Category Archives: Law

Bending the rules ex post facto

July 3, 2008 – 3:37 pm

Lawyers don’t like retroactive laws, but it now seems - despite insisting on having its rules called ‘laws’ - that cricket is in no such quandary.
For those unfamiliar with one of the more controversial events in the Gentleman’s Game, in the 2006 Oval Test, Pakistan refused to take the field against England after being accused [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Cricket | Comments (15)

Nice try but no cigar…

July 1, 2008 – 7:26 pm

No, it’s not a post about Havana or Bill Clinton. Just an update to say that, as I suspected would be the case, I did not get an ongoing position at university next year. I know that I said I wouldn’t hope for anything, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed when [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Personal | Comments (10)

On Zimbabwe

June 28, 2008 – 8:37 pm

A terrible catastrophe is playing out in Zimbabwe, one that - in light of South Africa’s ongoing complicity - calls into question the possibility of achieving the rule of law in Southern Africa. Only Botswana seems able to do it, and even there, the hold is fragile - imperilled by atrocious HIV rates. A very [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Human/Civil rights | Comments (22)

‘I won’t testify. I’m afraid’

June 27, 2008 – 7:24 am

Two things jumped out at me after sitting today’s evidence exam (apart from the fact that the seats in the Examination Schools are bloody uncomfortable). The first was the SCOTUS ruling in Heller, where the Court held 5-4 that owning a gun for self-defence purposes was a Second Amendment right, while the second was the [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Defence, Economics, England, Human/Civil rights | Comments (19)

Newsnanny knows best

June 25, 2008 – 11:31 pm

John Quiggin has a useful wrap-up on David Burchell’s peculiar piece of newsnannyism in the Oz. David and his fellow journalists are clearly the nannies, and clearly it’s their job to look after the news. No-one else gets a look in, presumably because we’re, ahem, not worthy. Burchell buckets all and sundry, albeit obliquely, while [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Blogging, Media | Comments (17)

Poor old Keith Mason

June 25, 2008 – 12:06 pm

Another post on the restitution vs equity divide! But this time, inspired by a MSM attack by Janet Albrechtsen on Keith Mason (former president of the NSWCA). I feel sorry for Mason - kicked in the teeth by the HCA, and then by Janet. Let’s have a look first at what Keith Mason said in [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Equity, Restitution | Comments (0)

Nature abhors a vacuum…

June 19, 2008 – 8:38 pm

… whereas the present Australian High Court abhors restitution lawyers.
On that point, I’m going to do something I don’t normally do, and talk “shop”, which may be boring for all those not obsessed with unjust enrichment, but I have to get it off my chest. After all, I am a restitution lawyer of sorts, although [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Restitution | Comments (10)

A new way of policing “doof-doof”

June 17, 2008 – 8:20 pm

When my husband and I first moved in together, we lived in a set of terrace houses. We’d lived there about two years when new tenants moved in two doors down. The new tenants were Columbian exchange students, and I don’t think they took their studies seriously. What they did take seriously was partying hard [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in England, Fark!, Intellectual property, Media, Music, Personal liberty, Society | Comments (4)

The cost of the law

June 11, 2008 – 4:05 pm

Rob Hulls seems to have it in for barristers. He’s attacked them over their opposition to acting judges, and now he’s having a go at them for allegedly charging exorbitant fees which put legal services out of the the reach of ordinary people. Well, they are an easy target - no one loves a lawyer. [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Politics | Comments (21)

The vagaries of publication

June 10, 2008 – 8:47 pm

One of the more difficult parts of being an academic is submitting work to be published. Sometimes you don’t hear back from the journal for ages, sometimes you never hear back. Sometimes you get a vicious response from a reviewer. But I’ve never had an experience like the one related below.
I’ve noted before that Professor [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia | Comments (5)