Ian David Francis Callinan (born 1 September 1937) is a former Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy.
Education
Born in Casino, New South Wales, Callinan was raised in Brisbane, Queensland, and educated at Brisbane Grammar School. He received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland while working as an articled clerk. On 23 July 2010, the University of Queensland awarded him a Doctorate of Laws (honoris causa) in recognition of his service to the law and the arts. In 2012, James Cook University awarded Callinan an Honorary Doctorate in Laws (honoris causa) in recognition of his service to the law.
Pre-judicial career
Callinan was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1960 and a barrister in 1965. He was appointed as a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1978. He was President of the Queensland Bar Association between 1984 and 1987 and President of the Australian Bar Association between 1984 and 1985.
At the Bar he developed a broad national practice, appearing in cases concerning almost all areas of the law, including high-profile commercial law cases, industrial relations disputes, defamation trials, constitutional cases and criminal matters. He was briefed by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute a sitting High Court justice, Lionel Murphy, to appear in extradition proceedings against fugitive businessman Christopher Skase in both Spanish and Australian courts, and to prosecute the first "bottom of the harbour" tax fraud case, which was appealed to the High Court.
He also appeared for high-profile corporate and sporting personalities such as Alan Bond, Greg Chappell and Andrew Ettingshausen. While at the Bar he held retainers from some of Australia's largest banks and media companies.
Callinan was particularly noted for his work in defamation cases. He successfully defended what was then the longest civil jury trial in Australian legal history, when he appeared as leading counsel for Channel 9 in a 13-week defamation trial, in which Sir Leslie Thiess sought damages from Channel 9 following a report broadcast on that network that he had bribed the Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
Judicial activity
Callinan was appointed as a Justice of the High Court in February 1998. He remained a Justice of the High Court until 1 September 2007, when he was compelled to retire under the provision which requires all Federal judges to retire upon attaining the age of 70. He was replaced by fellow Queenslander Susan Kiefel.
He is considered a strong defender of federalism. His judgments show a willingness to innovate in common law areas (for example in, tort and contract law cases), but a strong reluctance to depart from the original intent of the Constitution.
In constitutional cases Callinan expressed a clear preference for a restrained interpretation of the Constitution and for significant developments to be by way of referendum rather than judicial decision. That view was most trenchantly expressed in his lengthy dissent in New South Wales v Commonwealth, a case concerned with the constitutional validity of the Howard government's WorkChoices legislation. Callinan's judgment in that case is the longest in the history of the High Court, containing approximately 55,000 words and running for 165 pages.