Farewell McHugh (1 Viewer)

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prosaic

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capa said:
Great judge! But, honestly, i'd like to see a change. His judgements were very black letter and were seldom creative (then again, I think a conservative judge is good for clear application and consistency). It would be nice to read a judgement on par with a great thinker like Kirby J though.

Anyone know who will replace McHugh J? I hear it is a female but I cannot recall.

Cheers
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Please refer to Stingel, Masciantonio, Sutherland Shire Council v Heyman, Woolcock.... that'll keep you going for a bit.

No one does those checklists better than him: so structured and smooth with an undeniable Dixonian charm. And really, I'll give props to Kirby but sometimes he can just be a High-Court-hippy-person who'd be a great utopian ruler but not so practical in the real world. Nevertheless Mr Justice K I-love-you-please-hire-me-as-your-associate.

The new lady though, does apparently fit into your not-creative/blackletter mould however, word is that she does an enviable Irish jig (or something to that extent) when "in the mood".
 
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prosaic

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ManlyChief said:
Personally, I don't actually have a problem with 'black letter law'. Judicial creativity has limited validity and utility. Give me Gummow or Dixon over Kirby any day.
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Oh I didn't see this. Good-o, I'll leave the disputation up to you, Chief :).

However, Gummow J does bear some undeniable similarities to Costanza although admittedly, I have not seen him 'without his robes' and so may perhaps not be as charmed as those who have witnessed the sight.

Hopefully though, McHugh will come back here after Nov 1 so as to become available for stalking and/or questioning in desperate times. (or, maybe not...)
 
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BillytheFIsh

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Crennan (from fed court, earlier of vic bar) is McHugh's replacement. Has history in legal aid and human rights, as well as IP. (see other thread)

And I wouldn't say McHugh was black-letter law in any court, let alone the current one. I'd say he's probably the most centralist with kirby on his left, gummow on his right and 'those other 4' somewhere further to the right over yonder.

There seem to be a few people who hold Gummow in really high regard around here, and I do, especially with respect to intellectual property because he really is currently the only one who knows his shit. But I honestly can't think of a single judgement from the last 2 years (outside of IP) where he's said anything memorable at all. Just seems to put out average outcomes in predictable cirumstances, often going along with 1 or more of 'the other 4.'
 
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ManlyChief

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BillytheFIsh said:
And I wouldn't say McHugh was black-letter law in any court, let alone the current one. I'd say he's probably the most centralist with kirby on his left, gummow on his right and 'those other 4' somewhere further to the right over yonder.
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Agreed. Interestingly, McHugh made the comment during the q&a session after his talk that he agrees with one of the other judge's assessment of him as being "radical when it comes to the common law yet conservative when interpreting statute".

I am going to miss McHugh, not least of all because he made it to the HC from the Barristers' Admissions Board exams, i.e. without a law degree. I liked that.
 
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read this transcript guys: :)

Ceremonial Sitting - Farewell to the Honourable Justice McHugh - Sydney [2005] HCATrans 840 (7 October 2005)

my favourite bit -

McHugh J: As you know, the traditional practice of the High Court is that there is no farewell ceremony for Justices of the Court other than Chief Justices. In the case of ordinary Justices, the tradition has been for the Chief Justice of the day to say a few words, usually kind words, about a Justice upon his or her death. That ensures that the Justice does not get a right of reply, at least in this world.
 
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