by the depth and width of the author's scholarship. There is not one of the Papers that is not rich in unaffected literary, historical and legal allusion. They are a mine of interesting facts and intelligent fresh insights (from the Foreword by Ian Callinan).
\n\nFrom the Book Launch, 15 August 2018:
\n\nThe Hon Tom Bathurst AC, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales\n There is much to say about Dyson Heydon's achievements to date. This is attested to not just by the 800 pages comprising this book, but the fact that it represents a mere drop in the ocean of legal writing that Dyson has contributed both to this country and abroad. ... To put it simply, this book stands out because of the breadth of the subjects the author has covered, and most extraordinarily, the depth to which he covers them. It reveals unparalleled ability in innumerable subjects including criminal, constitutional and comparative law. It also shows his ability to reflect deeply on the lives, habits and peculiarities of others, manifesting an understanding not just of the law, but of people - which some might say is a rare phenomenon in a lawyer. Read Launch Speech...
\n\nMr Rodney Cavalier AO\n Each chapter is devoted in good measure to a love of words - composing and arranging, sometimes meandering into tangents characteristic of an address, but always driving the thesis with purpose. The register does not matter: speaking, writing, conversation, advocacy, dissertation, book, chapter, judgment, letter. Whimsy or solemn. Dyson loves words. For that reason, he loves books (every element of them) and he loves the private library, the essential statement of a thinking person. What he admires is not secret, they permeate the consideration of every profile, living and dead - writing and scholarship, proficiency in other languages, war service, assuming leadership. Read Launch Speech...
By:
John Sackar The Honourable Justice,
Thomas Prince
Edited by:
Thomas Prince
Imprint: Federation Press
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 1.518kg
ISBN: 9781760021764
ISBN 10: 1760021768
Pages: 800
Publication Date: 31 July 2018
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Part 1: Lawyers 1. Address at the Fifteen Bobber of the Hon Justice WMC Gummow 2. Speech in Honour of JRF Lehane 3. Address to Bench and Bar Dinner 4. Outstanding Australian Judges 5. Speech in Honour of Simon and Jan Sheller 6. Address in Memory of Peter Graham Hely 7. Toast to the Hon Murray Gleeson 8. Address in Memory of John Basil Kearney 9. Speech in Honour of Lord Hoffmann 10. Address in Memory of Roderick Pitt Meagher 11. The Fortunate Life of Ninian Stephen 12. AWB Simpson's The Common Law and Legal Theory 13. Tom Hughes Part 2: Outsiders and Dissenters 14. Chief Justice Gibbs: Defending the Rule of Law in a Federal System 15. The Public Life of John and Nancy Stone 16. Japanese War Crimes, Retroactive Laws and Mr Justice Pal 17. Catholic Resistance to German State Persecution: Lessons for Modern Australia 18. President De Gaulle was Wrong: The European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia Part 3: Judicial Technique 19. Judicial Activism and the Death of the Rule of Law 20. Limits to the Powers of Ultimate Appellate Courts 21. How far can Trial Courts and Intermediate Appellate Courts Develop the Law? 22. Varieties of Judicial Method in the Late 20th Century 23. Threats to Judicial Independence: The Enemy Within 24. The Objective Approach to Statutory Construction Part 4: Constitutional Law 25. The Gaining and Losing of National Independence 26. One Small Point About Originalism 27. Theories of Constitutional Interpretation: A Taxonomy 28. What Do We Mean by the Rule of Law? 2 9. Sir Samuel Griffith and the Making of the Australian Constitution 30. Sir Samuel Griffith as Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia 31. Are Bills of Rights Necessary in Common Law Systems? Part 5: Evidence and Criminal Law 32. Common Experience, Judicial Notice and Opinion Evidence: Distinctions, Parallels, Overlaps and Contradictions 33. The Common Law of Evidence and Human Rights 34. The Origins of the Indian Evidence Act 35. The Influence of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen on the Law of Evidence 36. Reflections on James Fitzjames Stephen 37. Interactions Between the Common Law and Criminal Codes: Australia 38. Four Great Australian Legal Disasters 39. Is the Weight of Evidence Material to its Admissibility? Part 6: Equity and Contracts 40. The Non-Fiduciary Duty of Directors to Exercise Care: A Study in Flawed Forensic Technique 41. Modern Fiduciary Liability: The Sick Man of Equity? 42. Comment on Lord Hoffmann's Interpretation of Contracts 43. Comment on Lord Neuberger's The Remedial Constructive Trust-Fact or Fiction
Reviews for Heydon: Selected Speeches and Papers
One might expect that the editors of this rewarding text - John Sackar and Thomas Prince - might have had a difficult task to distil into one book the extraordinary expanse of legal writing produced to date by the Honourable Dyson Heydon AC QC. The result of their efforts is nearly 750 pages of both legal analysis and commentary on eminent legal figures, written in the author's careful and compelling style. The text is divided into six parts, but the speeches and writings included within it are near boundless in their variety. They span from eulogies and other expositions of prominent or significant figures to analysis of judicial method; and from articles addressing, and demonstrating the author's well-known acuity for, all reaches of the laws and principles of evidence to a chapter in defence of the remedial constructive trust. The breadth of subjects covered, however, is surpassed arguably only by the depth and rigour with which the author addresses them. This book is a delight to read, both for its substance and its form. It is a commendable addition to the library of any lawyer. - Queensland Law Reporter - 7 September 2018 - [2018] 35 QLR
