2023

We were very pleased to receive submissions from a wide range of schools and tertiary students within and outside NSW: Glen Waverley Secondary College in Victoria, the Australian National University and the University of Queensland. There were 29 essays in the junior secondary category, 7 essays in the senior secondary category, and 10 essays in the tertiary category.

The Senior Secondary winner is Thomas Blanch for his essay, “Not for Publication: The Opera House Lottery and the Murder of Graeme Thorne”

Max Galanti received a commendation for his essay “Family Ties: The History of Divorce Legislation in the Commonwealth of Australia”

Gene Richards received a commendation for his essay “Irregulated: A brief overview of Australian Media Law”

The Junior Secondary winner was Kevin Wu for his essay, “The Australian Alien”

Jennifer Ou received a commendation for her essay, “Did I pass, Factors that affected the success and failure of the 1967 and 2023 referendums on indigenous struggles”

Alice Zhang-Kim received a commendation for her essay “Did the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) succeed in its historical aim of creating a “groundbreaking” legislative framework for protecting disabled people in the workplace?”

Isabella Aun received a commendation for her essay “Does the Federal System still offer advantages to the modern Australian state”

The students’ schools were (alphabetically) Abbotsleigh, James Ruse Agricultural, Normanhurst Boys.

The Tertiary winner is Archie Hornerman-Wren for his essay, “The facts as we know them today’: Law, narrative, and the Mabo decision as an exercise in Australian historiography.”

Jack Zhou received a commendation for his essay “A ‘dismal swamp’ down under: A history of Australian conflict of laws”

Laura Dawes received a commendation for her essay “’And along came DNA: The introduction of DNA evidence in Australian courts in the Applebee case”.

The tertiary institutions were ANU and UNSW.

In news after our December update, the prize supported by the Francis Forbes Fund for the best presentation by a higher degree research student or an early career researcher at the ANZLHS annual conference was awarded to Ash Stanley-Ryan for the paper ‘Ka mua, ka Muri: He Whakaputanga, Concealed Indigenous Histories, and the Making of International Law.’ This paper is to be published, subject to the usual refereeing process, in law&history. The announcement is here Sir Francis Forbes Society Prize awarded

For further information please contact Simon Chapple SC on secretary@forbessociety.org.au

Lucas Clover Alcolea of the University of Otago Faculty of Law on Monday 18 March

His topic was ‘A brief history of licences over land: From contract to property and back again?’ and he gives this outline:

It has been stated “There is almost no aspect of the law relating to licences over land which has not, at some time or another, given rise to problems.” Although one might be tempted to lay much of the blame for this situation at the feet of Lord Denning’s (in)famous creativity from the 1950s to the 1980s, this would be a little unfair as licences over land have always “occupie[d] the uncharted borderland between contract and real property and [have therefore been] caught by conflicting terminologies and different ways of thinking.” This presentation will briefly outline the three stages of the law as regards contractual licences, orthodoxy which regarded licences as purely personal rights, Denning who transformed certain licences into proprietary or quasi-proprietary rights, and the ‘return to orthodoxy’, before noting that they have continued to experience significant remedial growth even in their new orthodox era.

Thus, courts in England and Australasia have been willing to grant licensees relief from forfeiture, specific performance, injunctive relief, and the ability to bring trespass claims, despite the fact that these remedies were traditionally restricted to proprietary rights, specifically leases. After analysing these developments, the presentation will consider whether the post-Ashburn Anstalt distinction between granting proprietary relief for licences whilst insisting on their personal nature, and actually recognising them as proprietary, is a tenable one. Ultimately, it will be submitted that it is not ‘heretical’ to describe certain licences over land as, at least weakly, proprietary in certain circumstances and such a development is entirely in line with the ‘arc of [equitable] history’ given equity’s ‘reificatory’ tendency.

Note our later Tutorial:

12 June Robert Turnbull, barrister (8^th Floor Wentworth Chambers) and previous tipstaff to the Chief Judge in Equity the Hon P A Bergin – legal history tutorial on ‘The History of precedent’

2022

The Hon Andrew Bell, Chief Justice of New South Wales, delivered his Sir James Martin Oration in Banco Court on Tuesday 28 March 2023 . At this event, Chief Justice Allsop presented prizes to the winners and commended entries in our 2022 Australian Legal History Essay Competition.

Junior Secondary Award Winner with family and the Chief Justice the Hon Andrew Bell at the presentation.

• The Senior Secondary winner is Ruby Byrne for her essay, “An assessment of the legislative legacy of Prime Minister Whitlam Or Everything I learnt in Legal Studies I owe to Gough”
• Jonathan Tang received a commendation for his essay “Growth of the Federal Spirit: The First Post-Federation Rail Link between NSW and Victoria”
• The Junior Secondary winner was Junyoung Hong for his essay, “Why did Captain James Cook claim Australia for Britain in 1770 via the doctrine of Terra Nullius?”
• Rachael Choe received a commendation for her essay, “What factors led to women getting ‘the vote’ in Australia?”

The students’ schools were (alphabetically) Abbotsleigh, Chatswood High School, Katoomba High and Normanhurst Boys High School. Congratulations to these students and their teachers for the high quality of their submissions.

