Public Law Events Roundup November 2022
Welcome to the November edition of the AUSPUBLAW Australian Public Law Events Roundup. We would firstly like to draw your attention to the following opportunities:
Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy Essay Competition
Australasian Society of Legal Philosophy
Competition closes: 31 December 2022The ASLP Essay Competition is designed to encourage original research and writing in legal theory and philosophy of law by early career scholars around the world. The author of the winning essay will receive a cash prize of AU$1,000, plus a contribution of up to AU$500 towards the cost of attendance at the Society’s annual conference to present the essay as a paper.
The competition is open to students currently enrolled in a postgraduate degree program (Master or Doctoral) in any discipline. Graduates in one discipline reading for a first degree in a different discipline (such as a Juris Doctor) are not eligible.
Submissions may be on any topic in legal theory or the philosophy of law. Essays must be in English and not exceed 15,000 words (including notes, references, headings, etc).
It is a condition of being awarded the ASLP Essay Prize that the winning essay be submitted for publication in the next issue of the Journal of Legal Philosophy. Note that the essay will still need to go through the review process and that publication is not guaranteed.
The deadline for the 2022 Competition is 31 December 2022. Please submit your entry here. Please send any enquiries about the Competition to the ASLP President, Dr Kevin Walton.
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.
ANU Law and Philosophy Forum - ‘The Nature of Evil’: Nick McBride
Network for Law and Human Rights, Western Sydney University; Whitlam Institute
Date: 1 November 2022
Time: 6:00-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: OnlineThe ANU Law & Philosophy Forum is delighted to announce its final meeting in 2022: Nick McBride (Cambridge University) will present his paper on The Nature of Evil. This paper criticises existing definitions of evil and offers a (relatively) novel definition of evil that better fits the way we think about what is and is not evil, and also accounts for the repulsiveness of evil. After reflecting on how we can classify evildoers, and the characteristic targets of evil, it concludes by setting out the ways in which evil places limits on (a) what respect for the rule of law demands; (b) the validity of laws; and (c) how much law can do to eradicate evil. The argument about the nature of evil set out in this paper is intended to comprise the first half of a book which Nick McBride hopes to work on, entitled Deliver Us From Evil: Essays on the Limits of Law.
A copy of the paper is accessible here.
For more information, and to register, click here.
2022 AIAL National Lecture Series - The Future of Administrative Law: Tribunals
Australian Institute of Administrative Law
Date: 2 November 2022
Time: 5:30-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: OnlineThis is the second Lecture in the 2022 AIAL National Lecture Series held by the Australian Institute of Administrative Law on the broad theme of the future of administrative law. This Lecture will be presented by Emerita Professor Robin Creyke, AO.
Robin was a long-term academic, a member of several tribunals, and of organisations designed to ensure government accountability. She co-authored a foundation law text, Laying down the Law (11th edn), and an administrative law text, Control of Government Action (6th edn), as well military law texts, Veterans’ Entitlements and Military Compensation Law (3rd edn), and Military Law in Australia. A specialist in dispute resolution by tribunals, she has also authored numerous articles and other material on tribunals and government and administrative law in general.
Robin was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2018, is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law (FAAL), and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the ANU in 2022.
For more information, and to register, click here.
In Conversation with Jon Faine: Mark Dreyfus KC
Monash University Faculty of Law
Date: 3 November 2022
Time: 6:00-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Online or In-person at Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 3000The Honourable Mark Dreyfus KC MP is Attorney-General of Australia.
Mark Dreyfus has had a high profile since the Albanese government swept to power this year. One of his first acts as Attorney-General was to discontinue the criminal prosecution of Bernard Collaery, lawyer for Witness K. He is also playing a major role in the establishment of a federal anti-corruption commission, delivering on a key Labor election promise.
Dreyfus has been in the public eye for many years, having served in the Gillard and Rudd governments, and as Shadow Attorney-General while in opposition.
Dreyfus has had a storied career in the law. Before going into politics he worked for two decades as a barrister. He’s worked on defamation actions, land rights, major free speech cases, compensation for members of the stolen generations, and fighting whaling in the Antarctic.
