Roderick Meagher
Encyclopedia
Roderick Pitt "Roddy" Meagher AO
QC
(1932–2011) was an Australian Jurist
and former judge.
and a cousin of Patrick White
. His family owned a chain of country stores. In 1949, Meagher was Head Prefect or 'Captain of the School' at St Ignatius' College, Riverview
.
In 1956, Meagher graduated from Sydney University with degrees in Arts and Law. He was awarded university medals in History and Law. He attended St John's College
and was House President there and, later, a member of its governing Council for many years.
Meagher was a Justice of the NSW Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal of New South Wales
from 1989 to 15 March 2004.
He served as a patron to the Macquarie University
's "Macquarie Journal of Business Law".
He was reported by the NSW Bar Association to have died on the evening of 3 July 2011 at the age of 79.
he co-edited five editions of Jacobs on Trusts and again with Gummow and Lehane he co-authored Equity: Doctrines and Remedies
, the preeminent work on equity in Australia. Meagher has also made various contributions to Quadrant Magazine
. He was described by NSW Chief Justice Jim Spigelman as "one of the intellectual giants of our legal history"http://www.usyd.edu.au/alumni/activities/gazette/nov05/trim.shtml.
He was author of "Portraits on Yellow Paper" published in 2004.
In 2005 Meagher was admitted as an Officer of the Order of Australia
"for service to the judiciary, particularly judicial administration, to reform of the building and construction industry, and to the community through the Australian Naval Reserve and conservation and arts organisations"http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:zD3J05_sQ1QJ:heifer.ucc.usyd.edu.au/law/FMPro%3F-DB%3Dlaw.fp5%26-FORMAT%3De00.htm%26code%3De00%26Max%3D1%26-Find+roderick+meagher+QC&hl=en&gl=au&ct=clnk&cd=10&client=firefox-a.
has criticised Meagher's conservative view of legal doctrine in the Law Quarterly Review
.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(1932–2011) was an Australian Jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
and former judge.
Early years and education
Meagher was a descendant of William Pitt the YoungerWilliam Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
and a cousin of Patrick White
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
. His family owned a chain of country stores. In 1949, Meagher was Head Prefect or 'Captain of the School' at St Ignatius' College, Riverview
St Ignatius' College, Riverview
Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school for boys, located in Riverview, a small suburb situated on the Lane Cove River on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
.
In 1956, Meagher graduated from Sydney University with degrees in Arts and Law. He was awarded university medals in History and Law. He attended St John's College
St John's College, University of Sydney
]St John's College, or the College of St John the Evangelist, is a residential College within the University of Sydney.Established in 1857, the College of St John the Evangelist is the oldest Roman Catholic university college and second-oldest university college in Australia, and is one of the...
and was House President there and, later, a member of its governing Council for many years.
Legal career
Meagher was called to the NSW Bar in 1960. He lectured at the Faculty of Law at Sydney University within the same year. After taking Silk, Justice Meagher served as President of the New South Wales Bar Association from 1979–1981.Meagher was a Justice of the NSW Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal of New South Wales
Court of Appeal of New South Wales
The New South Wales Court of Appeal is the highest civil state court for the Australian State of New South Wales. It forms part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.-History:...
from 1989 to 15 March 2004.
He served as a patron to the Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
's "Macquarie Journal of Business Law".
He was reported by the NSW Bar Association to have died on the evening of 3 July 2011 at the age of 79.
Publications
With William GummowWilliam Gummow
William Montague Charles Gummow AC is a Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.-Biography:...
he co-edited five editions of Jacobs on Trusts and again with Gummow and Lehane he co-authored Equity: Doctrines and Remedies
Equity: Doctrines and Remedies
Equity: Doctrines and Remedies is a scholarly legal textbook originally composed by Justice Roderick Meagher, Justice William Gummow and Justice John Lehane. It is the preeminent publication on Equity in Australia and is highly regarded in common law jurisdictions because it is written by senior...
, the preeminent work on equity in Australia. Meagher has also made various contributions to Quadrant Magazine
Quadrant (magazine)
Quadrant is an Australian literary and cultural journal. The magazine takes a conservative position on political and social issues, describing itself as sceptical of 'unthinking Leftism, or political correctness, and its "smelly little orthodoxies"'. Quadrant reviews literature, as well as...
