Speeches & Articles

Opening of the Legal Year

• 2022 Address by His Hon Richard Cogswell QC
• 2016 Address by The Rt. Revd. John Parkes AM
• 2015 Address by Dr Augusto Zimmermann
• 2014 Address by Ms Jesse Taylor, link to Podcast – Jesse Taylor address
• 2013 Address by Address by Ms Fiona McLeay
• 2010 Address by Hon Keith Mason AC
• 2009 Address by Father Michael Tate
• 2008 Address by Anne Robinson
• 2007 Address by Father Frank Brennan

Chief Justice Shanahan

• The Supreme Court of Tasmania: “An Institution In Motion”.  Paper presented to the Law Society of Tasmania Winter Criminal Law Conference 2025, Friday 18 July 2025.

Chief Justice Blow

• Book Launch: Law Reports of The Australian War Crimes Trials 1945-1951, Volume 1 26 November 2024
• Ceremonial Sitting for recently appointed Senior Counsel 23 August 2024
• The Chief Justice in Conversation – UTas Island of Ideas 13 June 2024
• From Convicts to Computers Two Hundred Years of the Tasmanian Supreme Court 10 May 2024
• Bicentenary of the Supreme Court of Tasmania 10 May 2024
• Disciplinary Proceedings and the Tasmanian Legal Profession 24 October 2023
• AAL/AIJA/ALJ Enduring Courts Conference 9 September 2023
• NJCA Writing Better Judgments Program 8 March 2023
• The Queen memorial service 26 September 2022
• Ceremonial Sitting Senior Counsel 9 June 2022
• Speech on the Opening of Law Week  16 May 2022
• Speech upon the Unveiling of a Plaque Acknowledging the Muwinina People  4 November 2021
• Michael Hill Memorial Lecture Presentation to the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, 12 July 2019
• Parliamentary Sovereignty A Law Unto Itself  Presentation to the Australian and New Zealand Association of Clerks at the Table, 22 January 2019
• Interpreters’ Symposium  Speech of Welcome on 23 August 2018
• The Greek Origins of Federations, Leagues and Multi-State Organisations  Presented at the Hellenic Australian Lawyers Association Conference on 12 July 2018
• “The diary of Philip Thomas Smith on board the Royal Admiral en route for Van Diemen’s Land” edited by Richard Fotheringham Speech for book launch at the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts on 20 March 2017
• Australian Bar Association/Victorian Bar National Conference Melbourne, 27 October 2016
• Management of a Voir Dire Presentation by the Hon Alan Blow OAM, Chief Justice of Tasmania and Daryl Coates SC DPP at the Law Society of Tasmania’s Criminal Conference – 26 February 2016
• Tasmanian Cases in the High Court of Australia 1 December 2015
• Hellenic Australian Lawyers Tasmanian Launch 27 November 2015
• Structuring Commercial Litigation Claims 21 November 2015
• Ceremonial Sitting Senior Counsel 15 April 2015
• Ceremonial Sitting Senior Counsel 18 August 2014
• Eulogy for the Hon Peter Underwood AC on the occasion of the State Funeral for the Governor of Tasmania, 21 July 2014
• Statutory Interpretation Lecture 21 May 2014 at the University of Tasmania
• Planning, Environment and Heritage Litigation and Legislation in Tasmania Address to the Australasian Conference of Planning and Environment Courts and Tribunals 5 March 2014
• Release on AustLII of digitised copies of historic Tasmanian cases Parliament House, Hobart, 18 December 2013
• International Responses to Social and Justice Challenges Conference Hobart 15-18 August 2013
• Ceremonial Sitting to mark appointment as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania 8 April 2013

Justice Wood

• Cultural diversity: reflections on the role of the judge in ensuring a fair trial  Judicial Officer’s Bulletin May 2016
• Ceremonial Sitting to mark appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania Monday 9 November 2009

