About this chapter

The chapter assesses the advocacy of The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, international human rights jurist and former justice of the High Court of Australia (1996-2009). It integrates rhetorical, stylistic and linguistic approaches to evaluate his persuasive style, drawing on qualitative and quantitative analyses. 

How Kirby finds common ground by inviting consideration of new perspectives for advocacy of law reform initiatives that honor human rights and values is outlined. Specifically illustrated are ways that he uses polemic and humor to encourage openness to new understandings, or visualizes people and events, or draws on significances in history, culture and contemporary human concerns to advocate change. 

The chapter provides detailed evaluations of Kirby’s language and delivery that illustrate his communication competence in a wide variety of communications. 

Keywords: Michael Kirby, High Court of Australia, law reform, human rights law, international law, First Nations law, multiculturalism, representative democracy, advocacy, communication for social change, rhetorical analysis, semantics, polemic, humor, stylistics, communication studies, public communication.