The Melbourne University Law Review is a triannual law journal published by a student group at Melbourne Law School covering all areas of law. It is one of the student-run law journals at the University of Melbourne and is generally regarded as Australia's leading generalist law journal. Students who have completed at least one semester of law are eligible to apply for membership of the editorial board. Applicants are assessed on the basis of their performance in a practical exercise, academic aptitude, and proofreading and editing skills. The 2024 editors-in-chief are James Cafferky, Alexander Henry and Fiona Xia.[1]
Occasionally, the journal produces a symposium issue devoted to a particular aspect of law. Past symposium issues have focused on the centenary of the federation of Australia, contemporary human rights in Australia, and tort law. The Review's alumni include two High Court Justices, three Solicitors-General, five Federal Court judges and at least six Supreme Court judges.
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.
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]
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.
^Melbourne University Law Review. "Editorial Board". Melbourne Law School. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
^Australian Business Deans Council, (ABDC). "Journal Quality List". Australian Business Deans Council. Retrieved 12 February 2020. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
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