Public Law Events Roundup September 2022
Welcome to the September edition of the AUSPUBLAW Australian Public Law Events Roundup. We would firstly like to draw your attention to the following call for papers:
Call for Papers: Theology and Jurisprudence Symposium
Adelaide Law School; Australian Journal of Law and Religion
CfP closes: 1 November 2022
Symposium date: 10 February 2023
Symposium location: South AustraliaProfessor Paul Babie (University of Adelaide), Associate Professor Joshua Neoh (Australian National University), Dr Constance Lee (Central Queensland University) and Dr Alex Deagon (QUT), would like to invite law researchers to participate in a Theology and Jurisprudence Symposium at the Adelaide Law School (ALS) in South Australia on 10 February 2023.
This symposium will focus on the relationship between theology and jurisprudence. Jurisprudence often functionally promotes an atheistic understanding of “law.” However, foundational to many theories of law is some kind of theology.
We invite papers that consider the prevailing theological assumptions of diverse legal theories, the different streams of jurisprudence from a theological perspective, how theology often tends to define and undergird theories of law, and papers on any other issues which engage with theology and jurisprudence. Papers should be completed or at a work-in-progress stage suitable for distribution to other participants by February 1 and should not be published or currently under consideration elsewhere. Presenters will have 20 mins to present their paper with time for comments and questions.
Authors of accepted papers will have the opportunity to present them at the Symposium to be held at the Adelaide Law School. Selected papers may also be considered for publication in a Special Issue of the Australian Journal of Law and Religion (co-edited by Dr Alex Deagon).
Please send your paper proposal (up to 200 words) and a brief biography to Dr Constance Lee by email. The deadline for submissions is 1 November 2022.
For more information, click here.
Remember, if you have an AUSPUBLAW opportunity, conference or significant public lecture that you would like included in this roundup, please contact us at auspublaw@unsw.edu.au. The roundup is published once a month on the first business day of the month, so please let us know in time for that deadline. We are grateful to Kelly Yoon for compiling this roundup.
Reforming Global Governance to Manage the Pandemics of the Future
Melbourne Law School
Date: 1 September 2022
Time: 6:00-7:15pm (AEST)
Location: Law G08, Law Building (106), Melbourne Law SchoolMiegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellowship Lecture
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed flaws in the legal and institutional frameworks for preventing and responding to the spread of diseases. COVID-19 has tested many fields of international law and policy from health, human rights and trade, to transport and financial stability. The COVID-19 disruption has generated discussions about the need for stronger legal tools for pandemic prevention and containment, including through the World Health Organization (WHO). It has led us to rethink how life-saving medical interventions including vaccines are developed, manufactured and allocated. The pandemic’s impact has demonstrated the need to develop global mechanisms to guarantee financing for critical public health and medical interventions.
This lecture provides a unique opportunity to hear from one of the world’s leading global health law experts on the crucial issues that must be addressed at the international level.Presenter: Adjunct Professor Gian Luca Burci, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Professor Sharon Lewin (Director, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity) and Professor Alison Duxbury (Deputy Dean, Melbourne Law School) will act as discussants.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Brennan Justice Talks: Modern Slavery
University of Technology Faculty of Law
Date: 1 September 2022
Time: 6:00-7:00pm (AEST)
Location: OnlineIn this Brennan Justice Talks event, Professor Jennifer Burn will define modern slavery and provide information about its occurrence in Australia. She will discuss the work of Anti-Slavery Australia (ASA) – a unique legal service at UTS which provides legal advice and representation for people affected by modern slavery. ASA also advocates for changes to laws and policies to improve the protection of the rights of people who have been trafficked. Professor Burn will also outline the legal provisions which seek to address modern slavery in Australia and current issues such as reparations. A number of Brennan students have volunteered for ASA and Professor Burn will highlight some opportunities in this area.
This event is open to UTS Law alumni, UTS Law staff, Anti-Slavery Australia and UTS community members.
For more information, and to register, click here.
