Michael Kirby graduated in law from the University of Sydney in 1962. He later received the degrees of LLM (1969) and Hon. LLD (2009). He served as a Justice of the High Court of Australia (1996-2009). On 15 May 2023, he delivered a lecture to first year law students at SLS, in the Foundations of Law course to first year LLB students. His address was on "Three Favourite Dissents". In the lecture, he covers the principles governing deprivation of the binding rule of a case, taken from the opinions of the judges in the majority. He then explains the reasons for his dissenting opinions in Al-Kateb v Godwin (2004) 219 CLR 562 (International Law and Australian Constitutional Law); NSW v The Commonwealth (WorkChoices case) (2006) 229 CLR 1 (virtues of the concilliation and arbitration power) and Wurridjal v The Commonwealth (2009) 237 ClR 309 (the requirement of "just terms" for compulsory acquistion of property and the suggested "term of proper consultation with First Nations people facing the Northern Territory intervention under Federal legilsation
