George Brandis’s parting shot in his valedictory speech to the parliament over his concern that ‘attacks upon the institutions of the law … the courts and those who practice in them … attack the rule of law itself.’ But what if those institutions themselves too often ignore or break the rule of law in the process of administering it?

The legal profession has erected safety barriers to ensure it remains in control of its self-policing practices, including legal sanctions against those who wish to investigate.