Heydon: Selected Speeches and Papers

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 Ian Callinan observes in his preface, in these papers the author "combines the arts of the essayist, historian, orator, obituarist, reviewer, critic, teacher and advocate". The 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.

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”

The Honourable Justice John Sackar is a sitting judge in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Thomas Prince is a barrister at New Chambers. He is also a part-time tutor at the University of Sydney in torts and contracts.