CCCS Global Public Law Seminar Series: Australian Capital Television v Commonwealth: 30 Years of the Implied Freedom of Political Communication
Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, Melbourne Law School
Date: 12 September 2022
Time: 5:30-7:00pm (AEST)
Location: Online2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the Australian High Court’s judgment in Australian Capital Television v Commonwealth, the first case in which a majority of the High Court recognised the constitutional freedom of political communication. Its recognition was, from the beginning, a matter of some controversy. In the 30 years since, the implied freedom has become one of the most litigated aspects of Australian constitutional law and has been applied in contexts as diverse as political protest, defamation law and electoral funding. Nonetheless, the implied freedom remains controversial and disagreement persists as to the legitimacy of the implication and its nature and content.
In this seminar, our panellists will critically reflect upon the development of the constitutional freedom over the last 30 years and share their thoughts in relation to its future. The panel will consist of barrister Kathleen Foley SC, Professor Dan Meagher (Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University) and Professor Adrienne Stone (Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne). Professor Michael Crommelin AO (Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne) will chair the event.
This webinar will be recorded.
For more information, and to register, click here.
In Conversation with Alison Whittaker
Indigenous Law and Justice Hub, Melbourne Law School
Date: 13 September 2022
Time: 5:30-7:00pm (AEST)
Location: Law G08, Law Building (106), Melbourne Law SchoolThe Indigenous Law and Justice Hub is excited to bring you a night of black excellence as we hear from Gomeroi women Alison Whittaker (Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, University of Technology Sydney) as she yarns with Dr Eddie Cubillo (Director, Indigenous Law and Justice Hub) as part of the White Noise of settler law justice talks.
On the Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, Alison will share her experiences as a blackfella navigating the academic institution as Indigenous voices continue to work to build a greater discourse and presence of black voices within white settler legal teachings. We will discuss Alison’s recent academic works on making Black stories matter in media, the opacity of Australian Prisons and deaths in custody.
Please note the pre-lecture drinks will be hosted at 5:30pm, with the lecture to commence at 6:00pm.
For more information, and to register, click here.
JSI Seminar: Children, Families, and Immigration Enforcement
Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, Sydney Law School
Date: 15 September 2022
Time: 6:00-7:30pm (AEST)
Location: Online or In-person at Sydney Law School, Law Lounge, Level 1, New Law Building Annex (F10A)What might otherwise seem like straight-forward instances of immigration enforcement can give rise to both practical and moral complications when the objects of the enforcement measures are children and/or have close family ties to citizens or legal permanent residents. In the case of children, we may doubt whether they can be held morally responsible for immigration violations and may also face complicated questions about the best interest of the children.
When an otherwise removable non-citizen has close family ties to a citizen or permanent resident, we may worry that removal will both impose disproportionate harms on the one removed and will also cause unacceptable harms on, and violate the rights of, citizens or permanent residents.
In this paper, Matthew Lister will try to isolate the issues, both practical and moral, and look at what sorts of limits they place on otherwise acceptable instances of immigration enforcement.
Speaker: Matthew Lister, Associate Professor, Bond University
For more information, and to register, click here.
The Palmer Act: The Rule of Law Under State Constitutions
Australian Academy of Law; Australian Association of Constitutional Law (WA Chapter)
Date: 15 September 2022
Time: 5:00pm (AWST)
Location: OnlineThe Australian Academy of Law and Australian Association of Constitutional Law (WA Chapter) are delighted to host this event, chaired by Professor Sarah Murray.
Dr Murray Wesson and Dr Paul Burgess will discuss the broad theoretical basis of what the rule of law is, the status of the rule of law in Australian constitutional law; how the rule of law featured in the submissions in Palmer v The State of Western Australia [2021] HCA 31 and Mineralogy v The State of Western Australia [2021] HCA 30; and how these issues were ultimately resolved by the High Court.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Expendable Australians
University of New South Wales x Festival of Dangerous Ideas
Date: 17 September 2022
Time: 4:00-5:00pm (AEST)
Location: Carriageworks, SydneyWhat is an Australian passport worth? Australians abroad have found themselves in harm’s way in recent years. As COVID slammed the doors of Australia shut and authoritarian regimes acquired the nasty habit of turning Australians into political prisoners, the world became a more dangerous place. With global crises proliferating, where is it too dangerous to go? If an Australian passport does not protect you, what are you owed by your government?
