They’re all good cases: Paul Byrne SC Memorial Lecture 22 June 2022

ABSTRACT

Paul Byrne SC is aptly described as one of the most outstanding criminal lawyers of his generation. Following his death in 2009, the Paul Byrne Memorial Lecture was established in 2011. Those lectures have been conducted by various highly distinguished lawyers on various topics of law. Justice Hamill delivered the tenth lecture on 22 June 2022 at the University of Sydney. In honour of Paul Byrne, and in the tenth year of the lectures being held, Paul Byrne himself was the topic of the lecture. Justice Hamill discusses the legal and non-legal lessons that can be learned from some of the most significant cases Paul appeared in, including in the High Court of Australia, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal and various criminal trials, and the way in which Paul lived his life. This article is the revised version of Justice Hamill's lecture.

KEYWORDS:

• Paul Byrne
• criminal law
• evidence law
• police powers
• legal advocacy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).