Results of the 2019 Essay Competition:

Today we are happy to announce the winners of our annual Essay competition. The winners are: Junior Secondary category: Annette Kim, Tara Anglican School for Girls, for an essay considering Australia’s prison system. Senior Secondary category: Rohan Hodges, Camberwell Grammar School, for an essay titled, “The Tasmanian Dams Case: To what extent has it influenced Australia’s environmental management? Was the dramatic response to the High Court’s decision justified?” Tertiary category: Joseph Chigwidden, University of New South Wales, for an essay titled, “How did the benefit of clergy operate to mitigate the rigours of the criminal law? What was the status of the doctrine in colonial New South Wales prior to its formal abolition?”. Well done to these students for their effort and interest!!!.

Results of the 2018 Essay Competition:

Tertiary Student category

The Prize goes to: Sebastian Cassinelli, a law student at Griffith University in Queensland for his essay is titled “The Constitutionally Implied Freedom of Political Communication: Australian Legal History’s Most Imperative Development”.

Senior Secondary category

The winner in the Senior Secondary category is Jingyoung Kim from The King’s School with an essay titled, “Distorted Narratives of Progress on Indigenous Land Rights”.

Daniel Se from Knox Grammar School received a commendation for his essay titled, “How have prominent women in Australian legal history navigated sexism and how have their achievements been represented and recorded?”.

Junior Secondary category

The winner in the Junior Secondary category is Annette Kim from Tara Anglican School for Girls with an essay in which she considered media coverage of Australian women involved in law and order.

• Sophie Ku from Pymble Ladies College received a commendation for her essay titled, “Rethinking Eddie Leonski, the Brownout Strangler”.

CONGRATULATIONS to all entrants and Prize winners

Entrants in the 2017 Australian Legal History Essay Competition were invited to address any question of their own choice on “Australian legal history”.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

In the Tertiary Student category, the winner is Damian Morris from the University of New South Wales for an essay titled, “A brief legal history of the New South Wales monetary system”. Daniel will receive a prize of $1000 and an Abbeys Bookshop voucher to the value of $1000.

Special commendations go to:

• Amelia Loughland, University of New South Wales, who considered the case of In re Jane New [1829] NSWSupC 11 and its implications (highly commended)
• Nanak Narulla, University of New South Wales, “Leadership from the Colony: Imprisonment for Debt Throughout the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries in England and New South Wales” (highly commended)
• Joseph Abi-Hanna, University of New South Wales, who considered the law of coverture (commended)
• Krishna Nand, Macquarie University, “The Strength of a ‘British Legal Empire’: Resisting British interdiction on convict freedom in colonial NSW” (commended)

In the Senior Secondary category, the winner is Sanjana Kumar from Trinity Anglican School with an essay titled, “Mandatory Minimum Sentencing: Australia’s Achilles Heel”. Sanjana will receive a prize of $250 together with an Abbeys Bookshop voucher to the value of $250.

In the Junior Secondary School category, the winner is Sophie Yeeun Ku from Pymble Ladies College with an essay on indigenous land rights.She will receive a prize of $250 together with an Abbeys Bookshop voucher to the value of $250.

Simon Chapple – Secretary, Francis Forbes Society for Australian Legal History

Originally posted 26 January 2018

Essay competition Results

ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS for 2016

The Francis Forbes Society for Australian Legal History is pleased to announce the results of the 2016 Australian Legal History Essay Competition.

In the Tertiary Student category, the winner is Daniel McKay, who has recently completed an honours thesis in law at the Australian National University, for an essay titled, “Under the Crown: Evolving Interpretations of the Office of Australian Governor-General as Constitutional Link to the British Empire, 1890-1931”. Daniel will receive a prize of $1000 and an Abbeys Bookshop voucher to the value of $1000.

Special commendations go to Freeman Zhong, a student at Monash University, for an essay titled “A Continuity in Australian Judicial Review”, and to Madisen Scott, a student Curtin University of Technology, for an essay titled, “The Power of Dissent: Evolving the Law and Gaining the Admiration of the People”.

In the Junior Secondary School category, the winner is Kyung Suh Park, a year 7 student at Kincoppal Rose Bay, for an essay that explored the life and legacy of Thomas Jeffries. She will receive a personal prize of $250 together with an Abbeys Bookshop voucher to the value of $250. Her school will receive a $250 Abbeys Bookshop voucher.

The essays in this category were of a particularly high quality and special commendations go to the following essayists (in alphabetical order): Michael Chooi (for an essay on Australian prisons since 1788); Sarah Kim (for an essay on penal reform); Winona Lu (for an essay on police corruption); and Brandon Yoon (for an essay on the Gun Alley tragedy).

The 2016 Competition was characterised by essays of high quality on a wide range of topics. All essayists are to be congratulated for their efforts. All will receive a certificate acknowledging their participation in the competition.

Date: 26 January 2017

Simon Chapple

Secretary, Francis Forbes Society for Australian Legal History

The results of the 2015 Essay Competition are available on the following link.

RESULTS NOTIFICATION FOR THE AUSTRALIAN LEGAL HISTORY ESSAY COMPETITION 2015.25.1.16.FINAL