
35 episodes

Selden Society lecture series Australia Supreme Court Library Queensland
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- Education
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4.8 • 26 Ratings
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Join a variety of judicial officers, legal professionals and academics for this informative and provocative series of legal history lectures. Each episode presents a single story uncovering a unique aspect of our common law past. This might be literature or language, a fascinating event or item, a significant person, or the development of a legal idea. These lectures are recorded in the Banco Court, Brisbane, and are now available to the world.
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Queensland Law Society: serving ‘conscientious, honest lawyers’
A statement praising ‘conscientious honest lawyers’ was published in a Brisbane newspaper in 1874. At that time, the public image of lawyers—barristers, as well as solicitors—was poor. For decades Queensland Parliaments were inclined to agree. The creation of the incorporated Queensland Law Society was seen as an important step in improving the reputation of lawyers.
In this lecture, historian Helen Gregory presents the challenges which needed to be addressed, and how government was persuaded to pass the necessary legislation, taking into account the expectations of solicitors, Parliament and the public.
The lecture is opened by the Hon Justice Williams (Supreme Court of Queensland). The Queensland Law Society Vice President, Rebecca Fogerty, also gave a short speech before the lecture and officially open the new SCLQ and QLS exhibition, A force for good: past, present and future.
Learn more about the exhibition here.
About the speaker
Helen Gregory was born in Brisbane and is a historian specialising in Queensland's history and cultural heritage. She has taught in the Department of History at the University of Queensland, the School of Built Environment at the Queensland University of Technology and was Director of Cultural Heritage at the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency.
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Mr Justice Harding—a titan of Queensland law
George Rogers Harding (1838–1895) was the 5th Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland and is regarded as one of Queensland’s finest civil lawyers, whose rigorous analytical approach helped to establish the reputation of the Supreme Court. He is also known as one of Queensland’s most influential bibliophiles and was instrumental in developing a fine collection for the Supreme Court Library. After his death, his extensive personal library provided the foundation for what became the State Library of Queensland.
This Selden Society lecture examines Harding’s personal and professional life and legacy within the context of Queensland’s developing legal community.
About the speaker
Mr John McKenna KC is a long-standing member of the Selden Society, who has a particular interest in the development of the Queensland courts and legal profession in the 19th century. He is the author of Supreme Court of Queensland: A Concise History (2012).
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Lord Denning
Many consider Lord Denning (1899–1999) to be the most important English judge of the 20th century. His witty and trenchant judgments are read by law students and cited by legal texts and lawyers in the United Kingdom as well as Australia, Canada and beyond. The Honourable James Douglas uses this lecture to examine Lord Denning’s life and judicial philosophy, as well as Denning’s willingness to reconsider precedent and reform legal principles.
About the speaker
The Honourable James Douglas QC was educated at The University of Queensland, graduating Bachelor of Arts (1971) and Bachelor of Laws (1973) and awarded the Comparative Law Prize in that year. He served as an associate to his father, the Honourable James Archibald Douglas (1972), and to Sir Harry Gibbs on the High Court of Australia (1973–74). He was admitted to the Bar in 1973 and undertook study at Emmanuel College Cambridge, graduating Bachelor of Laws (1976) and Diploma in Legal Studies (1979). He was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2003 and retired in 2020.
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Sir Frederick Jordan: Australia’s most influential judge?
Sir Frederick Jordan served as Chief Justice of New South Wales from 1934–1949. His vigorous defence of the rule of law during World War II sometimes put him at odds with the governments of the day and the High Court of Australia, but his fiercely written judgments remain relevant and continue to be cited even into this new century.
Although Sir Frederick declined an appointment to the High Court offered by Prime Minister Robert Menzies at the urging of Sir Owen Dixon, his law school teaching, publications and the lasting impact of his judgments give him a serious claim as Australia’s most influential jurist.
Sir Frederick’s extra-judicial writings reveal his fluency in six languages and expansive and opinionated scholarship in art, literature, religion and popular culture.
About the speaker
The Hon Keith Mason AC KC was Solicitor-General and President of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales. He is now an adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales. He’s explored biographical aspects of Australia’s rich legal history in his two legal miscellanies (Lawyers Then and Now; Old Law, New Law) and his biography of Sir Frederick Jordan, Fire Under the Frost.
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Kidnapping and slavery in Queensland: the 'Jason' and the 'Hopeful'
In our latest episode, Dr Andrew Stumer and Professor Emeritus Kay Saunders AO examine two Queensland criminal cases from the late 19th century.
With the rapid expansion of sugar production in Queensland in the second half of the 19th century, new sources of labour were sought. In 1871, the Supreme Court of Queensland upheld the conviction of Captain Coath of the schooner Jason for kidnapping nine South Sea Islanders to force them into servitude. Supporters of Captain Coath insisted the conviction was obtained through lies told by disgruntled crew members and a Government Inspector. Opponents of South Sea Islander labour pointed to the case as a symptom of widespread abuse.
In 1884, the crew of the Burns Philp vessel Hopeful was charged with the murder and kidnapping of South Sea Islanders. An enormous public outcry ensued when the captain and mate were found guilty and sentenced to death. The following year, Premier Samuel Griffith, a loudly outspoken critic of the plantation system, established the Royal Commission to Enquire into Kidnapping in New Guinea Waters. It revealed the widespread extent of assault, kidnapping and deception by crews of ships participating in the labour trade.
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About the speakers
Dr Andrew Stumer is a barrister in practice in Brisbane, Queensland. He is the author of The Presumption of Innocence: Evidential and Human Rights Perspectives (Hart Publishing, 2010).
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Emeritus Professor Kay Saunders AO FASSA FRSA FRHS (London) has published widely on global indentured labour systems and slavery. Her most recent project, conducted with Dr Denver Beanland AM, concerns a re-appraisal of Sir Samuel Griffith's political career.
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Making law through practice: examples from commercial law
Sir Ross Cranston will draw on themes in his recent book, Making commercial law through practice 1830–1970 (Cambridge UP, 2021), emphasising the Australian dimension. He will examine three areas: markets, agency and sales, to show that although the common law provided the backdrop to commercial activity, it was in practice a flexible tool to achieve what the parties wanted.
About the speaker
Sir Ross Cranston is professor of law at the London School of Economics, where he was previously Cassel professor of commercial law. After graduating from the University of Queensland with university medals in history and political science and law, he undertook post-graduate work at Harvard and Oxford. He has been an MP, Solicitor General for England and Wales and a High Court judge for England and Wales.
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Customer Reviews
Excellent podcasts
These are a great series of podcasts - entertaining and informative - a must for anyone with an interest in the law.
Very engaging talk, great initiative
Excellent first lecture and fascinating for lawyers or non-lawyers. Great initiative by SCLQ to put up in a podcast. Keep them coming.