Geoff McLay

We were all saddened this morning to learn of Mike's death from an illness that forced his retirement from Auckland Law School last year.

Mike was a prolific public law scholar with a considerable international reputation over the broad range of the subject. He had also published a book length study of the leading case on abuse of rights, Bradford v Pickles. At the time of his retirement he was working on a history of Administrative Law. The regard in which he was held was shown by the liber amicorum that was published this year and which contained essays from scholars through out the world.

In addition to his scholarship he served Auckland law school and University in a whole range of capacities, including as Dean in the 1990s. He was by all accounts a first rate teacher.

But Mike's contribution was much more than his scholarship or his role at Auckland. His enthusiasm for the law, and for discussing it, was as infectious as it was boundless. He has inspired many other New Zealand scholars to take their roles and their scholarship more seriously, and to place their work not only within a New Zealand context, but also within the common law tradition of which we are part. He will be greatly missed everywhere where people care about that tradition.

The title of his liber amicorum was, appropriately, A Simple Common Lawyer .