This volume of speeches by Murray Gleeson, who served as Chief Justice of New South Wales, then of Australia, for two decades, is, as James Spigelman has put it in his foreword, “a testament to judicial leadership”. While his judgments are his most enduring and primary contribution to the law, in hundreds of occasional speeches he explained the role and importance of the rule of law, and of the institutions through which it is maintained.
Although Murray Gleeson is known as a judge, he is also one of our great legal writers. The selected papers are models of elegant expression, clarity of thought, deep contemplation and scholarship. They cover several broad themes: the rule of law, advocacy, judging, legal history, the judiciary as an arm of government, the application of legal principle, and international commercial arbitration.
As James Spigelman acutely observes, Murray Gleeson’s patient and seemingly tireless effort in explaining the significance of the rule of law and legal institutions is “a critical aspect of judicial leadership. That is particularly so in an era, such as the period covered herein, when institutions are being attacked and, even, subverted”. These speeches are part of the legacy that Murray Gleeson has bequeathed to his successors in the law and to the Australian community.
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