What do you think?
Rate this book
Law in War
A nation often amends its laws during war, not least to regulate life at home. Yet few historians have considered the impact of law on everyday lives in Australia during the Great War. In this original book, lawyer and historian Catherine Bond breathes life into the laws that were central to the way that people’s daily lives were managed in Australia 1914–18. Riveting and at times shocking, it argues that in First World War Australia, law perpetuated a form of tyranny in the name of victory in war.
Bond finds that law was used as a tool against many Australians to discriminate, oppress, censor and deprive them of property, liberty and basic human rights. This legal regime created a deep injustice that, for the most part, has remained undocumented and unacknowledged. The book examines and documents individual experiences under the law, so we meet the men who wrote the laws; a police officer who enforced the law; two men interned under the law; two women protestors who were gaoled under the law; a man imprisoned multiple times then deported; three men who were discriminated against by the law and, finally two men who benefitted from the law.
Many infamous laws were used during this period, including the War Precautions Act (and its myriad regulations) and the Unlawful Associations Act. Engaging and informative, this book holds those who wrote the laws to account, exposing the sheer breadth and impact of this wartime legal regime, some of which is still in force to this day.
Bond finds that law was used as a tool against many Australians to discriminate, oppress, censor and deprive them of property, liberty and basic human rights. This legal regime created a deep injustice that, for the most part, has remained undocumented and unacknowledged. The book examines and documents individual experiences under the law, so we meet the men who wrote the laws; a police officer who enforced the law; two men interned under the law; two women protestors who were gaoled under the law; a man imprisoned multiple times then deported; three men who were discriminated against by the law and, finally two men who benefitted from the law.
Many infamous laws were used during this period, including the War Precautions Act (and its myriad regulations) and the Unlawful Associations Act. Engaging and informative, this book holds those who wrote the laws to account, exposing the sheer breadth and impact of this wartime legal regime, some of which is still in force to this day.
272 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2020
2 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 17, 2024
Brief: ‘Law in War’ by Catherine Bond is a sobering reminder of Australia’s ugly disposition towards race relations, freedom to dissent and remains, in my mind, an affront to the standard required of the State to imprison its citizens without evidential merit during the Great War.
Between 1914 to 1918, Australia’s governing party enacted the War Precautions Act and Unlawful Associations Act which, in effect, deprived many of its citizens the common decency you would expect Members of Parliament would afford them. Indeed, the title granted by the King to the 1st Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia to adopt the title ‘Honourable’ is without substance given the lack of resistance put forth by Members of Parliament to such ill-conceived laws that sought to harm its citizens; in a manner which fails to stand the test of reason.
Without reciting the whole text, this book is a small window into Australia’s dark past which continues to have an ongoing impact on laws present today: the arrangements around Manus island are one example.
Extended: this book serves as an important record of Australia during the Great War and, in those few years, the laws in which Parliament were willing to sanction in its effort to defend Australia against its enemies. This book is separated into 8 chapters which set out each law and its application to persons in Australia. The reader can expect examples of:
• Prosecutions for crimes of selling 2 loaves of bread in a single transaction contrary to regulation, noting that had the baker sold to the same customer both loaves but in two separate transactions, he would not be in breach of the law;
• Prosecutions for owning and operating a metal company in circumstances where such metal was alleged to have been sold to Germany (an enemy of the State at the time) which were ‘used to make bullets to put holes’ in Australians.
• Prosecutions for organising protests that sought to test the legitimacy of such laws used by the Australian governing party to silence all discussion that had the effect of weakening Australia’s resolve during the war.
• Disallowance of able body men seeking to enlist because they were ‘not substantial European origin’, despite them having been born in a dominion of Britain.
• Suspension of intellectual rights so as to deprive Australia’s enemies from the benefits it would ordinarily retain in the trade of drugs (Asprin or ASPRO).
The author deploys plain but potent language to explain the operation of each repugnant law (I use repugnant in its ordinary meaning) through its application to each person. Readers who are fans of the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg will be enthralled by the efforts of Jennie Baines and Adela Pankhurst who continued to challenge Australia’s position to the war (see e.g. Pankhurst v Kiernan (1917) 24 CLR 120. It is quite remarkable that such individuals existed at the time whose intellect have undoubtedly stood the test of time. By example, Pankhurst writes that ‘I based my argument upon a statement of Blackstone… for the most precious of our constitutional rights have been vindicate by refusals to submit the unjust measures’.
Much more can be said about this book but I have made the decision to end my review with another quote ‘speech is without a doubt a striking appeal for the retention of liberty…’ (The Worker, April 1916).
Between 1914 to 1918, Australia’s governing party enacted the War Precautions Act and Unlawful Associations Act which, in effect, deprived many of its citizens the common decency you would expect Members of Parliament would afford them. Indeed, the title granted by the King to the 1st Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia to adopt the title ‘Honourable’ is without substance given the lack of resistance put forth by Members of Parliament to such ill-conceived laws that sought to harm its citizens; in a manner which fails to stand the test of reason.
Without reciting the whole text, this book is a small window into Australia’s dark past which continues to have an ongoing impact on laws present today: the arrangements around Manus island are one example.