Join Mark Dreyfus in conversation with Jon Faine as they discuss major cases and moments of a life in the law.
For more information, and to register, click here.
CCCS Global Public Law Seminar Series: Proportionality, Facts and Public Law Adjudication
Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, University of Melbourne
Date: 7 November 2022
Time: 5:30-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: OnlineStructured proportionality analysis plays an increasingly central role in constitutional adjudication both in Australia and abroad. Proportionality analysis is used by courts to decide whether a law or action that limits constitutionally protected rights is nonetheless permissible. The application of structured proportionality creates new challenges for courts as judges must necessarily rely on certain empirical propositions about the world, that is on facts.
Dr Anne Carter’s book Proportionality and Facts in Constitutional Adjudication analyses how issues of fact arise at each of the three stages of structured proportionality, and how the nature and assessment of facts in constitutional adjudication differs from that in ordinary litigation. It draws on comparative experience from Australia, Germany, Canada and South Africa to show how the assessment of facts is critical to understanding proportionality.
To mark the launch of this book the CCCS Global Public Law Seminar Series will host a panel discussion of proportionality and facts in constitutional adjudication. The Honourable Pamela Tate KC will formally launch the book, and will be joined by panellists Joe Tomlinson, Niels Petersen, Cora Chan and Anne Carter to discuss the book and its contribution to debates about the role of facts in public law, questions of deference and expertise, as well as comparative perspectives on proportionality.For more information, and to register, click here.
Wingarra Djuraliyin (Growth in Thinking): Public Lecture on Indigenous Peoples and Law
Sydney Law School
Date: 8 November 2022
Time: 6:00-7:30pm (AEDT)
Location: Law Foyer, Level 2, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney (Camperdown Campus)Sydney Law School is proud to host the annual Wingarra Djuraliyin public lecture, which showcases Indigenous perspectives on law.
In 2022, the lecture will be delivered by Dr Anne Poelina and Marlikka Perdristat on the topic of ‘First Law: A Climate Chance’. Introductory remarks will be made by by First Nations Lawyer in Residence, Teela Reid.
First Law: A Climate Chance
We share our ancient philosophical framework, how we continue to enshrine our lifeways and livelihoods in the First Laws. We believe human and non-human beings have an equal right to life.
The meaning of life is grounded in the interdependent relationship between all things. There are benefits from promoting earth-centered governance where relationships are inclusive of our nonhuman kin. This balance and harmony with our living cultural landscapes grounds the philosophical framework of values, ethics, and belief that the Law is in the Land, not in Man.
We believe we can share and dream together so we can better understand how we, as human beings, can once again start to live in harmony with each other and with everything around us. We need to dream a new reality and defend our amazing planet, Mother Earth, and life itself from climate chaos and destruction. Otherwise, Mother Earth will be lonely without the vibrations of human beings!
For more information, and to register, click here.
In Conversation with Suzie Miller and Andrea Durbach
University of New South Wales Law & Justice
Date: 10 November 2022
Time: 6:30-8:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Esme Timbery Creative Practice Lab, UNSW Kensington Campus, Sydney NSW 2041The School of the Arts and Media and Law & Justice, UNSW are delighted to co-host a celebration of the work of Suzie Miller, an alumna of UNSW with degrees in law, theatre and film. This special in-conversation event will include readings from her play and celebrate Suzie’s extraordinary career and commitment to the arts and human rights from her early work as a human rights lawyer in Sydney to her success on London’s West End and with her new play, RBG: Of Many, One premiering with the Sydney Theatre Company in late October.
Suzie Miller is a contemporary international playwright, librettist and screenwriter drawn to complex human stories often exploring injustice and rights in contemporary society. Suzie has won or been shortlisted for a number of Australian Writers’ Guild Awards, and Premier’s awards and won the Kit Denton Fellowship for Writing with Courage in 2008.
