New Public Law Events for May and June 2020

Please see below for information about some new upcoming online public law events which were not included in our 1 May roundup. 

Remember, if you have an AUSPUBLAW opportunity, conference or significant public lecture that you would like included in the monthly roundup, please contact us at auspublaw@unsw.edu.au. We are very happy to publicise other web-based events - if you have any web-based events coming up in June, please let us know by 30 May for inclusion in the June roundup.

Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law Webinar Series: Public Law Responses to COVID-19
Location: Online

Over the next few months, the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law at UNSW will be running a series of webinars discussing the impact on and responses of public law to the COVID-19 pandemic. These webinars will be collaborative exercises, drawing on the expertise of members of our partner Centres, our colleagues from universities and institutes across Australia, and legal professionals, as well as Centre members, affiliates, and alumni.

The first webinar was held on 15 May, and the next two webinars are listed below. More webinar details will be released as they are finalised. Please visit our events page here for the full list of webinars.

Webinar #2: COVID-19 and Cruise Ships
Friday 29th May, 1:00 - 2:00pm (AEST)
For more information and registration, click here

Webinar #3: COVID-19 and COVIDSafe
Friday 12th June, 1:00 - 2:00pm (AEST)
For more information and registration, click here

COVID-19 and Constitutionalism in Asia: Executive Power in a Time of Crisis
Centre for Asian Legal Studies, National University of Singapore
Date: Wednesday 27 May 2020
Time: 10:00 - 11:15am (Singapore); 12:00 - 1:15pm (AEST)
Location: Online

Introducing Virtual Roundtables on Asian Law: a new online series by the Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS). This Virtual Roundtables series will bring together legal experts to share critical perspectives on topical issues on law in Asia in an online interactive format. The series aims to connect academics, public officers, members of civil society, and legal practitioners from anywhere in the world who are interested in gaining deeper knowledge of Asian approaches to various legal issues. This is the first webinar in the series.

Speakers:
Kevin Tan (National University of Singapore)
Yeh Jiunn-rong (National Taiwan University and former Minister of Education)
Melissa Crouch (University of New South Wales)
Aparna Chandra (National Law University, Delhi)

Register here.

More details about further roundtables in this series can be found here.

Love v Commonwealth: Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians?
Australian Association of Constitutional Law
Date: Wednesday 3 June 2020
Time: 5:00 - 6:30pm (AEST)
Location: Online

The Australian Association of Constitutional Law is pleased to invite you to its first nationwide free online event.

In the recent case of Love v Commonwealth, in powerful judgments reminiscent of Mabo v Queensland [No 2], four judges of the High Court declared that Indigenous Australians can never be ‘aliens’ for the purposes of s 51(xix) of the Australian Constitution. In strong dissents, three judges refused to introduce a race-based distinction into the head of power.

With political debate about a referendum largely on hold, has the High Court achieved constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians by judicial interpretation of the Australian Constitution? By adopting Brennan J’s tripartite test of indigeneity in Mabo, has the High Court inadvertently entrenched a rigid notion of what it means to be Indigenous? If the result in Love is another expression of the ‘deeper truth’ from which native title springs, are there any other expressions waiting to be uncovered? By recognising that Indigenous elders have the power to say who is and who is not Indigenous, has a majority of the High Court fractured sovereignty, or have they ruled out Indigenous sovereignty by bringing Indigenous people within the concept of ‘the people’

Speakers:

Stephen Keim SC was called to the Bar in 1985 and took silk in 2004. Stephen has a broad practice and has worked in most areas of law. He appeared for the plaintiffs in the High Court in Love v Commonwealth, and has also appeared in a number of other constitutional cases, including the recent case of Spence v Queensland.

Timothy Goodwin was called to Bar in 2014 and practices primarily in commercial and public law. He appeared for the State of Victoria intervening in Love v Commonwealth. He serves on a number of boards, including as a Board Member of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Tim is a member of the Yuin people of the South East Coast of New South Wales.

Melia Benn was called to the Bar in 2018, with previous experience as Counsel Assisting the Coroner and as a senior lawyer for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Melia is a descendant of the Mamu and Gungangji peoples, and is one of only two Indigenous women at the Queensland bar.

Dr Shireen Morris is a Teaching Associate at Monash Law School and a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Melbourne Law School. Her new book A First Nations Voice in the Australian Constitution will be published by Hart Publishing later this year. Shireen previously worked at the Cape York Institute and worked extensively on constitutional recognition issues.

Register your attendance here for access to the online event.

National Security and the Constitution
Australian Association of Constitutional Law
Date: Thursday 4 June 2020
Time: 5.30 - 7.00pm (AEST)
Venue: Online event via Microsoft Teams (kindly facilitated by the Federal Court of Australia)

Speakers:
The Hon Margaret Stone AO FAAL, Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
Dr James Renwick CSC SC, Independent National Security Legislation Monitor

AACL is delighted to welcome the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, statutory office holders with royal commission powers over national security agencies.  As they reach the end of their terms of office, they will speak about topical legal issues encountered in the course of their important independent oversight roles.  The IGIS reviews the activities of intelligence agencies including ASIO and ASIS.  Recent reviews by the INSLM have concerned encryption legislation, citizenship loss provisions, and the terrorism trials of children.

Register your attendance here. A link to the Microsoft Teams event will be emailed to registrants at a later date.