Chair: Peter Greste, journalist, author, media freedom activist and Professor at Macquarie University
Speakers:
- Ian Kemish AM, former Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea and Ambassador to Germany
- Kylie Moore-Gilbert, scholar of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
- Dr Sangeetha Pillai, Senior Research Associate, Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, University of New South Wales
There is a fee for this event.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Constitutional Avoidance: The High Court's Prudential Approach to Resolving Constitutional Questions
Australian Association of Constitutional Law (WA Chapter)
Date: 20 September 2022
Time: 5:00pm (AWST)
Location: Francis Burt Chambers, Level 25 Allendale Square, 77 St George’s TceDespite having a self-proclaimed duty to enforce the Constitution, the High Court adopts a variety of tools which can result in it avoiding the resolution of constitutional questions. One way this can occur is by only deciding constitutional questions when they are ‘necessary to do justice in the given case and to determine the rights of the parties’. Although this practice has been followed since the Court’s earliest days, it was only recently labelled the ‘prudential approach to resolving constitutional questions’ last year by the plurality in Mineralogy v Western Australia. This seminar seeks to explain when the prudential approach applies and why the High Court adopts the practice. It will further analyse the Kiefel Court’s recent prudential approach jurisprudence, arguing that the Court’s application of the practice would benefit from greater clarity and consistency.
The WA Chapter of the Australian Association of Constitutional Law are pleased to invite you to this seminar with Tristan Taylor and Chaired by Matthew Howard SC.
Tristan Taylor is the Research Associate to the Solicitor-General of Western Australia. In this role, he primarily assists the Solicitor-General in High Court constitutional litigation on behalf of the State and the Attorney General. He is also a final year Juris Doctor student at the University of Western Australia, where he has received various awards and prizes. Next year he will work as a tipstaff to Justice Leeming of the New South Wales Court of Appeal. He has also authored and co-authored academic papers and articles, primarily in the field of constitutional law.
As this is an in-person only event please register to attend by emailing Varun Ghosh at vghosh@francisburt.com.au.
Book Launch: A Pandemic of Populists
Sydney Law School
Date: 20 September 2022
Time: 6:00-7:30pm (AEST)
Location: The University of Sydney, Camperdown CampusThe University of Sydney Law School is delighted to invite you to the launch of A Pandemic of Populists by Professor Wojciech Sadurski, Challis Chair in Jurisprudence, Sydney Law School.
The book will be launched by Professor Simon Bronitt, Dean of Sydney Law School, followed by in-conversation discussion with the author and Nicole Abadee, an alumna of the Law School.
Over the last decade, the world has watched in shock as populists swept to power in free elections. From Manila to Warsaw, Brasilia to Budapest, the populist tide has shattered illusions of an inexorable march to liberal democracy. Eschewing simplistic notions of a unified global populism, this book unpacks the diversity and plurality of populisms.
The book highlights the variety of constitutional and extraconstitutional strategies that populists have used to undermine the institutional fabric of liberal democracy and investigates how ruling populists responded to the Covid-19 crisis. Outlining the rise of populisms and their governing styles, Wojciech Sadurski focuses on what populists in power do, rather than what they say. Confronting one of the most pressing concerns of international politics, this book offers a vibrant, contemporary account of modern populisms and, significantly, considers what we can do to fight back.
This is an in-person event. The event will be followed by a cocktail reception.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Aboriginality and Alienage: Legal Pluralism at the Australian Border
Australian Centre, Melbourne Law School
Date: 21 September 2022
Time: 12:00-1:00pm (AEST)
Location: OnlineThis webinar is the sixth in the Australian Centre’s 2022 Critical Public Conversations series: Undoing Australia.
The possibility of constitutionalised Indigenous-settler legal pluralism was raised in the Australian High Court in the case of Love-Thoms (2020). In this case, the Court accepted that an ‘Aboriginal Australian’, even if a non-citizen, could not be an ‘alien’ and so could not be placed in immigration detention or deported from Australia. In federal court cases applying Love-Thoms, (and in the 2022 discontinued Montgomery proceedings in the High Court), judges have been asked in essence to decide whether it is ‘traditional law and custom’ that makes a person an Aboriginal Australian, and if so, whether Indigenous law can confer Aboriginality on persons who are not (or cannot show) that they are the biological descendants of Aboriginal ancestors.
