Ian Charles Fowell Spry, QC (1942–2018) was a Melbourne

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

, legal author and academic. He was the author of ''Equitable Remedies'', a legal text on the law of

equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

which is used as a reference work in

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

jurisdictions around the World. Sir

Owen Dixon Sir Owen Dixon (28 April 1886 – 7 July 1972) was an Australian judge and diplomat who served as the sixth Chief Justice of Australia. A judge of the High Court for thirty-five years, Dixon was one of the leading jurists in the English-s ...

, former Chief Justice of the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

, described the first edition (1971) as "the best legal book to have come out of Australia." It is a more opinionated book than one usually finds in law, in which Spry makes some pointed criticisms of the famous English and Australian equity judges of the past and present, including the

. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws by the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

for this work, which has been considered to be the standard Australian text on its subject. In the 1970s, Spry was a Reader in Law at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

. He was also the founder editor of the Australian quarterly journal the '' National Observer'' from 1988 to 2005. The journal ceased publication in its print edition in 2009 and online in 2012. Spry was the son of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Sir Charles Chambers Fowell Spry,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, DSO (26 June 1910 – 28 May 1994) who, from 1950 to 1970, was the second Director-General of Security, the head of the

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is Australia's national security agency responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically motivated vio ...

(ASIO). In his personal life, Spry was a litigant in the High Court decision of ''Kennon v Spry''. This was a landmark case that Spry lost to his ex-wife in a dispute involving family trusts. Following this event, some controversial letters were circulated criticizing the judges who made the decision, in which Spry appeared to accuse them of bias or incompetence.

References

20th-century Australian lawyers Australian family law 1942 births 2018 deaths Australian King's Counsel 21st-century Australian lawyers {{Australia-law-stub