Speeches

Latest speeches

The Entangled Complexity of Statute Law and Judge-made Law

Leeming JA

October 2023

UNSW School of Private and Commercial Law Seminar Series

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Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow: The Whimsical World of Succession Legalities

Leeming JA

September 2023

Blue Mountains Law Society Succession Conference

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Remarks on the occasion of celebrating Professor Barbara McDonald’s contribution to the University of Sydney Law School

Leeming JA

August 2023

Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney

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Speeches archive

The Honourable A S Bell, Chief Justice of NSW

Date​ ​Speech  Venue
7 March 2022 ​Swearing in Ceremony of the Hon. Justice A S Bell as Chief Justice of NSW  Banco Court
28 February 2022 Occasional Address at the Farewell ceremony for the Hon T F Bathurst AC Banco Court
29 October 2021 ​Disputes with International Dimensions Supreme Court of Western Australia, Annual Conference
15 April 2021 A Year in Review: 2020 NSW Court of Appeal
13 April 2021 University of Newcastle College of Human and Social Futures Graduation Ceremony – Occasional Address University of Newcastle
6 April 2021 Recent Recurring Issues in the Court of Appeal District Court of New South Wales Annual Conference, Sydney
15 October 2020 ​’The Rise of the Anti-Arbitration Injunction’, Third Annual Supreme Court ADR Address Banco Court
21 February 2020 The Federal and State Courts on Constitutional Law: The 2019 Law Term Gilbert + Tobin Constitutional Law Conference
26 November 2019 International Commercial Dispute Resolution: an Australian perspective INBA Conference, New Delhi, India
25 October 2019 EPLA Conference – Court of Appeal Update EPLA Conference, Sydney
21 October 2019 Delivering Reasons in the Tribunal Context NCAT Members Training Day, Sydney
5 September 2019 Launch of Heydon on Contract: The General Part Banco Court
2 September 2019 What Albert did and what Albert did next: Albert Bathurst Piddington – the High Court judge who never sat and Presentation Slides Law Faculty Dinner, St Paul’s College, University of Sydney
23 August 2019 ​Private International Law in Practice Across the Divisions: some recent developments and case law Supreme Court Judges’ Conference, Bowral
12 July 2019 ​An Australian International Commercial Court – Not a Bad Idea or What a Bad Idea? Australian Bar Association Biennial International Conference, Singapore
28 June 2019 Occasional Address, Legal Profession Admission Board Graduation Ceremony The Great Hall, University of Sydney
28 Feb 2019 Swearing-in Ceremony of the Honourable Justice Andrew Bell as a Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW and President of the Court of Appeal  Sydney

The Honourable Justice J K Ward, President of the Court of Appeal

​​Date ​Speech Venue
12 Nov 2018 Major James Whiteside Fraser McManamey – Remembrance Day Address Supreme Court of New South Wales
8 Sep 2018 Sir Anthony Mason Oration Blue Mountains Law Society 2018 Succession Conference
1-3 Sep 2018 Of Singaporean yachts, Chilean Ponzi schemes, and the Italian merchant marine (among others): An update on cross-border insolvency law in Australia 35th Annual BFSLA Conference in Queenstown, New Zealand
1-3 Sep 2018 Australian Appellate Decisions in Insolvency Law: Recent Updates 35th Annual BFSLA Conference in Queenstown, New Zealand
21 May 2018 Integrated Diversity in the Legal Profession Iftar Dinner
​7 Jun 2017 ​Women’s Leadership – Keynote Address The Australian Women’s Leadership Symposium
05 Oct 2014  Criminal Sessions: Discriminating Laws LAWASIA 27th Conference, Bangkok
​05 Sep 2014 ​War is not the Answer – The Ever Present Threat to the Rule of Law World Bar Conference
​03 Sep 2014 ​What’s in a Name? New South Wales Young Lawyers State of the Profession Address
​29 May 2014 ​Legal Capacity Then and Now: The Potential Repercussions of Neuroscientific Studies STEP Conference
​24 Mar 2012 ​Costs Banking and Financial Services Law Association Conference
​15 Aug 2010 ​Penalties and the Protection of Freedom of Contract Banking and Financial Services Law Association Conference
​29 Sep 2008 ​Swearing in Ceremony of the Honourable Julie Kathryn Ward Supreme Court of New South Wales