Justice Estcourt

• From the Bench: Avoidable Pitfalls in Criminal Advocacy.  Paper presented to the Law Society of Tasmania Winter Criminal Law Conference 2025, Friday 18 July 2025
• Judicial Independence 101.  Article published in 143 Law Letter, The Journal of the Law Society of Tasmania, Autumn/Winter 2024, 26
• From Convicts to Computers Two Hundred Years of the Tasmanian Supreme Court, Forty South Publishing.  Book launched on 10 May 2024, the bicentenary of the creation of the Supreme Court of Tasmania
• Around the Nation: Tasmania.  Age is No Guarantee of Independence.  Article published in the Australian Law Journal (2024) 98 ALJ 176
• The Importance of Judicial Independence.  Paper delivered to the University of Tasmania Law School Lawfest, 31 August 2023.
• Smart Contracts – Law Society CPD Presentation, 26 April, 2023
• William Robert Giblin: An Autochthonous Judge.  141 Law Letter, The Journal of the Law Society of Tasmania, Summer 2022, 24
• Advocacy: A Skill to be Acquired.  Paper delivered to the Clinical Education Unit, University of Tasmania Law School, 23 August 2022
• Women and the Law in Tasmania. This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as: (2022) 96 ALJ 405.
• The Battle for Trial by Jury Article published in the Australian Law Journal (2021) 95 ALJ 946
• Ethics and Court Appearances; Paper delivered to the Law Society of Tasmania Litigation Conference 2021, November 2021
• Beware the March of AI Address to the Students’ Legal Service 2021
• Full Judgment in the Dunalley Fires Actions Prestage v Barrett; Thorne v Barrett; Howells v Barrett [2021] TASSC 27
• Hobart’s Supreme Court Buildings Article published in  (2021) 95 ALJ 318
• Bills v Brown Article published in ‘Law Letter’, the Journal of the Tasmanian Law Society, Spring/Summer 2020 at 24
• Hitting the Right Note Article published in ‘Law Letter’, the Journal of the Tasmanian Law Society, Autumn/Winter 2020
• Enduring Testament to Justice Article published in The Mercury, 21 September, 2020
• City has a Decorated Court History Article published in The Examiner, 20 September 2020
• Burnie Court’s Important Place in History Article published in The Advocate, 9 September 2020
• Speech to Applicants for Admission 21 August 2020
• Around the Nation: Tasmania Paper published in the Australian Law Journal 2020
• Appeal Advocacy Written and Oral  Paper delivered at the New Technology and Trial Practice Workshop, Stanley Hotel, Port Moresby, 18-20 March 2019
• The Launceston Judge Debates  Article describing the history of the appointment of a Judge to sit permanently in Launceston. Article published in Law Letter: Journal of the Law Society of Tasmania 2019 Spring/Summer 138 Law Letter 16
• Thinking machines and Smiley Faces Article about artificial intelligence aids for the judiciary.  This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as (2019) 93 ALJ 855.  For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980. or online at   legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search
• The Arrival of the Hibernia and the First Year of the Supreme Court article published in Law Letter: Journal of the Law Society of Tasmania 2019 Winter 137 Law Letter 10
• A wise man: the life of Justice Nettlefold.  This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as (2019) 93 ALJ 623. For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at  legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search
• Section 72 of the Code and Criminal Negligence  article published in Law Letter: Journal of the Law Society of Tasmania 2019 Summer/Autumn 136 Law Letter 12
• Social Media as Evidence. Paper presented to the New Technology and Trial Practice Workshop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 18-20 March 2019
• Around the nation: Tasmania: Regulation of All-terrain Vehicles This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as (2018) 92 ALJ 596.  For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search
• Around the nation: Tasmania: A tale of two Courts This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as (2018) 92 ALJ 420.  For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search
• Cross-examination – a science not an art article published in Law Letter : Journal of the Law Society of Tasmania 2018 Autumn, 134 Law Letter 14
• Identification evidence in criminal trials article published in Law Letter : Journal of the Law Society of Tasmania 2018 Autumn, 134 Law Letter 28
• Identification Evidence in Criminal Trials (pdf, 127.6 KB) presented to the Law Society of Tasmania Criminal Law Conference 2 March 2018
• Social Amplification of the Risk of Sex Offending This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as (2017) 91 ALJ 621.  For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search
• Appellate Advocacy Presented to Legalwise Seminars “All your CPD Points and more” on 24 February 2017
• Social media and sentencing This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as (2016) 90 ALJ 291.  For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search
• Using social media in civil litigation Article published in Law Letter: Journal of the Law Society of Tasmania 2016 Spring/Summer (130) Law Letter 10
• Bail – some people don’t get it Article published in Counsel :The Journal of the Tasmanian Bar (2016) 1(1) Counsel 10
• Libraries and the value of librarians This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as (2016) 90 ALJ 696.  For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search
• Links with Canberra; Tasmanian cases in the High Court This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as (2016) 90 ALJ 291.  For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search
• Peter George Underwood AC,  This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Australian Law Journal and should be cited as (2015) 89 ALJ 757.  For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at legal.thomsonreuters.com.au/search
• Justice for all – or access for some? Issues in access to justice Paper presented to the Australian Lawyers Alliance National Conference, 24 October 2015, Hobart
• Pleadings Tips and Traps, article published in the Law Letter (Tasmania), Spring 2015, Issue 127
• The Precautionary Principle, the Coast and Temwood Holdings Delivered at the Australasian Conference of Planning and Environment Courts and Tribunals, Hobart 5-7 March 2014, and first published in the Environmental and Planning Law Journal, (2014) 31 EPLJ 288
• Ethical Advocacy Paper delivered at a Legal Aid Commission in-house Criminal Conference November 2013 and at the University of Tasmania Law School Advocacy Summer School in January 2014
• Legalwise 10 Points In One Day Seminar: Use of Written Submissions, 28 February 2014
• Law Society Litigation Convention Dinner 2013: Reply on behalf of Her Majesty’s Judges
• Legal Aid Commission In-House Criminal Conference 2013: Cross-Examination – a Science not an Art
• Ceremonial sitting to mark appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania 8 April 2013

