Unseen Networks: The Legal Professions’ Involvement in the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1944 (NSW)

Abstract

Prior to the foundation of permanent law reform bodies in the second half of the 20th century, the process of statutory law reform of private law in Australian jurisdictions was a largely unseen exercise. Drawing on archival sources, this article explores the role that members of the legal profession played "behind the scenes" in the creation of one of the most radical law reforms in private law in New South Wales in the first half of the 20th century, the extension of liability for negligently-caused nervous shock. Members of the profession both agitated for reform and provided suggestions for change and in doing so they demonstrated a willingness to depart from developments in England thought inappropriate and a determination to create a solution which would place New South Wales at the forefront of the best modern legal developments.