Melbourne University Law Review

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Rankings

The journal has been awarded an A* ranking by the Australian Business Law Deans Council. [2]

History

The Summons

The first periodical published at the Melbourne Law School was The Summons. It appeared with the subtitle A Magazine of Legal and General Literature and was published by the Articled Law Clerks' Society of Victoria between 1891 and 1903. It was a yellow-covered sixteen-page journal depicting an angel with a trumpet on its cover and served as more of a current affairs magazine than an academic journal, publishing reports of moots and discussing topical issues, which at the time included the fusion of the two branches of the Victorian legal profession and the admission of women.

Res Judicatae

In 1935, the students of the Faculty of Law established Res Judicatae — roughly translated as "things that have been judicially adjudicated on" — which was intended to provide a forum for discussion and debate among students of the law. Published by the Law Students' Society of Victoria, it focused on legal journalism.

Notable publications include C S Lewis on 'The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment', [3] Owen Dixon on 'De Facto Officers', [4] H V Evatt on 'Amending the Constitution', [5] John Latham on 'The Law Student', [6] and the re-printing of Frank Gavan Duffy's poem, 'A Dream of Fair Judges' (originally published in The Summons). [7]

Melbourne University Law Review

In 1957, Zelman Cowen (then dean of the faculty and later governor-general of Australia) re-established the journal along the model of the Harvard Law Review and renamed it the Melbourne University Law Review. In line with prevailing American practice, top ranking law students were invited to become members of the editorial board. In 1998, the number of issues published each year was increased from two to three.

Alumni

Notable alumni of the Melbourne University Law Review include: [8]

High Court

Federal Court

Supreme Court

Solicitors-General

Barristers

Politicians

Academics

Writers

In collaboration with the Melbourne Journal of International Law, the journal publishes the Australian Guide to Legal Citation .

References

  1. Melbourne University Law Review. "Editorial Board". Melbourne Law School. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  2. Australian Business Deans Council, (ABDC). "Journal Quality List". Australian Business Deans Council. Retrieved 12 February 2020.{{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  3. Lewis, CS (1954). "The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment". Res Judicatae (University of Melbourne). (1954) 6 Res Judicatae 224.
  4. Dixon, Owen (1938). "De Facto Officers". Res Judicatae (University of Melbourne). (1938) 1 Res Judicatae 285.
  5. Evatt, H V (1938). "Amending the Constitution". Res Judicatae (University of Melbourne). (1938) 1 Res Judicatae 264.
  6. Latham, John (1938). "The Law Student". Res Judicatae (University of Melbourne). (1938) 1 Res Judicatae 253.
  7. Gavan Duffy, Frank (1938). "A Dream of Fair Judges". Res Judicatae (University of Melbourne). (1938) 1 Res Judicatae 183.
  8. "Past editors". Melbourne University Law Review.

See also