Advocacy through law reform
Moot Court Bench—Coffee Hour Seminar, Professor Rosalind Croucher AM*, President, Australian Law Reform Commission, Jackson McDonald, Perth, 29 September 2015.IntroductionThank you Dr David Cox, both as Chair of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia and as a partner of Jackson McDonald, for hosting today’s seminar.Thank you to Lorraine Finlay, Director of Mooting, Murdoch University …
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Read moreLaws that restrict access to the courts
18.13 Restrictions on access to the courts arise in many forms. A common method of restricting access to the courts is to exclude a decision from review under the ADJR Act,[21] or restrict judicial review according to procedures under a particular legislative framework.[22]The most controversial method of restricting access to the courts is the inclusion …
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Read moreThe common law
13.1 Client legal privilege is an ‘important common law immunity’[1] and a ‘fundamental and general principle of the common law’.[2] It ‘exists to serve the public interest in the administration of justice by encouraging full and frank disclosure by clients to their lawyers’.[3]13.2 This chapter is about client legal privilege—also known as legal professional privilege—as …
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Read moreLaws that interfere with freedom of speech
3.30 A wide range of Commonwealth laws may be seen as interfering with freedom of speech and expression, broadly conceived. Some of these laws impose limits on freedom of speech that have long been recognised by the common law, for example, in relation to obscenity and sedition. Arguably, such laws do not encroach on the …
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Read moreMichael Kirby Lecture 2015 | Re-imagining Law Reform—Michael Kirby’s Vision, Human Rights and the Australian Law Reform Commission in the 21st Century
Professor Rosalind Croucher AM*,President, Australian Law Reform Commission, 9 July 2015, Southern Cross University.IntroductionVice-Chancellor Peter Lee, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Professor Geraldine Mackenzie, Dean Rocque Reynolds, Professor Bee-Chen Goh and—the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, Chairman Emeritus of the Australian Law Reform Commission.I would like to echo Bee-Chen in her warm acknowledgment of the traditional custodians …
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Read moreLaw reform process
In undertaking the Inquiry, the ALRC sought evidence as to whether the current native title system is meeting its objectives, whether specified options for reform would improve the operation of the system, and whether alternative reform options should be implemented. In particular, the ALRC sought evidence as to whether the reforms recommended in this Report …
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Read moreLaw reform process
1.54 In undertaking the Inquiry, the ALRC sought evidence as to whether the current native title system is meeting its objectives, whether specified options for reform would improve the operation of the system, and whether alternative reform options should be implemented. In particular, the ALRC sought evidence as to whether the reforms recommended in this …
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Read moreLaunch of ‘Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws’ – NSW Public Guardian
Graeme Smith, NSW Public Guardian presentation, at the launch of ALRC Final Report Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth laws in Sydney on 11 December 2014.I congratulate the ALRC on the publication of this report.I would also like to thank Ros Croucher for the opportunity to make a few comments on the importance of this …
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Read moreProgram 1: Conducting inquiries into aspects of Australian laws and related processes for the purposes of law reform
The objective of this program is to produce, for each inquiry, a Report, that contains the evidence base—including in-depth research and analysis of relevant laws, legal frameworks and processes, and community consultation and feedback—and recommendations that will assist the Government to make informed decisions about the development, reform and harmonisation of Australian laws and related …
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Read moreThe law reform process
1.33 Law reform recommendations cannot be based upon assertion or assumption and need to be built on an appropriate conceptual framework and evidence base.Framing principles1.34 The ALRC identified five framing principles for guiding the recommendations for reform in this Inquiry: dignity; equality; autonomy; inclusion and participation; and accountability. There was wide support by stakeholders for …
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