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Louis Waller chair inaugural lecture

31 August 2005 

Professor Bernadette McSherry, Monash Law School associate dean (research) and holder of the Louis Waller Chair of Law, has presented the chair's inaugural lecture.

Professor McSherry (left) with Professor Waller.

The chair was created at the start of this year, and Professor McSherry was appointed to the position, named in honour of Emeritus Professor Louis Waller.

Professor Waller has been a professor at the Monash Law School since 1965 and continues to teach as an honorary lecturer. He was dean of the faculty from 1968 to 1970 and was the longest serving professor in the Faculty of Law when he retired from the Sir Leo Cussen Chair of Law in 2000.

The title of Professor McSherry's lecture, 'Sex, drugs and evil souls: is preventive detention justifiable?', reflects her interest in an area she has researched extensively and is passionate about.

Preventive detention enables certain individuals to be detained for the perceived protection of the community, even when they have not committed a crime. These include people with mental illnesses or infectious diseases and the detention of certain 'dangerous prisoners' after the expiry of their sentence.

Professor McSherry discussed the controversial policies underlying preventive detention and asked whether such detention could ever be justified.

She said it was an enormous honour and pleasure to present the lecture. "I can't thank Louis enough for the mentorship he has provided and for being such a good role model," she said.

Professor Waller said Professor McSherry made a deep impression on everyone who met her, heard her speak or read what she had written.

"During her time at Monash, Bernadette has made an outstanding contribution to teaching, research and community service," Professor Waller said.

"These are the three principal responsibilities of a university, and Bernadette has excelled in all of them."