Gay activist Rodney Croome recalls sharing the back seat of a commonwealth car with Michael Kirby during an AIDS conference in Hobart in 1988, and feeling overwhelmed, by the famous judge sitting next to him.

       "But within a few seconds we were talking about Irish nationalism, German social theorist Wilhelm Reich and then ... the Russian Revolution," Croome says.  "I thought: here's a man who has the most amazing diversity of interests."  It is Kirby's willingness to discuss publicly such a broad range of topics including gay law reform, genetic engineering, information technology and education -- that has made him Australia's best-known judge, Croome says.

       He is also one of the most controversial members of the judiciary and now that South Australian Supreme Court judge Trevor Olsson has retired, Kirby has realised his dream of becoming the longest serving judge.

       Kirby's prominent public profile dates back to his days as the founding chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission in 1975. A High Court judge since 1996, at 62 he continues to dominate media coverage of judges.  His appointment to the Law Reform Commission came just months after he was sworn in as Australia's youngest federal judicial officer, as deputy president of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission in December 1974.

       In 1983 he moved to the Federal Court bench and the following year he became president of the NSW Court of Appeal, where he remained until the Keating government called him to the High Court. 

During his 27 years on the bench, Kirby, who admits to working 14-hour days, often seven days a week, has been involved in numerous international bodies including UNESCO), the Global Commission on AIDS, the International Labour Organisation and the International Commission of jurists.

       But, this impressive resumé notwithstanding, how will Kirby be remembered in his primary role -- as a judge?  Is he an indefatigable self-promoter (he is the only High Court judge with a personal website) but an average judge or will he be remembered in the same breath as great High Court judges such as Anthony Mason, Owen Dixon and Isaac Isaacs?

       The University of NSW's Gilbert and Tobin Centre for Public Law director George Williams says history has yet to judge Kirby.  "It's impossible to form any assessment now because I think you can only really assess a judge in the longer term."  If Kirby's decisions are frequently cited in future judgments, then he will be considered a great, says Williams.       

 "But, more importantly, he will be seen as the judge who has opened up the High Court to international law and human rights in a very positive way."  UNSW law professor George Winterton doubts that Kirby will reach legendary status in the pantheon of High Court judges. 

        He says Kirby argues his points well but writes long, "constipated" judgments and has the highest dissent rate of any judge in the court's history.  "For someone who is writing in dissent, you're really writing to persuade the future; if you write in [a] style that irritates, you're not going to persuade them," says Winterton.  One of Kirby's great contradictions cited by legal experts is that although he is a keen law reformer and unusual in his willingness to draw on international law to do so, his overall approach is conservative.

       "One of the things that interests me most about Kirby is the distinction on one hand that people see him almost as an unqualified activist judge -- which I think is false -- and the fact that he is quite conservative in many respects," says Williams.  "He is very traditional in many ways in how he decides cases, and a good judge for it.  He's very constrained by issues such as precedent and on that he's actually far from being a radical."

       Australian National University adjunct law professor Tony Blackshield says Kirby's desire to engage the public in thinking about the High Court and the judiciary has its roots in his time with the Law Reform Commission, where he "did a unique, outstanding, unrivalled job".

       Kirby is renowned for his love of hard work, listing work as his recreation and once described his idea of death as "sitting on a beach and drinking gin and tonic".  He has shunned the centuries-old tradition that judges should be reticent in public, expressing views on the need for an Australian bill of rights, the media and new technology, and criticising federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams for failing to stand up for the High Court when it comes under attack. 

       He caused a stir in 1999 when he declared in the pages of 'Who's Who' that he had been in a homosexual relationship since 1969 with retired newsagent Johan van Vloten.  A few months later, Kirby was again in the media spotlight after speaking about the evils of "poofter-bashing" to a group of students at Riverview, the exclusive Sydney Catholic boys school.

       This year he earned an unprecedented rebuke from John Howard after speaking out about the federal Government's increased funding for private schools.  He declined to be interviewed for this article but did say his rise to the top of the ladder of judicial longevity "is not much to celebrate: I just keep breathing".