Adam Arnold with Sir Gerard Brennan

Third year Arts/Law student Adam Arnold has won the 2008 Australian Legal History Essay Competition.

Adam was presented with the award on 25 February by former Chief Justice the Hon. Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE at an awards ceremony hosted by the Francis Forbes Society for Australian Legal History at the State Library.

The theme of the competition was the importance to the effective working of the legal system of individual honesty, a well-informed conscience and trust. The question was: "How can a lawyer defend somebody he or she 'knows' is 'guilty'? What is it to 'know' that somebody is 'guilty'?"

In his winning essay, Adam argued that lawyers should not be afraid to be ruled by an "unconditional commitment" to honesty and integrity, and that members of the profession needed to "check themselves".

Adam received a certificate, a cash prize and an Abbey's book voucher. He also won $500 for the Faculty of Law which will go to towards the Paul Rodwell Long Book Lending Scheme for Indigenous students. Adam was keen to support the scheme following his work as a volunteer at the 2008 Indigenous Winter School at the Law Faculty.

Sessional law lecturer and Teacher/Coordinator of LLB Indigenous Support Programs, Jeni Engel was also commended for her role as Adam’s academic supervisor.

Adam's essay has been published in the Australian Bar Review.

The competition was open to students enrolled during 2008 in an Australian secondary school or a tertiary course. Other winners included Sarah Dorn of the University of Melbourne and Ben Nam, of St Pius X College at Chatswood.

Read Adam Arnold's winning essay