The Honourable Justice A J Meagher

​​Date ​Speech Venue
4 December 2019 ​Getting the Meaning Right – The Correct Approach to Interpreting Insurance Contracts Australian Insurance Law Association
28 February 2018 ​NSW Bar Association – “Insurance and the Courts” Commercial Law Section, NSW Bar Association
​28 Apr 2017 ​The Insurance Contracts Act – Good Faith, Contracting Out and Refusing Claims Kenneth Sutton Inaugural Insurance Lecture
10 Aug 2011 Swearing-In Ceremony of the Honourable Anthony John Meagher, SC Supreme Court of New South Wales

The Honourable Justice M J Leeming

Date Speech Location
October 2023 The Entangled Complexity of Statute Law and Judge-made Law UNSW School of Private and Commercial Law Seminar Series
September 2023 Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow: The Whimsical World of Succession Legalities Blue Mountains Law Society Succession Conference
August 2023 Remarks on the occasion of celebrating Professor Barbara McDonald’s contribution to the University of Sydney Law School Chau Chak Wing Museum University of Sydney
July 2023 Launch of “Copyright and Cartography – History, Law and the Circulation of Geographical Knowledge” State Library of NSW
June 2023 Subjective intention in the law of contracts – its role and limits Banco Court, Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law
May 2023 “There and back again – the last quarter century” Opening Keynote Address for ALAANZ conference Kimpton Margot Hotel, Sydney
May 2023 Book Review Essay of “Understanding the Law of Assignment” (2023) 38 Journal of Contract Law 261
October 2022 Penalties in Australia, the United Kingdom and Singapore – Storm-warnings, statutes and style (2022) 51 Aust Bar Rev 377
September 2022 Book review of “The Intricacies of Dicta and Dissent” (2022) 81(2) Cambridge Law Journal 417
August 2022 Justice Basten and the New Frontiers of Administrative Law: Crime, Tort and Contract (2022) 29 Australian Journal of Administrative Law 92
April 2022 Land and Environment Court Seminar: Appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Court of Criminal Appeal 2021 Land and Environment Court Seminar, Judicial Commission of NSW
April 2022 Knowledge and Approval: The Complex Interplay between Statute and Judge-Made Law Banco Court
​March 2022 Cook and the (Literary) Pirates State Library of New South Wales
Feb 2022 “Well hidden” Equity – Four Equity Eucalypts 96 ALJ 102
June 2021 Launch of “So Help Me God: A History of Oaths of Office” Parliament House, Sydney
April 2021 The Bathurst Lecture 2021: The enduring qualities of commercial law Supreme Court of New South Wales
​Jan 2021 Injunctions in Criminal Law (2021) 95 ALJ 18
Dec 2020 Launch of ‘Lord Devlin’ by Justice John Sackar Supreme Court of New South Wales
Nov 2020 Lawyers’ uses of history, from Entick v Carrington to Smethurst v Commissioner of Police (2020) 49 Aust Bar Rev 199
Aug 2020 ​Foreword to R Catterwell, “A Unified Approach to Contract Interpretation” Hart Publishing, 2020
April 2020 Six differences between trustees and company directors (2020) 94 ALJ 254
​​Mar 2020 ​​A History of Australian Tort Law 1901–1945: England 1945: England’s Obedient Servant? (2020) 48 Aust Bar Rev 243
22 November 2019 Judge-made law and statute – a complex interwoven fabric: Selected decisions from Western Australia Supreme Court of Western Australia Annual Conference
October 2019 Has the Golden Age of Fraud Passed? (2019) 19 OUCLJ 298
25 October 2019 Equity in Australia and the United Kingdom: dissonance and concordance Institute for European and Comparative Law, Oxford Law Faculty
August 2019 Marshalling securities and construing releases in equity (2019) 93 ALJ 626
August 2019 Statute Law in the Law of Obligations: Dimensions of Form and Substance In A Robertson and J Goudkamp (eds), Form and Substance in the Law of Obligations (Hart Publishing, 2019), Ch 15
30 August 2019 From the Bench – case law update Banking and Financial Services Law Association Annual Conference
15 Aug 2019 Sir Owen Dixon Australian Club, Sydney
Aug 2019 Fusion-Fission-Fusion: Pre-Judicature Equity Jurisdiction in New South Wales 1824-1972 J Goldberg et al (eds) Equity and Law: Fusion and Fission (CUP, 2019) 118-143
May 2019 The role of equity in 21st century commercial disputes – Meeting the needs of any sophisticated and successful legal system (2019) 47 Aust Bar Rev 137
February 2019 Pipikos v Trayans – The High Court Revisits Part Performance (2019) 93 ALJ 91
2018 Trustees’ Rights of Indemnity, Insolvency and Statutory Distributions to Preferred Creditors (2018) 92 ALJ 503
September 2018 Maintenance in Medieval England (2018) 77 Cambridge Law Journal 402-5
May 2018 ‘Not slavishly nor always’ – Equity and Limitation Statutes P Davies, S Douglas and J Goudkamp (eds), Defences in Equity (Hart Publishing, 2018), ch 14
April 2018 ​”Receipts Clauses and ‘Contractual Estoppel’ Revisited” (2018) 134 LQR 171

