Hooray! Summer holidays are here! It’s time for road trips and overseas holidays, for broadening horizons (and trying local beers). Because you’ll never really be able to switch off the law part of your brain, here are a few law-themed activities to sneak into your itinerary…
At Home
For the law nerd on vacation in Australia, there’s plenty to see and do. The most obvious attraction is the High Court of Australia in Canberra – find out when court is sitting, get your friends together and make it a HCA road trip!
While you’re in Canberra, head over to the National Archives and check out the Federation Gallery to see plenty of documents from Australia’s legal history, including the document signed by Queen Victoria which enacted the Australian Constitution and founded the Commonwealth.
Über law nerds should then duck over to Parliament House to see a copy of the Magna Carta that dates back to 1297.
If you won’t be heading to the national capital this summer, check out Sydney’s Justice and Police Museum, the Old Melbourne Gaol’s crime and justice experience, or Perth’s Old Court House Law Museum. Failing that, do a tour of your nearest Supreme Court.
If you’d rather get away from it all, head to Tassie’s Gordon River and imagine what it would be like if the Tasmanian Dam Case had been decided differently.
Abroad
If you’re jetting off overseas, it’s worth trying to fit a court visit or two into your trip. The Royal Courts of Justice and the Old Bailey in London and the US Supreme Court are great places to visit. If you’re after a new court experience, sit in on a few late night matters at New York City’s Criminal Court where arraignments run until 1am every day of the year.
Lovers of international law can’t go past a tour of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, or a visit to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Because older is so often better in the law, track down one of the earlier copies of Magna Carta in the UK – many date back to 1215, 82 years older than the version owned by Australia.
If you’re keen to do something a bit different, pop over to Columbus, Ohio to see the giant gavel sculpture at the Ohio Judicial Centre, or head to Paisley, Scotland to see the site of the old Wellmeadow Café where May Donoghue ordered that snail-y ginger beer.
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