WRITTEN BY: JOCELYN BOSSE

On Tuesday 14th July, I had the pleasure of attending the Hon Michael Kirby's speech at the Inaugural Derek Fielding Memorial Lecture, along with JATL executive member Christine Chang. The lecture was on the subject of "Magna Carta, Bastille Day, North Korea and the Protection of Human Freedoms."

President Michael Cope of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties introduced Kirby, at one point noting his twenty-three honorary degrees, which Kirby amusingly remarked was "Not enough!"

Kirby highlighted the importance of the fifteenth year of a century. Important dates in legal and political history have included such events as: