Justice Michael Kirby

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To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the QUT Legal Practice Unit, Justice Michael Kirby presented a Free Public Lecture.

In this public lecture Justice Michael Kirby will describe recent developments in the High Court of Australia concerning the interpretation of legislation and the Constitution.

In recent years the Court has repeatedly insisted upon the adoption of a ‘purposive’ interpretation of legal texts. This has led to closer attention to the purpose and objects of legislation in place of the often literal attention to statutory language that marked earlier decisions. The new approach has, in turn, refocussed attention upon context as well as text. However, differences can still arise. These were illustrated by reference to the High Court’s recent decision in Carr v Western Australia (2007) 82 ALJR 1.

Also in recent years there have been strongly expressed differences concerning the use that may be made of international law materials in interpreting provisions of the Australian Constitution. Reference will be made in this connection to the strongly divided opinions in the Court in Al-Kateb v Godwin (2004) 219 CLR 562 and Roach v Electoral Commissioner (2007) 81 ALJR 1830.

Justice Michael Kirby: New Approaches to Interpretation - A very practical question

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