He was the High Court’s first “celebrity judge” and still has students and legal practitioners coming up to him to tell him his judgments are their favourites.
asserted
judgments → have → him
Former High Court justice Michael Kirby retired from the bench in 2009 but continues to be in demand as an arbitrator and speaker around the country.
asserted
Kirby → retire → country
The 87-year-old lives in Sydney but is in Melbourne ahead of delivering the Brotherhood of St. Laurence’s annual Sambell Oration.
asserted
old → live → Oration
Kirby arrives straight from the airport to meet me for lunch at Streat cafe in Collingwood.
asserted
Kirby → arrive → Collingwood
In a quiet backstreet, the cafe has a rare luxury in the inner-city suburb – a sun-filled grassy courtyard with tables and chairs where we can sit and talk.
asserted
we → have → tables
I tell Kirby he was my favourite High Court judge when I studied law because his judgments were always interesting and easy to read.
asserted
judgments → tell → law
It’s not the first time Kirby has heard this.
asserted
Kirby → ’ → this
“Everywhere I go, they want to go up and tell me they learned their law through my opinions,” he says.
asserted
he → go → opinions
It’s a nice legacy to have, I say.
asserted
I → ’ → ?
“It is, but I don’t get carried away with it,” Kirby says.
asserted
Kirby → get → it
Such is his popularity that a production of a musical based on his life is currently under way.
asserted
production → base → way
“I sort of vetoed it and said I wouldn’t co-operate,” Kirby says.
asserted
Kirby → veto → it
“But then I wrote back and said if they really want to, they should go ahead.”
asserted
they → write → ?
He says he’ll go along when it is staged, as long as the musical numbers are decent.
asserted
numbers → say → ?
“You’ve got to have some good tunes,” he says.
asserted
he → get → tunes
Kirby’s popularity is partly due to his judgments written in plain legal English rather than the convoluted and more confusing style favoured by some of his contemporaries.
asserted
popularity → write → contemporaries
“You can make things easier to understand if you write in short sentences,” he says.
asserted
you → make → sentences
“So that’s what I did.”
asserted
I → ’ → what
Kirby served on the High Court from 1996 to 2009, and during this time he was known for his incisive judgments and for dissenting from the judgment of his colleagues, particularly on matters of civil liberties and human rights.
asserted
he → serve → liberties
I ask him if it was lonely dissenting so much, but Kirby says he only really broke ranks when he joined the High Court in response to pressure from parliament “to rein these judges in”, to just apply the law rather than try to address fundamental values.
asserted
he → ask → values
His rulings, including finding that WorkChoices legislation distorted the constitution, that prisoners deserved the right to vote and that indefinite detention of a stateless migrant was unlawful, attracted the ire of then-prime minister John Howard.
asserted
detention → include → Howard
Howard was often critical of “judicial activism”, and Kirby returned serve by giving speeches defending the right of judges to interpret laws in light of changing social values.
asserted
Kirby → return → values
Even when he was in the majority, Kirby often wrote his own separate judgment – a record he’s proud of.
asserted
he → write → judgment
“Chief Justice Mason once gave a big compliment to me,” Kirby says.
asserted
Kirby → give → me
“He said ‘If you want to know what the case is really about, start with the Kirby judgment’.”
asserted
case → say → judgment
A talent for writing runs in Kirby’s family – he tells me his grandfather, William Spotswood Knowles, was a journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald.
asserted
grandfather → run → Herald
Sadly, Knowles was a little before my time, so we turn to the menu and Kirby confesses he has already eaten on the plane, so isn’t particularly hungry.
asserted
he → turn → plane
A committed pescetarian, he says Qantas’ catering now finally embraces his dietary preferences.
asserted
catering → say → preferences
Instead, Kirby orders a mocha and biscuit, which he carefully nibbles on during the course of our discussion, while I order the spinach and ricotta roll with a carafe of sparkling water.
asserted
I → order → water
The pastry is buttery and flaky and the creamy ricotta has a salty tang to it.
asserted
ricotta → have → it
It’s good, but Kirby chose Streat more for the cafe’s social impact than the quality of its food.
asserted
Kirby → ’ → food
It’s a social enterprise which provides vocational training and support programs for disadvantaged and homeless youth.
asserted
which → ’ → youth
He’s been concerned with social justice since he was given a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by his teacher as a student at Fort Street Boys’ High School, in Petersham, in Sydney’s inner west.
asserted
he → concern → west
Kirby studied law at the University of Sydney and practised as a solicitor and a barrister before his appointment in 1974 as the deputy president of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission.
asserted
Kirby → study → Commission
In 1983, he was appointed to the Federal Court, and then the High Court in 1996.
asserted
he → appoint → 1996
During his time at the bar and as a judge, Kirby was known for his formidable work ethic, often beginning his day at 5am.
“The Melbourne bar is a late bar, and the Sydney bar is an early bar,” Kirby explains.
asserted
Kirby → know → 5
“In the old days, before the internet and emails, you could get a few good hours of total silence.
uncertain
you → get → silence
You could focus on the problems of your day, clear your head, get across the issues, and how you will express the issues in your head.”
uncertain
you → focus → head
It’s a habit Kirby continues to this day.
asserted
Kirby → ’ → day
He still walks into chambers each day, proudly showing me his watch that shows he has already clocked up more than 6000 steps for the day.
asserted
he → walk → day
…and 38 more, not listed.
The Aporia
