Doyle & Ligertwood Chair

Doyle and Ligertwood Chair of Evidence and Procedure

An endowed Chair at the University of Adelaide would recognise the achievements of Emeritus Fellow Ligertwood and Chief Justice Doyle and significantly enhance the teaching and research outcomes in the area of evidence and procedure.

The University of Adelaide wishes to acknowledge the contribution to the Law School's reputation and standing in the Legal community made by The Honourable Dr John Doyle KC AC and Emeritus Fellow Ligertwood, by establishing the Doyle and Ligertwood Chair in Evidence and Procedure.

An investment of $5,000,000 will endow a Chair in perpetuity generating a return of $250,000 per annum.

Endowed Chairs promote excellence and enable the University of Adelaide to attract a leading scholar and teacher. The prestige surrounding an Endowed Chair is shared not only by its holder, but also by the donors whose gifts make it possible and the university where it is established.

  • Emeritus Fellow Andrew Ligertwood
    Andrew Ligertwood

    Emeritus Fellow Andrew Ligertwood completed a Bachelor of Laws Degree with First Class Honours at The University of Adelaide and travelled to Oxford as a George Murray Scholar, graduating with a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) in 1969. He then spent a year teaching at the University of Pennsylvania before returning to Adelaide after being offered a position in the Adelaide Law School. Admitted to practice on his return, for some years Ligertwood also worked with the then newly-formed Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement.

    Ligertwood specialised in the areas of evidence and procedure. Conscious of the critical importance of these areas in the teaching of law, it is the Adelaide Law School’s intention that the Chair being considered will include, but not be limited to these areas of law.

    His teaching and research interests have focused on the nature and processes for the finding of facts determinative of legal decisions.  The principal manifestation of his work is a major treatise on the laws of evidence, first published in 1988 and now in a 6th Edition (with Professor Gary Edmond as Co-author) entitled “Australian Evidence, A Principled Approach to the Common Law and the Uniform Acts, published by LexisNexis, Sydney.  

    Ligertwood was also involved in a major project to provide a comprehensive account of Australian law (The Laws of Australia) and has served as a consultant to the Australian Law Reform Commission and to the Law Council of Australia on projects related to evidence law.

    He has served as Dean of the Faculty and spent time as a visitor at University College, Oxford, and the University of Mannheim and has taught at The China University of Politics and Law in Beijing. In 2010, Ligertwood became an Emeritus Fellow in Law at the University of Adelaide.

  • The Honourable Dr John Doyle KC AC
    John Doyle

    The Honourable Dr John Doyle KC AC was awarded a Bachelor of Laws Degree with First Class Honours at The University of Adelaide and as the 1967 Rhodes Scholar, travelled to the University of Oxford, graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL).  Returning to Adelaide in 1970 he was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the South Australian Supreme Court. From 1977 to 1986 he practiced at the Bar, where his work involved most branches of the law and a substantial involvement in appellate work. 

    He was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1981 and in 1986, took an appointment as the South Australian Solicitor-General representing the State before the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of South Australia in constitutional, criminal and other cases. He was appointed Chief Justice of the South Australian Supreme Court in May 1995, a position he held until June 2012. 

    Justice Doyle was made Doctor of the University by the University of Adelaide in 2008.

  • Endowed Chairs

    It is intended that gifts received through this appeal will be invested in the University’s Endowment Fund, which is a permanent, self-sustaining source of funding where the principal contribution is invested and an annual income distribution of up to 5.00% return on the invested principal is used to support the fund’s purpose.

    Under the University's Giving Policy an endowed gift is a donation of money or property, used to support a specific purpose, with a legal stipulation that the original gift may never be expended and only the earnings can be used. 

    TAX-DEDUCTIBLE The University is a recognised deductible gift recipient (DGR).
    Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.

For a discussion about how you can support students and researchers in perpetuity through the Doyle & Ligertwood Chair of Evidence and Procedure, please contact our Development Team on +61 8 8313 5800 or development@adelaide.edu.au.