Justice Pearce

•   Inferior Courts and Tribunals and Issue of Estoppel    Presentation to Australian Insurance Law Association 27 August 2014

Justice Brett

• Ceremonial sitting to mark appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania 11 July 2016
• Judge Alone Trials 4 March 2022

Justice Porter

• Ceremonial sitting to mark appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania, 26 May 2008
• Legal Practice: A Career in Conflict (doc, 91.5 KB), The inaugural Tasmanian Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation lecture, July 2017

Justice Slicer

• Address by the Hon Justice Pierre Slicer on his retirement from the Supreme Court on 18 September 2009
• 50 and Better Centre  Inheritance – May 2008
• Keith Welsh Award May 2006
• Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference – February 2006
• Address to the Annual Luncheon of the Order of Australia Association  20 November 2005
• Speech to the Magistrates Conference “Self Represented Litigants” 14 June 2004
• Address to National Community Legal Services Conference  2 September 2003
• Environmental Defenders’ Conference “Law, Standing and the Environment”  23 August 2002

Associate Justice Holt

• Address by the Hon Associate Justice Stephen Holt on his retirement from the Supreme Court on 31 August 2023

Chief Justice Crawford

• Ceremonial sitting to mark appointment as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania 24 April 2008

Chief Justice Underwood

• Ceremonial Sitting to mark retirement of Chief Justice Peter Underwood as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania 28 March 2008
• National Judicial Sentencing Conference 7-9 February 2008 – Introduction Canberra
• Sir Valentine Fleming by Dr Michael Bennett AM – Book Launch In Hobart on 3 December 2007
• Admission of Practitioners to the Supreme Court of Tasmania In Hobart on 10 August 2007
• Speech to the Tasmanian Women Lawyers Association In Hobart on 19 July 2007
• Alternative Dispute Resolution as a Judicial Tool: a comment delivered to the Seventh Worldwide Common Law Conference in London in April 2007
• Speech to the Bench and Bar Dinner In Hobart on 31 March 2007
• Speech to the Tasmanian Bar Association Convention Held at Strahan on 4 November 2006
• It’s safe to go out into the playground now Speech to the Australian and New Zealand Education Law Association, Hobart, 5 October 2006.
• Independence of Tribunals Hobart 18 September 2006
• Admission of Legal Practitioners  Hobart, 11 August 2006
• Speech on the Opening of the Australasian Curriculum Assessment & Certification Authorities Annual Conference – 2006  Hobart,  27 July 2006
• Speech to the Tasmanian Law Society Dinner Hobart, 13 May 2006
• Conference of South Pacific Council of Youth and Children’s Courts Hobart,  4 April 2006
• Graduation Parade for Trainee Course 2/2005 2nd December 2005 Police Academy, Rokeby, Tasmania
• The Trial Process: Does one size fit all ? Speech delivered to the Australian Insurance Law Association on Thursday 10 November 2005, now published in the Journal of Judicial Administration (2005) 15 JJA 165
• Appointment as Chief Justice Supreme Court of Tasmania Special Sitting, 2 December 2004
• Farewell to the Chief Justice William John Ellis Cox Supreme Court of Tasmania Special Sitting, 26 November 2004
• Educating Judges Speech to the Judicial College, 2004, now published in The Judicial Review (2006) 7 TJR 423
• Is Ms Donoghue’s Snail in Mortal Peril? (2004) 12 Torts Law Journal 39
• Negligence and Foreseeability – Doctrine of Law or Public Policy? (1999) 8 Australian Insurance Law Bulletin 73 and 85