2018

 Ex parte candour, Solicitors’ Liens and Set-off (2018) 92 ALJ 22
December 2017 Overlapping Claims at Common Law and in Equity – An Embarrassment of Riches? (2017) 11 Journal of Equity 229
September 2017 Equitable Compensation for Breach of Confidence (Spring) Bar News 42-45
6 Sep 2017 Launch of “Equitable Compensation and Disgorgement of Profit” edited by Simone Degeling and Jason Varuhas Sydney

2017

 Injunctions restraining enforcement of ‘Muslim Ban’ Executive Orders (2017) 91 ALJ 443
​2 Aug 2017 ​Launch of “Strata Title Property Rights– Private governance of multi-owned properties” by Cathy Sherry University of New South Wales
2016 The Primary Judge in Equity (2016) 90 ALJ 92
​2016 ​The Comparative Distinctiveness of Equity  (2016) 2(2) CJCCL 403-420
​03 Aug 2016 ​Appeals from the Land and Environment Court Land and Environment Court Seminar
2016 Proprietary Relief and Tracing in Equity (2016) 90 ALJ 783
​2016 ​Equity and Statute: a Commentary P Turner (ed) Equity and Administration (Cambridge University Press, 2016), 248-257
​November 2015 ​Judicial Review of Vice-Regal Decisions: South Australia v O’Shea its Precursors and its Progeny” ​ (2015) 36 Adelaide Law Review 1
16 Oct 2015 ​Recent Decisions of the NSW Court of Appeal​ with Appendix​ EPLA Conference, Sydney
2015 ‘Chameleon-hued words’: A note on Discretionary Trusts (2015) 89 ALJ 371
​29 May 2015 ​Ministerial Override Certificates UK Supreme Court Yearbook _ Legal Year 2014–2015
​27 Feb 2015 ​Equity: Ageless in the Age of Statutes​ (2015) 9 Journal of Equity 108
​20 Feb 2015 ​Commercial Equity and Statutes Law Society Summer School, Perth
​20 Nov 2014 ​Common law, Equity and Statute: Limitations and Analogies Private Law Seminar University of Technology, Sydney
​20 Oct 2014 ​Two Topics from Administrative Law in Australia and the United Kingdom Twilight Seminar Series
2014 How Long is Too Long for an Equitable Claim? (2014) 88 ALJ 621
​12 Sep 2014 ​Farah and its Progeny: Comity among Intermediate Appellate Courts (2015) 12 The Judicial Review 165
​19 May 2014 ​Tradition and History, with a Dash of Humility Law Dinner, St Paul’s College, University of Sydney
​Apr 2014 ​The Riddle of Jurisdictional Error (2014) 38 Aust Bar Rev 139
​14 Feb 2014 ​The Federal and State Courts on Constitutional Law: The 2013 term Constitutional Law Conference
2014 Translating Overseas Trusts into the Australian Legal System (2014) 88 ALJ 169
​Feb 2014 ​Theories and Principles Underlying the Development of the Common Law – The Statutory Elephant in the Room (2013) 36(3) UNSWLJ 1002
2013 Ex parte applications for injunctions: then and now (2013) 87 ALJ 303
​03 Jun 2013 ​Swearing-In Ceremony of the Honourable Justice Mark James Leeming SC New South Wales Supreme Court

The Honourable Justice A Payne

Date ​Speech Venue
3 Nov 2017 Macarthur Legal Centre 30th Anniversary Sydney
20 Oct 2017 Recent Appeals from the Land and Environment Court EPLA Conference
​30 Mar 2016 ​Swearing-In Ceremony of the Honourable Anthony Payne, SC​​​ New South Wales Supreme Court