Extended: this book serves as an important record of Australia during the Great War and, in those few years, the laws in which Parliament were willing to sanction in its effort to defend Australia against its enemies. This book is separated into 8 chapters which set out each law and its application to persons in Australia. The reader can expect examples of:
• Prosecutions for crimes of selling 2 loaves of bread in a single transaction contrary to regulation, noting that had the baker sold to the same customer both loaves but in two separate transactions, he would not be in breach of the law;
• Prosecutions for owning and operating a metal company in circumstances where such metal was alleged to have been sold to Germany (an enemy of the State at the time) which were ‘used to make bullets to put holes’ in Australians.
• Prosecutions for organising protests that sought to test the legitimacy of such laws used by the Australian governing party to silence all discussion that had the effect of weakening Australia’s resolve during the war.
• Disallowance of able body men seeking to enlist because they were ‘not substantial European origin’, despite them having been born in a dominion of Britain.
• Suspension of intellectual rights so as to deprive Australia’s enemies from the benefits it would ordinarily retain in the trade of drugs (Asprin or ASPRO).
The author deploys plain but potent language to explain the operation of each repugnant law (I use repugnant in its ordinary meaning) through its application to each person. Readers who are fans of the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg will be enthralled by the efforts of Jennie Baines and Adela Pankhurst who continued to challenge Australia’s position to the war (see e.g. Pankhurst v Kiernan (1917) 24 CLR 120. It is quite remarkable that such individuals existed at the time whose intellect have undoubtedly stood the test of time. By example, Pankhurst writes that ‘I based my argument upon a statement of Blackstone… for the most precious of our constitutional rights have been vindicate by refusals to submit the unjust measures’.
Much more can be said about this book but I have made the decision to end my review with another quote ‘speech is without a doubt a striking appeal for the retention of liberty…’ (The Worker, April 1916).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 8, 2021
During the Great War law was used in everyday life as a tool to discriminate, oppress, censor and deprive many Australians of property, liberty and basic human rights.A nation often amends its laws during war, not least to regulate life at home. Yet few historians have considered the impact of the law on Australians during the First World War. In this original book, Catherine Bond breathes life into the laws that were central to the way people were managed in Australia 1914–18.Engaging and revelatory, Law in War holds those who wrote the laws to account, exposing the sheer breadth and impact of this wartime legal regime, the injustices of which linger to this day. More than anything, it illuminates how ordinary people were caught up in – and sometimes destroyed by – these laws created in the name of victory. "The pen is mightier than the sword".A lot of lives,families,businesses and communities were impacted by the laws made by those fountain pens.
Law provides the framework upon which all wartime defence,economic and social policies and decisions are built.This was a legal revolution of a government against its people,motivated by a higher cause:victory in war.Australia may have ultimately been on the side of victory,but the trinity of war-focused legislation passed by the federal parliament during this period-the War Precautions Act,the Trading with the Enemy Act(Cth) and the Unlawful Associations Act(Cth), along with the many regulations enacted under those statutes-arguably went beyond what was necessary for wartime success.Some individuals suffered immensely whilst others also benefitted under the legal regime in force during this time.However,memories of injustice have a long shelf life.We have always believed,that in times of crisis,whether individual,national or global,the federal government will be there to support us when needed,but that it will not interfere with our lives.However,WWI and the present COVID-19 pandemic shattered our beliefs.The state was helped by its subjects:members of the public regularly reported breaches of regulations to authorities.To be a dobber was to assert one's patriotism.The law will never be done.
Law provides the framework upon which all wartime defence,economic and social policies and decisions are built.This was a legal revolution of a government against its people,motivated by a higher cause:victory in war.Australia may have ultimately been on the side of victory,but the trinity of war-focused legislation passed by the federal parliament during this period-the War Precautions Act,the Trading with the Enemy Act(Cth) and the Unlawful Associations Act(Cth), along with the many regulations enacted under those statutes-arguably went beyond what was necessary for wartime success.Some individuals suffered immensely whilst others also benefitted under the legal regime in force during this time.However,memories of injustice have a long shelf life.We have always believed,that in times of crisis,whether individual,national or global,the federal government will be there to support us when needed,but that it will not interfere with our lives.However,WWI and the present COVID-19 pandemic shattered our beliefs.The state was helped by its subjects:members of the public regularly reported breaches of regulations to authorities.To be a dobber was to assert one's patriotism.The law will never be done.
April 25, 2021
I enjoyed this book, it was enlightening to read how the law was wielded to devastating effect during World War 1 against many individuals. The use of internment camps, discrimination against those wanting to serve (and those left behind), and outlawing of prominent community groups are stories that are not commonly heard in today's glory filled rhetoric of the war.
The legacy, and particularly the precedent, of these laws is seen throughout Australia in various ways. The precedent is particularly important when you consider the use of the War to get what otherwise would've been unconscionable legislation through Parliament, allowing similar laws to remain utilised in Australia a century later.
The legacy, and particularly the precedent, of these laws is seen throughout Australia in various ways. The precedent is particularly important when you consider the use of the War to get what otherwise would've been unconscionable legislation through Parliament, allowing similar laws to remain utilised in Australia a century later.
December 2, 2020
I had heard the author speak on ABC radio and went out to buy this book. I have to say it is the best non-fiction book I’ve read all year. I had no idea about the numerous laws put in place during the War and how they impacted the country. Ms Bond humanizes these issues by presenting fascinating real life stories. If you want to know more about how Australia treated German speaking citizens? How Chinese Australians responded to the war effort? What women got up to?This is the book for you.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews