On the night of 19 June 1904, Christopher Stansfeld Robinson—the first Australian chief judicial officer in what became the Territory of Papua—died by suicide outside Government House in Port Moresby.

Behind this tragedy lay earlier tragedies, each rooted in the clash of civilisations that marked the colonial experience for what has become the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, for the Commonwealth of Australia and for a shared colonial predecessor, the United Kingdom. 

Marking the 50th anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s independence, the Honourable Justice John Logan RFD examines the causes of Robinson’s death and traces recurring themes in the development of judicial power in Papua New Guinea. His Honour suggests these themes offer valuable insights into Australia’s closest neighbour. 

About the speaker

Justice John Alexander Logan holds economics and law degrees from the University of Queensland and was admitted to the Queensland Bar in 1980. He worked in the Commonwealth Crown Solicitor’s office, commenced private practice at the Queensland Bar in 1984, and was appointed senior counsel in 1999. He joined the Federal Court in 2007, is currently the President of the Defence Force Discipline Appeals Tribunal, and was Deputy President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for ten years.

Commissioned into the Army Reserve in 1976, Justice Logan rose to the rank of Major in the Australian Intelligence Corps and received the Reserve Force Decoration in 1993 in respect of his military service. 

Since 2011, Justice Logan has served as a judge of the Supreme and National Courts of Papua New Guinea.

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This lecture explains broadly the fundamental changes to divorce and matrimonial causes law introduced by the Family Law Act in 1975. It also demonstrates how the many changes to the Act over the past 50 years have transformed family law as much as, if not more than, the original changes introduced in 1975.

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The Hon Mary Finn worked in private legal practice in England and Brisbane after being admitted to the Queensland Bar in December 1969. She was a research assistant to the first Parliamentary Inquiry into the Family Law Act before working in the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department on amendments to the Family Law Act and the creation of the child support scheme. 

The Hon Mary Finn was appointed a Judge of the Family Court of Australia in 1990 and to the Appeal Division in 1993. She was the Senior Judge and Judge Administrator of that Division from 2004 until her retirement in 2016. She has been a member of the Family Law Council and the Board of the Institute of Family Studies.

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The first Selden Society lecture for 2025, Recasting the law on a more merciful basis: juvenile justice then and now, will be presented by Dr Robyn Blewer from the Griffith Law School.

In 1897, a Perth newspaper reported on the distressed state of two young boys who’d been remanded in custody in the local watchhouse for stealing a pigeon: ‘the punishment, even if guilty ... must have been greater than many a women beater or hardened thief suffers. If the system is to blame, it is high time that it was recast on a more merciful basis.’

This lecture explores the youth crime crisis of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the age of criminal responsibility, detention of children in watchhouses, and the housing crisis were subjects of debate and potential reform for a more compassionate approach to juvenile justice. Political, legislative and judicial responses were cohesive and introduced children's courts across the country, contributing to the 150-year legacy shaping our conversations today.

About the speaker

Robyn is a lecturer at Griffith Law School, specialising in criminal trial procedure and vulnerable witness testimony. She completed a Master of Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2012, and her doctoral research focused on Australia’s child witness law as part of The Prosecution Project. In 2019, Robyn became Director of the Griffith University Innocence Project. She also teaches Criminal Law courses and has experience in commercial litigation and volunteering with Salvos Legal Humanitarian.

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Sir Gerard Brennan has been one of Australia’s most important barristers and judges since World War II. As a judge, he made many significant contributions to Australian jurisprudence. The most consequential of these was the leading judgment in the High Court’s decision in Mabo recognising the rights of occupation of Australia’s indigenous peoples.  

A few short years later in the Wik case, Brennan CJ dissented from the Court’s decision that native title had not been extinguished by grants of pastoral leases under Colonial and State legislation.  

The key to understanding the fundamental consistency of these two judgments lies in an appreciation of Brennan’s fidelity to the constraints upon judicial decision making required by the constitutional separation of legislative and judicial power.

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The Honourable Patrick Keane AC KC is a graduate of the University of Queensland and Oxford University where he was awarded numerous academic prizes and accolades. He was admitted to the Queensland Bar in 1977, appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1988 and was Solicitor-General for Queensland from 1992 to 2005. 

In 2003 His Honour was awarded the Centenary Medal in recognition of his contributions to the legal profession. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland Court of Appeal in 2005. 

The Hon Keane was appointed as the third Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia in 2010, and served thereafter as a justice of the High Court of Australia from 2013 until retirement in 2022. In 2023, he was appointed a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong.

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It is 100 years since women were allowed to serve on juries in Queensland, the first state in Australia to introduce what was then a radical reform. What are the challenges today for the composition of juries to reflect the judgment of a defendant’s peers and reflect modern democratic values?

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The Hon Roslyn Atkinson AO is a graduate of The University of Queensland—Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (1970), Bachelor of Educational Studies (1975) and Bachelor of Laws (Honours I) (1985). 

The Hon Roslyn Atkinson was the recipient of the Ruthning Memorial Scholarship (1984) and several prizes, including the Wilkinson Memorial Prize (1984) for obtaining the highest results in law courses taken over the program of study. She was also awarded the James Archibald Douglas Prize (1985) for highest results in the Bar Practice Course. 

