Guide to the Papers of Bryan Keon-Cohen: the Mabo case, 1981-2000 (bulk 1982-1994)

Summary

Collection number:

MS 9518

Creator:

Keon-Cohen, Bryan, Dr, AM QC

Extent:

(12 ms boxes + 14 ms cartons + 3 medium folio boxes + 1 large folio box + 1 packet)

Language:

English and English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Bryan Keon-Cohen, National Library of Australia, MS 9518, [series and volume/envelope number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Restrictions apply; please consult staff regarding access conditions.

Background

Content Summary:

The Mabo Litigation Records transferred by Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen AM QC arise from the litigation conducted in both the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High Court of Australia. They comprise a Statement of Facts by the Plaintiffs, wills, land transactions, court transcripts, exhibits, pleadings, applications, witness statements, submissions, correspondence, memoranda and research material. They have been arranged into volumes in broad chronological order. Many of the papers are in copy format, especially the research materials.

Other documents generated over the ten-year period of the litigation did not find their way into this set of materials. Pursuant to normal practice, the Judges' copies of exhibits were not released. A large quantity of other categories of material generated by various members of the Plaintiffs' team and the Defendants' team have not been included. Examples of such categories would have been cases, statutes and academic publications relevant to the Mabo Case, but readily available to the public.

In July 1996 the Library acquired some papers of Greg McIntyre. They were subsequently incorporated into the Keon-Cohen Papers at MS 9518. While the core group is in Volumes 64, 67 and 68, some McIntyre Papers may be found in other parts of the collection, for example Volume 8.

Further material relating to the Mabo case was transferred by Dr Keon-Cohen in 2015. Please consult staff regarding availability of this material.

A detailed index of documents in the numbered volumes, the Consolidated Index, was compiled by Dr Keon-Cohen and is available upon request.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The bulk of the collection was donated to the National Library by Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen AM QC in 2000. Additional papers were donated by Greg McIntyre in 1996. Dr Keon-Cohen transferred further material in 2015, and donated his Consolidated Index in 2019.

Arrangement:

The majority of the papers were arranged by Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen AM QC into a sequence of numbered volumes within series, in broad chronological order.

Conditions Governing Access:

Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn878792).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Bryan Keon-Cohen, National Library of Australia, MS 9518, [series and volume/envelope number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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