Foreword
| Author | William Gummow |
| DOI | 10.1177/0067205X1003800311 |
| Published date | 01 September 2010 |
| Date | 01 September 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
FOREWORD
William Gummow
Emeritus Professor Zines has reminded me that we first met in 1978 in the c ommon
room of Clare Hall, Cambridge, where he was Visiting Fellow. What then was
unknown to me was that Professor Zines was using his time at Cambridge to begin
work upon The High Court and the Constitution. This was first published in 1981 and is
now in its fifth edition. This was the other standard text for which he was to be
responsible. The second edition of Federal Jurisdiction in Australia in which he joined Sir
Zelman Cowen was published in 1978. This is now in its third edition, published in
2002.
I had first encountered the work of Professor Zines not in the field of federal
constitutional law, but by reading, as they had appeared, the articles 'Revision of
Copyright Law',1 and 'Equitable Assignments: When will E quity Assist a Volunteer?'.2
The first reflects the wor k of the author in 195 8–59 as Secretary to the Spicer
Committee, whose report led eventually to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Professor
Zines is of such longevity as to be one of the few lawyers with a firsthand knowledge
of the work leading to the 1968 statute. The second article was written shortly after the
decision in No rman v Federal Commissioner of Taxation.3 Subsequently, it was cited with
approval by Mason CJ and McHugh J in Corin v Patton.4
I do not idly mention these matters. Much of the disputation in constitution al
litigation turns in the first instance upon the construction of the federal or Sta te law or
regulation the validity of which is challenged. Such legislation is apt to displace
existing common law or statute and to create new rights and liabilities. Many heads of
federal legislative power are identified by terms such as 'bankruptcy', 'insurance',
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1 Leslie Zines, 'Revision of Copyright Law' (1963) 37 Australian Law Journal 247.
2 Leslie Zines, 'Equitable Assignments: When will Equity Assist a Volunteer?' (1965) 38
Australian Law Journal 337.
3 (1963) 109 CLR 9.
4 (1990) 169 CLR 540, 558–9
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