CONTENTS Bar News Editor’s note . 2 The JOURNAL of the NSW BAR ASSOCIATION Letters to the Editor. 3 Summer 2000/2001 Message from the President. 4 Editorial Board Recent developments Justin Gleeson S.C. (Editor) Sexual assault communications privilege under siege . 6 Andrew Bell Military Aid to the civil power . 13 James Renwick International perspectives on mandatory sentencing . 16 Chris Winslow Appeals from the Court of Arbitration for Sport . 20 (Bar Association) Opinion Editorial Print/Production Access to quality justice . 22 Rodenprint Interviews Layout The Chief Justice of New South Wales . 25 Hartrick’s Design Office Pty Ltd Jeff Shaw QC returns to the bar . 30 Addresses The inaugural Sir Maurice Byers Lecture. 32 The Hon. R J Ellicott QC: 50 years at the Bar . 39 20 years at the NSW Land & Environment Court . 47 Around the Chambers Opening of Maurice Byers Chambers . 51 Appointments Judicial appointments . 53 Senior counsel . 54 ISSN 0817-002 Vale Views expressed by contributors to Bar Peter Seery . 55 News are not necessarily those of the Bar Association of NSW. Features Contributions are welcome and should Barristers’ Benevolent Association . 55 be addressed to the Editor, Justin Barristers hockey match . 57 Gleeson S.C., 7th Floor, Wentworth 58 Chambers, 180 Phillip Street, Sydney, Bench & Bar v Solicitors chess match . NSW 2000. DX 399 Sydney or email: [email protected] Book reviews . 59 Barristers wishing to join the Editorial Committee are invited to write to the Editor indicating the areas in which they are interested in assisting. 1 C O N T E N T S Bar News Editor’s note . 2 The JOURNAL of the NSW BAR ASSOCIATION Summer 2000/2001 Letters to the Editor . 3 Message from the President . 4 Editorial Board Recent developments Justin Gleeson S.C. (Editor) Sexual assault communications privilege under siege . 6 A n d rew Bell Military Aid to the civil power . 13 James Renwick International perspectives on mandatory sentencing. 16 Chris Winslow Appeals from the Court of Arbitration for Sport . 20 (Bar Association) Opinion Editorial Print/Pr o d u c t i o n Access to quality justice . 22 R o d e n p r i n t Interviews L a y o u t The Chief Justice of New South Wales . 25 H a rt r i c k ’s Design Office Pty Ltd Jeff Shaw QC returns to the bar. 30 Addresses The inaugural Sir Maurice Byers Lecture . 32 The Hon. R J Ellicott QC: 50 years at the Bar . 39 20 years at the NSW Land & Environment Court . 47 Around the Chambers Opening of Maurice Byers Chambers . 51 Appointments Judicial appointments. 53 Senior counsel . 54 Vale Peter Seery . 55 Features Barristers’ Benevolent Association. 55 Barristers hockey match . 57 Bench & Bar v Solicitors chess match . 58 ISSN 0817-002 Book reviews . 59 Views expressed by contributors to Bar News ar e not necessarily those of the Bar Association of NSW. Contributions are welcome and should be addressed to the Editor, Justin Gleeson S.C., 7th Floor, Wentworth Chambers, 180 Phillip Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. DX 399 Sydney or email: g l e e s o n s c @ s e v e n w e n t w o rt h . c o m . a u B a rristers wishing to join the Editorial Committee are invited to write to the Editor indicating the areas in which they are interested in assisting. 1 EDITOR’S NOTE t the time when this edition was being compiled, Bar News l e a rned that The Hon. A Justice John Lehane of the Federal Court had been admitted to hospital and was seriously ill. Justice Lehane made the transition from solicitor to Federal Court judge in October 1995, in a manner which barristers, solicitors and the Court alike have acknowledged displayed enormous learning, skill and c o u rt e s y. His Honour has delivered many clearly reasoned and compelling judgments and pre s i d e d with dignity over lengthy and difficult trials. The Bar extends best wishes to His Honour, his family and close friends. This issue of Bar News includes the excellent a d d ress, delivered by Sir Gerard Brennan AC as the inaugural Sir Maurice Byers Lecture. Also, there is the speech delivered by Sir Anthony Mason AC at the opening of Maurice Byers Chambers. William Walsh gives us a critical, but highly p o w e rful opinion piece on the problems faced by