What should we make of claims about ‘uncertainty’ and ‘difficulty’ in a legally plural settler-colonial state? Why is ‘sovereignty’ still, after all these years, operating as a dead weight on judicial recognition of legal pluralism in Australia?
In this presentation Professor Kirsty Gover will attempt a reframing of the problem, and propose a way forward, building in part on a joint research project underway with Mary Spiers Williams (ANU) and on work done with colleagues at the Melbourne Law School Indigenous Law and Justice Hub in support of Indigenous intervenors in Montgomery.
For more information, and to register, click here.
11th Austin Asche Oration in Law and Governance
Australian Academy of Law; Charles Darwin University
Date: 22 September 2022
Time: 5:00-7:00pm (ACST)
Location: Online or In-person at Grand Ballroom, Hilton Darwin, 32 Mitchell Street, Darwin NTExecutive discretion in a time of COVID-19 - promoting, protecting and fulfilling human rights in the contemporary public health context. This oration explores the democratic challenges of emergency decision-making and the lessons that may be learned to ensure the rule of law is respected. It considers how human rights principles can inform decision-making, especially in times of crisis.
Speaker: Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FRSA FACLM (Hon) FAAL TEP, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission
For more information, and to register, click here.
Better Policy and Evaluation through Centring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Procedure and Research Section, Australian Senate
Date: 23 September 2022
Time: 12:15-1:15pm (AEST)
Location: Online or In-person in the Main Committee Room, Australian Parliament House, CanberraPolicy and evaluation aimed at improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will fall short if Indigenous people are not centred in the very work that matters to them most.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, governments, non-government, and business sectors are negotiating new ways of working against a history of oppression and exclusion. Changing mindsets, new architecture, and firmer accountabilities hold promise for tackling policy problems in new and real ways.
In this Senate lecture, Romlie Mokak—the Productivity Commission’s first Indigenous Commissioner, will explore these issues by drawing on his current role and almost 30 years of work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy and programs.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Without Fear or Favour: Responses to the ALRC Report on Judicial Impartiality
Australian Law Reform Commission
Date: 29 September 2022
Time: 12:00-1:30pm (AEST)
Location: Online or In-person in BrisbaneHear responses from the Government, the bench, the profession and academia to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Final Report, Without Fear or Favour: Judicial Impartiality and the Law on Bias.
Chair: The Hon Justice Sarah Derrington AM, Federal Court of Australia and President of the Australian Law Reform Commission
Keynote Speaker: The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP, Attorney-General of Australia
Panel Moderator: Sarah Fulton, Principal Legal Officer (A/g), Australian Law Reform Commission
Panellists:
- The Hon Robert French AC, former Chief Justice of Australia, High Court of Australia
- Professor Gabrielle Appleby, Director, The Judiciary Project, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, University of New South Wales
- Mr Anthony McAvoy SC, Barrister, Frederick Jordan Chambers
Submit questions to the panel: impartiality@alrc.gov.au
For more information, and to register, click here.
In Conversation with Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of NSW
Sydney Law School
Date: 5 October 2022
Time: 6:00-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Lecture Theatre 101, level 1, New Law Building F10A, Campderdown CampusJoin us for this special ‘in conversation’ event with University of Sydney Law School alumnae Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of NSW, and Nicole Abadee.
Her Excellency will reflect on her Law School experience, and successful career at the Bar and as a judge of both the Federal Court of Australia and the NSW Court of Appeal, during which time she served as a role model for women in law at both the State and national level. She will also discuss her current role as Governor of New South Wales and share her thoughts and advice for the next generation of lawyers.
The Distinguished Alumni Series is an occasional program of talks featuring eminent graduates of the Law School.
