George Winterton Memorial Lecture

04/02/2019

Lecture

Chief Justice T F Bathurst AC will deliver the 2019 George Winterton Memorial Lecture on 14 February 2019 at 5.30pm in the Banco Court (registration from 5 pm, cocktail reception to follow at 6.45 pm). The title of the lecture will be "The Mysteries of Judicial Power: Defining the Relationship between Law and Power in the Modern State".

In 1918, the High Court held that the judicial power of the Commonwealth cannot be vested otherwise than in a court in accordance with s 71 in Chapter III of the Constitution. Since that time, courts have sought to define the nature and limits of “judicial power” and its place within the judicial structure established by Chapter III. Sometimes, these questions have arisen from and concern fairly anodyne areas of law. Other times, they have resulted in a fundamental rethinking of long-assumed legal doctrine. However, regardless of their abstract legal significance, they will almost always have a significant practical effect on how individuals interact with the power exercised by the modern state.

This lecture will examine the role of the concept of “judicial power” in defining the relationship between the law and power in Australia, and will highlight the potential challenges to this relationship which may arise in the future.

Registration is required. More information is available here.