. He was described by NSW Chief Justice Jim Spigelman as "one of the intellectual giants of our legal history"http://www.usyd.edu.au/alumni/activities/gazette/nov05/trim.shtml.
He was author of "Portraits on Yellow Paper" published in 2004.
Honours
In 2000 the Senate of the University of Sydney conferred on Meagher - "scholar, lawyer, judge and individualist", as the citation to the Senate called him - the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD), a very rare distinction. The Senate was invited to confer the degree on Meagher for his intellectual contributions to the law in particular, referring to the classic text Equity: Doctrines & Remedies, of which Meagher was and remains co-author, as having helped reverse the general decline of equity jurisprudence: "[t]hat book has probably enjoyed greater esteem than any other Australian legal treatise, not only in universities but also with the Bench and Bar in this country, England and elsewhere. There is no equivalent to it in England, the United States or anywhere else".http://www.usyd.edu.au/senate/committees/advisoryMeagher.shtml The citation also commended Meagher's service to the University of Sydney Faculty of Law, in his capacity since 1960 as lecturer in Roman law and then Challis Lecturer in Equity, commenting that "[h]is lectures were a constant source of inspiration, delight and guidance for generations of law students".In 2005 Meagher was admitted as an Officer of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
"for service to the judiciary, particularly judicial administration, to reform of the building and construction industry, and to the community through the Australian Naval Reserve and conservation and arts organisations"http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:zD3J05_sQ1QJ:heifer.ucc.usyd.edu.au/law/FMPro%3F-DB%3Dlaw.fp5%26-FORMAT%3De00.htm%26code%3De00%26Max%3D1%26-Find+roderick+meagher+QC&hl=en&gl=au&ct=clnk&cd=10&client=firefox-a.
Individual cases and incidents
- When John LawsJohn LawsRichard John Sinclair "John" Laws, CBE , an Australian radio presenter, sometimes known as Lawsie, was from the 1970s until his retirement in 2007, the host of a hugely successful morning radio program, which mixed music with interviews, opinion, live advertising readings and listener talkback...
was fined $50,000 for using "gross and coarse" terms on 2UE2UE2UE is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by Fairfax Media. It is Sydney's and Australia's oldest commercial radio station, first broadcasting on 26 January 1925 on 1025 kHz AM before moving to 950 kHz in 1935 when virtually all Australian radio stations were assigned new...
, Justice Meagher dissented and called for a jail term, stating that $50,000 was the sort of money Laws would spend "on a small cocktail party."http://www.monolith.com.au/essay/
- Justice Mary GaudronMary GaudronMary Genevieve Gaudron, AC, QC , Australian lawyer and judge, was the first female Justice of the High Court of Australia.-Youth:...
, in a speech to the Women Lawyers Association of NSWNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, brought Meagher into controversy by deeming his comment that "The bar desperately needs more women barristers [because] there are so many bad ones that people may say that women ... are hopeless by nature"http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/results.chtml?filename_num=12784 as evidence of a brooding "wilfully unreconstructed" view of women in Law.
- He notably opposed the move of Sydney University School of LawSydney Law SchoolSydney Law School is the law faculty of the University of Sydney and is regarded as one of the most prestigious institutions of legal education in Australia and the Asia Pacific. Located in the main Camperdown campus of the University, with some operations at the St...
from the City to Darlington campus, saying, "As long as it was in the city, the school had lots of barristers and solicitors prepared to lecture there, but those people will not be prepared to struggle up to the University. There has never been a close inter-relationship between the professions and the academics in law ... There's a certain amount of co-operation at the moment but even that amount is going to vanish"http://www.usyd.edu.au/alumni/activities/gazette/nov05/trim.shtml.
Criticism
Patrick AtiyahPatrick Atiyah
Patrick S. Atiyah QC FBA is an English lawyer and academic. He is best known for his work as a common lawyer, particularly in the law of contract and for advocating reformation or abolition of the law of tort. He was made a Fellow of the British Academy in 1979.-Biography:Atiyah is a son of the...
has criticised Meagher's conservative view of legal doctrine in the Law Quarterly Review
Law Quarterly Review
The Law Quarterly Review is an academic legal periodical published by Sweet & Maxwell. It was first published in 1885...
.
Sources
External links
- Book review of Portraits on Yellow Paper