In 1986 the Hon Roslyn Atkinson was Associate to the Hon Sir Gerard Brennan of the High Court of Australia. After being admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1987, the Hon Roslyn Atkinson commenced practice at the Bar. 

The Hon Roslyn Atkinson has served as a member (1992–94) and inaugural President of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal (1994–97), Hearing Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal

Opportunity Commission (1994–97) and Chair of the Queensland Law Reform Commission (2002–2014). 

In 2015 the Hon Roslyn Atkinson was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the judiciary and to law reform in Queensland, through contributions to the legal profession and to promoting awareness of issues of injustice and inequality in Australia and internationally. 

The Hon Roslyn Atkinson was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1998 and retired in 2018. 

Post retirement, she has had a variety of roles including being a Commissioner with the Disability Royal Commission, Chair of Screen Queensland and is currently a member of the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry.  

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Sir Charles Lilley (1827–97) was a towering figure in politics and law in colonial Queensland, but his final years were dogged by controversy.  

In October 1892, Sir Charles announced his intention to resign as second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland (1879–93). The catalyst was his behaviour throughout the 57-day civil trial of Queensland Investment and Land Mortgage Co Ltd v Grimley. Leading up to his resignation, Sir Charles increasingly eschewed norms of judicial detachment. Grimley was the final straw.  

This lecture examines the Grimley affair and considers the extent to which, along with his behaviour in other proceedings of the time, it brought into question Sir Charles’ ethics as a judge. 

About the speaker

Dr Sarah McKibbin is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, where she teaches, researches and publishes in legal history and private international law. Dr McKibbin is the lead author of A Legal History for Australia (Hart Publishing, 2021).

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A statement praising ‘conscientious honest lawyers’ was published in a Brisbane newspaper in 1874. At that time, the public image of lawyers—barristers, as well as solicitors—was poor. For decades Queensland Parliaments were inclined to agree. The creation of the incorporated Queensland Law Society was seen as an important step in improving the reputation of lawyers.

In this lecture, historian Helen Gregory presents the challenges which needed to be addressed, and how government was persuaded to pass the necessary legislation, taking into account the expectations of solicitors, Parliament and the public.

The lecture is opened by the Hon Justice Williams (Supreme Court of Queensland). The Queensland Law Society Vice President, Rebecca Fogerty, also gave a short speech before the lecture and officially open the new SCLQ and QLS exhibition, A force for good: past, present and future.

Learn more about the exhibition here.

About the speaker
Helen Gregory was born in Brisbane and is a historian specialising in Queensland's history and cultural heritage. She has taught in the Department of History at the University of Queensland, the School of Built Environment at the Queensland University of Technology and was Director of Cultural Heritage at the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency.

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George Rogers Harding (1838–1895) was the 5th Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland and is regarded as one of Queensland’s finest civil lawyers, whose rigorous analytical approach helped to establish the reputation of the Supreme Court.  He is also known as one of Queensland’s most influential bibliophiles and was instrumental in developing a fine collection for the Supreme Court Library. After his death, his extensive personal library provided the foundation for what became the State Library of Queensland.    

This Selden Society lecture examines Harding’s personal and professional life and legacy within the context of Queensland’s developing legal community.

About the speaker
Mr John McKenna KC is a long-standing member of the Selden Society, who has a particular interest in the development of the Queensland courts and legal profession in the 19th century. He is the author of Supreme Court of Queensland: A Concise History (2012).

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Many consider Lord Denning (1899–1999) to be the most important English judge of the 20th century. His witty and trenchant judgments are read by law students and cited by legal texts and lawyers in the United Kingdom as well as Australia, Canada and beyond. The Honourable James Douglas uses this lecture to examine Lord Denning’s life and judicial philosophy, as well as Denning’s willingness to reconsider precedent and reform legal principles.

About the speaker
The Honourable James Douglas QC was educated at The University of Queensland, graduating Bachelor of Arts (1971) and Bachelor of Laws (1973) and awarded the Comparative Law Prize in that year. He served as an associate to his father, the Honourable James Archibald Douglas (1972), and to Sir Harry Gibbs on the High Court of Australia (1973–74). He was admitted to the Bar in 1973 and undertook study at Emmanuel College Cambridge, graduating Bachelor of Laws (1976) and Diploma in Legal Studies (1979). He was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2003 and retired in 2020.

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Sir Frederick Jordan served as Chief Justice of New South Wales from 1934–1949. His vigorous defence of the rule of law during World War II sometimes put him at odds with the governments of the day and the High Court of Australia, but his fiercely written judgments remain relevant and continue to be cited even into this new century. 

Although Sir Frederick declined an appointment to the High Court offered by Prime Minister Robert Menzies at the urging of Sir Owen Dixon, his law school teaching, publications and the lasting impact of his judgments give him a serious claim as Australia’s most influential jurist. 

Sir Frederick’s extra-judicial writings reveal his fluency in six languages and expansive and opinionated scholarship in art, literature, religion and popular culture.

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The Hon Keith Mason AC KC was Solicitor-General and President of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales. He is now an adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales. He’s explored biographical aspects of Australia’s rich legal history in his two legal miscellanies (Lawyers Then and Now; Old Law, New Law) and his biography of Sir Frederick Jordan, Fire Under the Frost.

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