In September 2025 I had the honour of giving the keynote address at the annual Law Night dinner hosted by the Catenian Association and the St Thomas More Society at the Occidental Hotel, Sydney. The subject of my address was “Sectarianism and the Law in Early Twentieth-Century Australia” in which I examined a series of high-profile legal proceedings in the early 1900s that had the potential to intensify chronic ethno-religious animosity and splinter a community already divided between Catholics and Protestants. These five cases with sectarian overtones challenged the role of judges to act impartially in resolving disputes between citizens without succumbing to public sentiment.

The five cases I discussed were:
The Coningham v Coningham divorce case of 1900 and 1901;
The Harvey Inquiry into the internment of the Irish Seven in 1918;
The 1920 High Court cases of Jerger v Pearce over the deportation of Fr Jerger;
The Sylvia Thomas custody case of 1920; and
The Supreme Court case of Partridge v Dwyer of 1921 concerning Sister Liguori.

I conclude that, although sectarianism between Catholics and Protestants no longer blights our society, it does not mean the courts will not find themselves in the middle of controversies that excite the public and threaten the peace and social harmony of the community. Judges and lawyers must therefore remain vigilant to ensure that the judicial system avoids being sucked into the vortex of the zeitgeist and continues to administer justice impartially in accordance with the best traditions of the law.