Richard Ackland
Richard Ackland publishes the law journals Justinian and the Gazette of Law & Journalism. He writes a regular column on legal affairs, law and society and the media. He has been a journalist with The Australian Financial Review and a presenter of ABC TV's Media Watch and Radio National's Late Night Live and Breakfast programs.
Have a stickybeak at the Crow-eaters
Richard Ackland So many good ideas flow out of the tiny state of South Australia it's a wonder the world isn't paying closer attention.
Berlusconi takes the Via Dolorosa
Richard Ackland Italy has given the world more than its fair share of delights. Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Caravaggio, Marconi, Giuseppe Verdi, Monica Bellucci, Marcello Mastroianni, Enzo Ferrari, cotoletta alla...
Secrecy is a denial of our rights
Richard Ackland John Wilson is a dual Australian and US citizen. At one point, he was an equities analyst on Wall Street for SG Warburg.
The quick once-over that is supposed to keep us free
Richard Ackland Reports of the death of a proposed bill or charter of rights may, as Mark Twain said of his own demise, be an exaggeration.
War post mortem checking for blood on the hands of lawyers
Richard Ackland Lawyers are incredibly keen on preening themselves about their ''independence''. Little crests with mottos abound: Without fear or favour; Servants of all, yet of none; All are equal under the law.
The law is as efficient as you'd imagine
Richard Ackland Each year the lawyers and judges gather in churches and at feasts to get spiritual comfort and sustenance for the great projects ahead.
Pesky kookaburra drops one on the debate over copyright law
Richard Ackland In case you'd forgotten the words, I'll reproduce in its entirety this charming ditty so that we sing along together, preferably in rounds: Kookaburra sits on an old gum treeQuite so.
Old news is better news in the eyes of the law
Richard Ackland Amazon has a CD promising to teach journalism by a ''subliminal technique''. It's only $US15.95 ($17). Each session is crafted by a hypnotist and you hear ''no audible voice''.
Look to history for lesson on legal fees
Richard Ackland It's nice to see a touch of the old putting its mark on the new year. Would you believe it, a group of big wigs from the lawyer trade unions has come out in opposition to a reform floated within the...
Big tobacco and its posse still in the saddle after eight long years
Richard Ackland It was Christmas Eve and just as Santa was preparing to squeeze down millions of chimneys, the Victorian Supreme Court delivered a beautifully wrapped present to famous tobacco litigant Rolah McCabe.
How Frog's Breath blew more freedom into Canadian press
Richard Ackland Frog's Breath is a jewel of a small private golf course on the edge of the Twin Lakes near New Liskeard in a remote corner of northern Ontario.
Great oratory is a beautiful thing, then there is the rest …
Richard Ackland It was precisely a year ago that Malcolm Turnbull, then leader of the Opposition, said something that must now stick in his gullet as horribly as it lodged in ours - ''Kevin Andrews is a first-class...
A year when the law was an ass
Richard Ackland The year is about to slam shut. Now is as good a time as any to collect our thoughts, kick back our feet on the walnut credenza and reflect on where we've been and what lies ahead.
What a pile is this talk of reform
Richard Ackland In one corner of my office is a steep pile of yellowing tomes. It's called the Access to Justice corner and if anyone disturbs it the whole tottering edifice cascades to the floor.
Terminations with prejudice
Richard Ackland Tegan Leach, 19, and her boyfriend, Sergie Brennan, 21, said they had no idea they were committing a crime. Neither did I, which shows how far from the real world I live.
Egg in your face can be so satisfying
Richard Ackland It is so gratifying to be found conspicuously incorrect. Journalists, in particular, relish being hung out to dry and this one is no exception.
No time to be a timid little nation
Richard Ackland The report from Father Frank Brennan's human rights consultation was received by the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland on Wednesday.
Parole for Lim, all bar the shouting
Richard Ackland When Justice Jack Slattery sentenced Phillip Choon Tee Lim for the murder of the pioneering heart surgeon Victor Chang he said: ''The objective seriousness of the murder is not aggravated by the...
Australians all let us react, says the right
Richard Ackland Oh dear. Now the ''boundless plains to share'' have shrivelled to a craggy Indian Ocean rock amid some of the ugliest fear-mongering about refugees it's been our misfortune to endure.
A simple Twitter brings down the mighty cone of silence
Richard Ackland I hope no one missed this week's legal excitement in London. The British oil trading company Trafigura managed to get a ''super-injunction'' to prevent reporting of the findings into its dumping of...