The Honourable Justice R W White

Date ​Speech Venue
​17 Mar 2017 ​Insolvent Trusts: Implications of Buckle and CPT Custodian​ Toongabbie Legal Centre
18 Oct 2014 Advocacy and Ethics: The Self-Represented Litigant
​15 Nov 2011 ​Use of Extrinsic Evidence to Construe Wills​ Law Society of South Australia, Succession Law
30 Oct 2010 ​Overview of the Evidence Act
​21 May 2010 ​Trusts – An Australian Perspective New Zealand Institute of Judicial Studies  Higher Courts Seminar
​Aug 2007 The Nature of a Beneficiary’s Equitable Interest in a Trust Supreme Court of NSW Annual Conference
​27 Apr 2004 Swearing-in Ceremony of the Honourable Richard Weeks White New South Wales Supreme Court

The Honourable Justice P Brereton AM RFD

​​Date ​Speech Venue
26 October 2019 ​Psychological Injury in Veterans and the Law – Keynote address for the Australasian College of Legal Medicine, Canberra Canberra
24 August 2019 Address at the Australian Bravery Association NSW Branch Dinner Ballina
11 Aug 2018 ​In Mixed Company: Corporations in Family Law

Perth
5 May 2017 The Origins and Evolution of the Parens Patriae Jurisdiction – Lecture on Legal History Sydney Law School
10 Nov 2016
​Lieutenant General James Gordon Legge – Address delivered at the Supreme Court of New South Wales Remembrance Eve Ceremony​
Supreme Court of NSW
26 Apr 2016 ​Corporations List – Commercial Equity Seminar for Practitioners​ Supreme Court of NSW
8 Apr 2016 ​Children’s Issues in the Supreme Court – Address to the Children’s Court of New South Wales Meeting​ Sydney
15 Jul 2015 ​Breaking Precedent: The Relevance of Previously Decided Cases in Determining the Entitlements of Parties in Property Proceedings​ Family Law Residential, Queensland
17 Oct 2012 Binding or Bound to Fail? Equitable Remedies and Rectification of Financial Agreements National Family Law Conference, Hobart
30 Jun 2011 ​​Acting for the Incapable – A Delicate Balance Law Society of NSW & Carers NSW CLE Breakfast
16 May 2011 Proof of Foreign Law – Problems and Initiatives Sydney University Law School
6 Nov 2010 The Director of Military Prosecutions, the Afghanistan Charges and the Rule of Law Rule of Law in Australia Conference, Sydney
19 Oct 2010 A Trustee’s Lot Is Not a Happy One National Family Law Conference, Sydney
16 Oct 2010 ​The High Court and Family Law – Two Recent Excursions Address to the Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court Concurrent Conference, Canberra
14 Aug 2008 ​Practice and Procedure Before the Duty Judge in Equity NSW Bar Association
11 Apr 2008 ​​Third Parties: Invited Guests Or Gate Crashers? National Family Law Conference, South Australia
28 Mar 2008 ​Costs Update New South Wales State Legal Conference
Sep 2007 ​Evidence in Civil Proceedings: An Australian Perspective on Documentary and Electronic Evidence National Judges College of the Supreme People’s Court, People’s Republic of China
31 Aug 2007 ​​Costs – The Proportionality Principle CLE Legal Conference, Sydney
16 Mar 2007 ​Equitable Estoppel In Australia: The Court of Conscience in the Antipodes Australian Law Journal Conference
Oct 2006 ​Where Death and Divorce Meet: The Intersection of Family Provision and Family Law National Family Law Conference
13 Aug 2006 Aspects of Advocacy: The Effective Presentation of Evidence College of Law
Oct 2005 ​​Part VIIIAA of the Family Law Act Update: Orders and Injunctions Binding Third Parties Family Law Residential, Queensland
21 Sep 2005 ​Recent Developments in Family Law: Bankruptcy, Third Parties and Other Matters NSW Young Lawyers
15 Aug 2005 Swearing in Ceremony of the Honourable Paul Le Gay Brereton SC as a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Supreme Court of NSW

The Honourable Justice A M Mitchelmore

Date ​Speech Venue
28 March 2022 ​Swearing in Ceremony for the Honourable Anna Margrit Mitchelmore New South Wales Supreme Court

