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The perils of legislative drafting
Look, there is nothing I like more than a complex piece of legislation. A well-drafted provision can be very satisfying; sometimes even the most elaborate piece of statute law just works. But then, occasionally I see a provision like this one, from the Victorian Evidence Act 2008, and my heart sinks: “‘Disclosure order’ means an… Continue reading
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Am I a comma nerd? We are about to find out.
Much of the time, commas are little more than convenient signalling devices, showing the reader how the various components of a sentence are supposed to work together. Often enough, the reader is going to be able to figure out what the sentence is telling them even if there is not a comma in sight. Occasionally,… Continue reading
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Leongatha mushrooms: my story
The dust has settled on the “trial of the century”. The jurors have gone back to their previous lives (and possibly wishing/pretending that none of this had ever happened). The “sleepy hollows” of Morwell and Leongatha are returning to their former state of general somnambulism. This means that the time has come for me to… Continue reading
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Walking backwards into the future
A couple of days ago Number Two Son messaged me (as they say). He is an engineer; I’ve never known him to be especially alive to the nuances and quirks of the English language. He had a question: should he be using “backwards/forwards” or “backward/forward”? He caught me while I was out on a walk,… Continue reading
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I got them old CLR side title blues again
Quality control at the Commonwealth Law Reports has always been admirably high. But occasionally they do get something wrong. If your judge were to refer in a judgment to the case of R v Quinn; Ex parte Consolidated Foods Corporation (1977) 138 CLR 1, and if, in proofing that judgment, you were diligently to follow… Continue reading
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In defence of the semicolon
Recent media reports – no, I’m not going to link to any; it only encourages them – would have you believe that the semicolon is about to go the way of the dodo. But, to borrow the supposed words of Mark Twain, reports of its demise might be greatly exaggerated. Admittedly, examples of bad semicolon… Continue reading
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Pseudonymously yours
Riddle me this, Batman: when is an anonymisation not an anonymisation? Answer: when it is somebody’s name, and it only looks like an anonymisation. Exhibit one: “SKA” or “Ska”? The latter is a dance craze from Jamaica that was popular in London circa 1980. You may have heard of Madness. (See above.) Or The Specials.… Continue reading
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Katie (or is it Katy?)
When I saw that the High Court yesterday granted special leave to appeal in a matter titled “Taylor v Killer Queen LLC”, my heart skipped a beat: are the Justices taking on a case in which Roger Taylor, the drummer of Queen, is suing some hinky antipodean Queen tribute band? The answer, unsurprisingly, is “no”,… Continue reading
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I seem to have a problem with definitions
At the end of January we had a couple of days in Sydney. The purpose of the trip was so that I could speak to the new intake of judges’ associates at the Federal Court about proofing judgments. But we packed in a decent amount of fun before that. A train journey! Art! Food! Ferries!… Continue reading
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The hyphen ninja
Mugga Way, this morning. I have questions. Is it a school for learning how to be a secret ninja? “High Court judge by day, ninja by night.” (Be afraid.) Or is it the school that is secret: a secret school for ninja? (If it is the latter, they really ought to rethink their strategy: putting… Continue reading
What is the 'it'? 