Melbourne University Law Review 2023 Annual Lecture

Опубликовано: 11 Май 2023
на канале: Melbourne Law School

610

'Thinking Philosophically about Law: The Role of Moral and Political Reasoning in Shaping the Law'. Presented by Mr Chris Maxwell AC.

This lecture explores the different ways in which ideas from moral and political philosophy underpin the development of the law. The shape of the substantive law can be seen to reflect assumptions and choices about core philosophical notions such as the moral obligation of one person to another, the attribution of responsibility for conduct and the nature of the relationship between the individual and the State. And the task of adjudication often calls for the exercise of moral judgment, whether because the applicable rule invokes an explicitly moral concept such as unconscionable conduct or moral culpability, or because the application of an indeterminate legal standard necessarily involves moral judgment. Equipping future lawyers with the capacity to think philosophically should therefore be one of the goals of legal education.

The Melbourne University Law Review (‘Review’) Annual Lecture is part of an ongoing effort by the Review to increase its engagement with the legal community. The 2023 Annual Lecture was presented by Mr Chris Maxwell AC. Chris commenced practice at the Victorian Bar in 1984. He became Queen’s Counsel in 1998. In 2005, Chris was appointed President of the Victorian Court of Appeal, a position he held until his retirement in July 2022. In 2015, Chris was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. In 2014, Chris helped establish 'Philosophical Foundations of Law' as an elective subject in the JD program at Melbourne Law School. He is continuing to teach the subject in 2023.