Law group urged to be confident about reform

The Law Reform Commission should be "confident and bold" in its efforts to reform the law, a prominent Australian judge told the commission's annual conference yesterday.

At the conference, which focused on preparation for its third programme of law reform, Justice Michael Kirby said if people have never felt the "sting" of unfair laws, it is hard for them to appreciate the need for reform.

The judge, one of the seven judges of the High Court of Australia and former chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission, cited his own experience of laws that discriminated against homosexuals and affected him.

In his childhood, he said, homosexuals were locked up, stigmatised and entrapped. "If you've never felt discrimination . . . if you haven't felt that sting, you don't realise how important it is to have law reformers who are strong, courageous and bold," he said.

He said he spoke about homosexuality because it was important that people understood that gay people were everywhere.

"They're in the highest courts, some are hairdressers and in the stereotypical jobs, but they're everywhere," he said. "They've always been everywhere, they always will be everywhere and if people have a problem with it, they really just have to take an aspirin and have a good lie down."

He said his partner of 38 years attended functions with Queen Elizabeth, the Australian governor general and prime minister. He praised the consultation process engaged in by the commission in preparation for its new programme for law reform.

The conference included an opportunity for members of the public to voice their law reform priorities and similar consultation took place in Galway and Cork earlier this year. Written submissions on areas for reform are also being accepted by the commission until the end of July.

The judge urged the commission to be aware of how rapidly laws can become outdated. He suggested it consult as much as possible, and be empirical, making decisions based on how the law operates in practice. He also advised the commission to keep up to date with international law, to be realistic in their expectations, and to be independent, useful, and patient.

"In Australia, whenever there was a change of government, that is a great time to pounce because in the first few months when they get in, they've got all their ideas . . . but they haven't got bills," he said.

He added that law reformers needed to be lucky to get an attorney general who was interested, and the recently appointed Attorney General, Paul Gallagher SC, "is interested", he said.

Speaking at the conference yesterday, Mr Gallagher said it was the hallmark of a modern, civilised and democratic society that it strives for "wisdom, truth and justice". "They must be the fundamental aims of any legal system we adopt in our society," he said.

He said the first and second Law Reform Commission programmes demonstrated the great scope of review that had already been achieved.