Welcome to 2024 – This year marks the 200th Anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court and Legislative Council here in New South Wales. The Forbes Society is proud to host lectures and tutorials highlighting the people and events that make the legal history of New South Wales fascinating and unique.
The 2024 Plunkett Lecture, titled “Unheralded nation-builder: another dimension of John Hubert Plunkett” was held on 13 February 2024 in the Banco Court. The Lecture was chaired by the Hon. James Allsop AC, President of the Forbes Society and followed by formal presentations to prize-winners in the Forbes Society’s Australian Legal History Essay Competition.
At the Supreme Court
An illustrated history of the Supreme Court “Constant Guardian: Changing Times – The Supreme Court of New South Wales 1824-2024” was launched by the Hon. James Spigelman AC KC on Wednesday 3 April at 5.15pm in Banco Court, Level 13 Law Courts Building 184 Phillip Street Sydney. More details on the book and purchase details are at: https://constantguardian.info/
On the same occasion, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales officially opened the Supreme Court History Wall and Gallery. A link to the Court’s Bicentenary page is here Bicentenary of the Supreme Court
At the Legislative Council
There will be a number of commemorative events to mark the Bicentenary of the establishment of the New South Wales Legislative Council and the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Parliament coordinated a recent conference titled: New South Wales Act 1823 – the spark that ignited 200 years of Parliament and the Supreme Court in NSW.
The various presentations are available at: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/about/Pages/The-Spark-Conference.aspx
The Sheriff’s Office
The Sheriff’s Office of New South Wales celebrates its bicentenary in 2024 and to mark the occasion they are hosting a gala dinner at Town Hall on 24 May. Book your tickets online.
Australian Legal History Essay Competition
We are delighted to announce the results of the 2023 Essay Competition. 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.
Tutorials
Dr Jessica Lake presented a tutorial The Slander of Women: Australia and the gendered reform of defamation in the 19thcentury common law world on 1 November 2023. Learn more about the Forbes Society’s history tutorials.