District Court users in regional New South Wa l e s . Those problems arise mainly from the closure of c o u rthouses and the pro c e d u re for listing trials. Readers are invited to contribute to subsequent issues of Bar News with any particular pro b l e m s faced by members of the Bar or their clients, p a rticularly in rural or regional are a s . It is hoped that the following issue of Bar News will examine the pros and cons of specialisation at the Bar. Readers are encouraged to submit contributions on this or other topics. Justin Gleeson S.C. 2 L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R Dear Sir personally have been Bullfry ’s full-time secre t a ry for While recently staying with lawyer friends on a many years. This will come as no surprise to your f a rm in the Southern Highlands, I happened to read a many readers who have similar arrangements with copy of an article entitled ‘Juniors’ written by one Lee their spouses (and for the same reason that our Aitken. The article appeared in the Spring 2000 issue friends have a rural pro p e rty in the Southern of Bar News, a copy of which was hanging behind H i g h l a n d s ) . the door of the outhouse on our friend’s ru r a l p ro p e rt y. Yours sincere l y, As the wife of Bullfry QC, I feel compelled to (Mrs) Alice Bullfry draw the following matters to your readers’ attention. F i r s t l y, my husband vehemently denies the accuracy of virtually all of the claims made about him by Aitken. Bullfry has never met Lee Aitken and was Dear Sir, not given an opportunity to comment on the art i c l e Thank you for drawing my attention to the art i c l e b e f o re it was published. of Mr Lee Aitken in the Spring 2000 issue of B a r S e c o n d l y, based on inquiries we have made about N e w s. I know of Mr Aitken through his work with Lee Aitken, I have to question his credentials to opine Maxwell House. on the subject matters of the article, with the Thank you also for sending me the letter of Mrs following two notable exceptions: Alice Bullfry in advance of publication. Let me say at ( a ) I gather that Aitken is singularly well once that her attack on Mr Aitken was scandalous qualified to ask the question posed in the article as to and everything that your modest correspondent said whether anywhere else but in the legal pro f e s s i o n about my first husband was quite true. He is an ogre . could ‘you be overg e n e rously paid for talking, and I also greatly admired Mr Aitken’s obvious drinking coffee’; and commitment to a plain English style of pro s e . ( b ) the subject of ‘disappearing juniors’ is very familiar to Aitken. Some years ago he was involved as Yours faithfully, junior in Federal Court proceedings in Canberr a . Wi n i f red Bullfry (Mrs) A i t k e n ’s leader announced his appearance at 10.15am on the first day of the three day hearing. At 10.18am Aitken inexplicably left the court room, never to re t u rn. On the final day of the hearing, the pre s i d i n g judge expressed surprise to Aitken’s leader that Aitken had not been sighted since his brief appearance on the first day, apart that is from the fleeting glimpse on the previous night’s television news footage showing him entering the ACT Supre m e C o u rt in connection with an entirely unrelated matter. A i t k e n ’s leader was as surprised as the judge with A i t k e n ’s Houdini-like perf o rmance. I also note that the cartoon caricatures of my husband were penned by some individual called ‘Poulos’. I know nothing about ‘Poulos’, but given the remarkable dissimilarities in each of the thre e p o rtrayals of Bullfry, I hope that Poulos does not give up his day job (whatever that might be). F i n a l l y, Aitken’s dismal misunderstanding of the real Bullfry is no more clearly evident than in his claim that I was personally involved in selecting B u l l f ry ’s current secre t a ry. The fact is that I 3 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT A truly common law Ruth McColl S.C. n 1 January 2001 Australia celebrated the outside the jurisdiction.3 This technical obstacle to c e n t e n a ry of the establishment of the obtaining substantial justice was overcome by s51, O Commonwealth of Australia. s54 and s55.