Living Greatly in the Law: Hal Wootten’s selected writing and speeches

John Halden ’Hal’ Wootten (1922-2021) - lawyer, legal academic and the founder of the UNSW Faculty of Law - made a major contribution to the law and public life in Australia. Wootten’s essays on the causes he felt passionately about, including the rights of First Nations peoples, press degradation, the future of legal education, climate change, the Palestinian tragedy, are as fresh and relevant today as when they were written.

Wootten’s vision of what was important lead to a series of interesting jumps in his career, from barrister to law school dean to Supreme Court judge; from Royal Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody to Chairman of the Australian Press Council. At all times he sought to ’live greatly in the law’ - by his values and for those ’upon whom the law bears harshly’.

In this edited collection of essays, speeches and unpublished work, David Dixon and Andrew Lynch present Wootten’s contribution to shaping a more just society.

’We all continue to benefit from Hal’s legacy of ＂living greatly in the law＂ through the generations of lawyers he has educated and inspired. This important book introduces his vision to the next generation.’ - Jennifer Robinson.

Professor Andrew Lynch is Dean of Law at UNSW and in his almost 20 years at UNSW has shared in the appreciation of all that Hal achieved in his founding of the law school, as well as the remarkable example he continues to set for the University’s students of a life lived with commitment to both professional excellence and justice. His experience as an editor of books includes Counter-Terrorism and Beyond (Routledge 2010), Tomorrow’s Federation (Federation Press 2012), Great Australian Dissents (CUP 2016) and The Judge (CUP 2021). Emeritus Professor David Dixon was Dean of Law at UNSW (2006- 16). Hal Wootten was his friend and mentor. David’s books and papers focus on the relationship between legal regulation and policing practice, including edited collections A Culture of Corruption: Changing an Australian Police Service (Institute of Criminology) and The Integrity of Criminal. He has also served as editor of the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology and as international editor of the British Society of Criminology’s journal, Criminology & Criminal Justice.