This is an in-person event. The event will be followed by a cocktail reception.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Religious Freedom, Religious Discrimination and the Role of Law
Bar Association of Queensland; University of Queensland; Supreme Court Library
Date: 13 October 2022
Time: 5:15-6:45pm (AEST)
Location: Banco Court, Level 3, Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law, 415 George Street, BrisbaneReligious freedom and freedom from discrimination on the basis of religion are well-established rights in international law and many jurisdictions have a substantial case-law that examine both of these rights, including the tensions between them. While some limited forms of these rights are protected in the constitution, to date there has been relatively limited case law in Australia. With the development of statutory bills of rights and increased social tensions between secular and religious Australians, however, the law is increasingly being asked to step into conflicts that involve religion. What can we learn from the Australian case law to date and from other similar jurisdictions that can help Australian courts and legal policymakers with the complex issues that arise in this realm?
Chair: The Hon Justice Sarah Derrington AM, Federal Court of Australia and President of the Australian Law Reform Commission
Presenter: Professor Carolyn Evans, Vice-Chancellor and President, Griffith University
Commentator: Professor Patrick Parkinson AM, University of Queensland
For more information, and to register, click here.
Climate Change, Migration and Displacement: Finding New Solutions in Old Places
University of Tasmania Faculty of Law
Date: 18 October 2022
Time: 5:30-6:30pm (AEDT)
Location: Online or In-person at Harvard Room, University of Tasmania Sandy Bay CampusThis lecture is part of a three-part lecture series on 'Moving the Law: Contemporary Legal Advocacy and Social Change' by UTAS Faculty of Law & TULS.
Climate change, disasters and environmental degradation are among the leading drivers of human mobility worldwide, and predicted to increase. Effective laws and policies are critical to ensuring that those who move can access protection and have their rights guaranteed. Yet, international law provides no comprehensive framework to address this issue. In this lecture, Tamara Wood and Patrick O'Connor will discuss the opportunities and challenges for addressing climate mobility under existing international, regional and national laws. They will explore the potential and limitations of refugee protection and resettlement programs, and discuss current initiatives by governments in the Asia-Pacific and beyond to develop new solutions to climate mobility.
For more information, and to register, click here.
2022 Hal Wootten Lecture
University of New South Wales
Date: 24 November 2022
Time: 6:30-7:30pm (AEDT)
Location: Law Theatre, G04, UNSW SydneyA nudge in the right direction: In 2008, Hal Wootten spoke of his belief that “every now and then there is the opportunity to give a little nudge that sends the law along the direction it ought to go”.
In the 2022 Hal Wootten Lecture, Chief Justice Kiefel discusses landmark cases that have shaped Australian common law, tracing the development of legal principles arising from those cases and highlighting how these cases are the culmination of past judicial “nudges” in the right direction.
The Hal Wootten Lecture was established in 2006 by UNSW Law & Justice in honour of founding Dean, the late Emeritus Professor Hal Wootten. This lecture is a highlight of the Faculty's year and commemorates Hal Wootten's founding vision for the Faculty.
Following the lecture, there will be an opportunity for networking and refreshments.
Registration for this event is essential.
For more information, and to register, click here.
2023 Constitutional Law Conference
Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, University of New South Wales Law & Justice
Date: 10 February 2023
Time: 8:45am-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: OnlineThe virtual conference will feature discussions of important developments in the High Court, Federal Court and state courts and provide an overview of the key public law debates in 2022. The conference will include papers on the separation of powers, the implied freedom of political communication, privacy, protective detention, discrimination law, inconsistency between state and federal legislation, and government powers with respect to citizenship, alienage and deportation.
The conference will be addressed and attended by leading judges, academics, barristers and government lawyers, and include multiple opportunities for informal interaction both via Zoom break-out rooms and post-conference, in-person drinks in most major cities.
Session 1: The High Court on Constitutional Law in the 2022 term
Session 2: The State and Federal Courts on Constitutional Law in the 2022 term
Session 3: Rights, Freedoms and Chapter III
Session 4: Citizenship, Alienage and Deportation
Session 5: The Evolution of Public Law
There is a fee for this event. Academics and NGO lawyers will receive a 50% discount when using code ACADEMIC50 at checkout. If you are experiencing financial hardship and unable to purchase a ticket please contact gtcentre@unsw.edu.au.
For more information, and to register, click here.