The Honourable Acting Justice J Basten

Date ​Speech Venue
10 November 2020 The Richard Davies QC Memorial Lecture presented to the Personal Injury Bar Association, United Kingdom on 10 November 2020: “Loss of a Chance” Personal injury Bar Association – UK
20 Jun 2018 Newcastle Court of Appeal Sittings – Open Ceremony Newcastle
21 June 2017 Section 36 of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) – The Guiding Principle  NCAT Twilight Seminar
​11 Mar 2017 ​Personal Injury – Contributory Negligence​ New South Wales Bar Association: Common Law Conference
​03 Mar 2016 Judicial review in State Jurisdiction​ Australian Institute of Administrative Law: NSW Chapter Seminar
​04 Nov 2015 ​Modern Judicial Review – An Overview​ Western Australian Bar Association CPD Conference:
​24 Jul 2015 ​Constitutional Dimension of Statutory Interpretation-  Constitutional Law Conference
​​13 Jun 2015 ​Reliability of Evidence – Judge or Jury? – A New South Wales View ​ Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) – 20th Anniversary Symposium
13 Feb ​2015 Constitutional Law in the Federal and State Courts in 2014: the Judiciary and the Legislature Gilbert + Tobin Centre Of Public Law Constitutional Law Conference
​21 Aug 2014 ​Book Launch – Rayner Thwaites ‘The Liberty of Non-Citizens: Indefinite Detention in Commonwealth Countries’ Faculty Of Law, Sydney University
​20 Jun 2013 ​The Scope of Power: Determining the Limits AGS Administrative Law Conference
​17 Apr 2013 ​Judging Community Standards and Mores Roseville Rotary Club
​28 Mar 2012 ​Lecture on Judicial Review Faculty of Law: University of NSW
​25 Jan 2012 ​Jurisdictional Error After Kirk: Has it a Future? Supreme and Federal Court Judges’ Conference
​2011 ​The Supervisory Jurisdiction of Supreme Courts Australian Law Journal
​19 Jul 2011 ​Procedural Reform: The New Part 10 – A Paper on Representative Actions in the Supreme Court Delivered to Judges of the Court
​06 May 2011 ​Judicial Review: Grounds, Standards & Intensity Of Review Or Who Is Miss Behavin?“ Land and Environment Court of NSW Annual Conference
​27 Apr 2011 ​Court of Appeal Review and Appeals in the District Court The District Court of NSW Annual Conference
​07 Oct 2010 ​“Standards of Review” – An Australian Perspective Canadian Federal Court And Federal Court Of Appeal Annual Education Seminar
​11 May 2010 ​International Influences on Domestic Law: Neither Jingoistic Exceptionalism nor Blind Servility The Community of Law: Law’s Dependence on Social Values Lecture Series
​07 May 2010 ​Jurisdiction and Powers of Tribunals: A Question of Statutory Construction? Council of Australasian Tribunals (NSW) Annual Conference
​09 Mar 2010 ​Comment on Paper “Constitutional Issues and the Strength of Aboriginal Property Rights” by Sean Brennan Australian Association of Constitutional Law
​31 Mar 2009 ​Judicial Review, Statutory Interpretation and Compensation​ Australian Government Solicitor/Sydney Law School: Excellence In Government Decision-Making Course
​Sep 2008 ​​International Conventions and Administrative Law​ New South Wales Young Lawyers

CLE Seminar Series
​26 Jun 2008 ​Administrative Law and Statutory Interpretation Australian Institute Of Administrative Law
​09 May 2008 ​Judicial Review: Intensity of Scrutiny Land And Environment Court Conference
​03 Apr 2008 ​Human Rights and the Rule of Law The 2008 Sir Ninian Stephen Lecture – University of Newcastle
26 Mar 2008 ​Administrative Law – A Perspective from the Bench New South Wales Young Lawyers Continuing Legal Education Seminar
​​15 Jun 2007 ​Natural Justice: Is There Too Much, Too Little or Just the Right Amount? National Administrative Law Conference
26 May 2006 ​A Curious History of the Mabo Litigation Native Title Conference 2006: Tradition and Change
​04 Nov 2005 ​Court and Media Relationships National Judicial College, Beijing, Conference
​04 Nov 2005 ​Judicial Conduct: Relationship with Government National Judicial College, Beijing, Conference
​04 Nov 2005 ​Judicial Attributes National Judicial College, Beijing, Conference
​30 Jun 2005 ​Limits on Procedural Fairness AIAL Administrative Law Forum
​02 May 2005​ ​Swearing in Ceremony of the Honourable John Basten QC as a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Supreme Court of New South Wales