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Editorial
EDITORIAL
JULIAN VERTOUDAKIS*
Some readers may remember a print publication known as the Forum that was produced by
the UNSW Law Journal in the recent past. That publication was launched in 1995 as a yearly
addendum to the issues of the UNSW Law Journal and ultimately cultivated a proud tradition
of publishing contributions by practitioners, academics, and judges on recent developments in
case law, legislation, scholarship and other legal publishing.1
The print Forum was discontinued in 2012, after the introduction of thematic issues to the
Journal permitted its regular output to focus on current events and controversies. The Forum
is now being resurrected - not in some bizarre act of necromancy, but as an entirely online
generalist publication focused on promoting discussion and debate by publishing shorter
scholarly pieces. It is our hope that this format will respond to the demands of the
increasingly interactive legal community and permit a faster publication cycle than is possible
for print-based publications. However, the Forum is not a blog and will be subject to the
same rigorous peer review and editing processes as applies to articles published in the
Journal's print issues.
In 1995, the Forum's inaugural editor described its objectives as
to encourage thoughtful and intelligent debate on issues relevant to the law. Vigorous
argument and analysis of current legal affairs is for the most part impossible in the
general media, and it is hoped that the provision of a separate arena such as [the]
Forum, devoted to discussion of legal matters by the legal community, will promote
better awareness and understanding of such issues within academic, professional,
judicial, and other circles.2
The concerns expressed by the editor about the quality of discourse surrounding legal affairs
in general media remain strikingly relevant today. The mission of the Forum thus remains to
be the destination of choice for authors wishing to engage in thoughtful and intelligent
debate, whether by contributing responses to pieces published in the Journal's issues or
elsewhere, essays, case comments, book and legislation reviews, or other types of interactive
and audiovisual content that the Forum's online format caters for.
There are many people who deserve credit for their role in the resurrection of the Forum.
First, the authors - whose ideas, insight and analysis of legal developments are the result of
Editor, UNSW Law Journal Forum, 2017.
See, eg, Regina Graycar, 'Compensation for the Stolen Children: Political Judgments and Community
Values' (1998) 21 University of New South Wales Law Journal 253; Nicholas Cowdery, 'Mandatory Life
Sentences in New South Wales' (1999) 22 University ofNew South Wales Law Journal 290; The Hon Sir
Gerard Brennan, 'Reconciliation' (1999) 22 University of New South Wales Law Journal 595; Adrienne
Stone, 'The Limits of Constitutional Text and Structure Revisited' (2005) 28 University of New South
Wales Law Journal 842; The Hon John Von Doussa QC, 'Human Rights and Climate Change: A
Tragedy in the Making' (2008) 31 University of New South Wales Law Journal 953; The Hon Justice
Kevin Lindgren, 'Some Current Practical Issues in Class Action Litigation' (2009) 32 University of New
South Wales Law Journal 900.
2 The Hon Justice MD Kirby, 'Forum: Televising Court Proceedings' (1995) 18 University of New South
Wales Law Journal 483.
2017
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