Justice michael kirby biography books

Michael Kirby, Australia’s most famous judge, is a polarising figure.

Some see him as an incorrigible radical: the ‘Great Dissenter’, who prosecuted his leftist agenda from the safety of the High Court, with little regard for the integrity or compromise necessary in the law.

Others see a failed revolutionary: a man whose somewhat conservative judgments never quite lived up to his subversive public image.

Justice michael kirby Images in this review. His judgments made sense and were easy to follow. By: Daryl Dellora. Customer reviews.

Still others see him as a moral anchor, a beacon of empathy and justice in a bureaucratic, inhumane legal system.

It is a tribute to Alexander J. Brown that his recent biography presents all these angles on Kirby with respect and understanding. Brown has produced an exceptional book, which digests an intimidating volume of information and research into a clear, detailed account of Kirby’s life and career, which manages to be both scholarly and engaging.

Brown’s central argument is that Kirby is simultaneously a conservative and a radical. Brown points to many instances where his words and actions diverge, but ultimately argues that both facets of Kirby’s personality stem from the naive optimism with which he supported his positions.

As well as a subtle examination of Kirby’s character and philosophy, Brown provides some surprising contextual information.

It is easy to see modern Australian society as reasonably non-discriminatory, but NSW didn’t decriminalise homosexuality until , and public figures continued to make extremely offensive homophobic comments for years afterwards.

Brown paints a very dark picture of the Howard government, including its stonewalling on gay rights, refusal to grant judicial pensions to same-sex partners, and creation of an atmosphere in which homophobic invective was largely permitted.

However, Brown reserves his strongest criticisms for the handling of the Comcar affair, in which Bill Heffernan accused Kirby of using government vehicles to procure boys for sex.

The High Court itself comes across as a surprisingly politicised and somewhat dysfunctional institution.

Justice michael kirby biography books It draws on a wealth of previously unavailable letters and papers, as well as interviews with Kirby, his family, friends and — for the first time — Johan van Vloten, his partner of more than forty years. He is a director of the film production company Film Art Doco and filmartmedia. Country of Publication: AU. His judgments made sense and were easy to follow.

Justices engage in petty, egocentric arguments over procedure, jab at one other in their judgments, and generally seem disengaged from the world at large: in Justice McHugh’s words, ‘a group of gladiators emerging every now and then from their castles’.

Some readers might feel that on occasion Brown gives too much detail – as in the chapter dealing with the Comcar scandal, which feels somewhat stylistically separate from the rest of the book, or the discussion of judicial theory, which at times overwhelms readers with technical arguments and fine distinctions, but elsewhere he finds an easy balance between being readable and authoritative.

Indeed, when it comes to boiling complicated High Court cases down to layman’s terms, Brown succeeds spectacularly. (This alone might make the book worth reading for students of constitutional law.)

Conversely, I couldn’t help wishing for a little more of Johan’s perspective on the difficulty of hiding their relationship for thirty years, but although Brown strikes a balance between the personal and professional, he ultimately focusses – as he must – upon Kirby’s judicial and public work.

The difficulties Johan and Kirby encountered dealing with social prejudices will no doubt prove fruitful ground for future biographers.

Brown’s prose is lucid and elegant, making this biography genuinely pleasurable to read.

Michael kirby ambassador More in Biographies See All. If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you. The Right Place at the Right Time. Publisher: Penguin Australia Pty Ltd.

He includes a comprehensive and well organised index, and an exhaustive bibliography. While this is only the first of what is likely to be many biographies – indeed, at the time of writing, a volume of Kirby’s own memoirs had just been released – Brown’s tour de force will stand among the best for a long time to come.