Suzie will be in conversation with Andrea Durbach, Emeritus Professor and former Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute (formerly Centre) at UNSW from 2004-2017.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Enshrining a First Nations Voice in the Australian Constitution
University of Melbourne
Date: 14 November 2022
Time: 6:30-8:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Melbourne Town Hall, 90-130 Swanston Street, Melbourne 3000The University of Melbourne and the City of Melbourne are proud to partner with the Sydney Peace Foundation to celebrate the awarding of the prestigious Sydney Peace Prize to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Please join us to hear from Alyawarre woman Pat Anderson AO, Cobble Cobble woman Professor Megan Davis, and Guugu Yimidhirr man Noel Pearson, who worked tirelessly with the community to deliver the Uluru Statement from the Heart in May 2017. With a referendum on the Voice due before the next federal election, this event is an opportunity to learn more about the Statement’s call to build a better future by establishing a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution, and a Makarrata Commission for the purpose of treaty making and truth-telling.
The evening will include:
- A keynote address from Professor Megan Davis
- A panel discussion with Pat Anderson AO, Noel Pearson and Professor Megan Davis facilitated by broadcaster Jon Faine AM
- Music from University of Melbourne Indigenous musicians Jonathan Watling and Shauntai Batzke
For more information, and to register, click here.
Kaldor Centre Conference 2022 - Turning Points: New Directions in Refugee Protection
Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, University of New South Wales
Dates: 15-18 November 2022
Location: Online or In-person at UNSW SydneyPower shifts are under way from Kyiv to Kigali, Canberra to Canada, Washington to Wellington. How will these changing global dynamics reshape refugee law and the lives of people seeking safety? Are longstanding principles of international law being reaffirmed, or are new forms of protection and assistance emerging?
The 2022 Kaldor Centre Conference will bring together experts from around the world to shed light on recent developments and analyse what they mean for the future of international protection.
Will the welcome for refugees from Ukraine last, and how will it impact people seeking safety from other conflicts? How has COVID-19 transformed resettlement, humanitarian assistance and the lives of those already living in precarious situations? Can we create a more constructive public discourse about people seeking asylum? Will externalised refugee processes spread and elude accountability? How will today’s refugee ‘participation revolution’ influence decision-making tomorrow?
Evidence, experience and innovation are more important than ever. At this moment of change, invigorate your thinking at the 2022 Kaldor Centre Conference.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Annual Tax Lecture - Vagueness in Tax Law
The Tax Group, University of Melbourne
Date: 15 November 2022
Time: 5:00-7:30pm (AEDT)
Location: Law G08, Law Building (106), University of MelbourneThe Taxation Law and Policy Program of the Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law (MCCL), Melbourne Law School, is proud to host its 17th Annual Tax Lecture delivered by Emeritus Professor Judith Freedman (University of Oxford) with The Hon Kenneth Hayne AC KC (Former Justice of the High Court of Australia) as discussant.
Tax law may be thought to an area where precision is of the utmost importance. A taxpayer must know with certainty what their liability is. There is an obvious need for precision in tax rates, for example. Nevertheless, tax law employs many indeterminate concepts. Is that an inevitable result of the difficulties of drafting, or problems with the underlying policy, or can vagueness be a valuable design technique which should be embraced, sometimes at least, when drafting tax legislation? Drawing particularly on the work of Professor Timothy Endicott, this paper argues that vagueness has value in tax law as in other areas and that, properly utilised and coupled with appropriate safeguards, it does not need to result in a deficit in the rule of law.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Ninian Stephen Law Program Oration: Harnessing Technology to Advance Gender Equality
Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics, University of Melbourne
Date: 15 November 2022
Time: 5:30-7:30pm (AEDT)
Location: Melbourne Connect, 700 Swanston Street, CarltonThe Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics (CAIDE) warmly invites you to the second Oration of the Ninian Stephen Law Program: New Legal Thinking for Emerging Technologies.
This program is a four-year initiative at the University of Melbourne, proudly supported by the Menzies Foundation.
We will be joined by Orator, Dr Ramona Vijeyarasa, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney and winner of the Women in Artificial Intelligence in Law Award 2022.
Ramona will be discussing how we can harness technology to advance gender equality. This talk will be chaired by Professor Cheryl Saunders, from the Constitution Transformation Network at Melbourne Law School.
There will be a canapés and beverage service after the oration and a chance for you to network informally.
For more information, and to register, click here.
2022 Susan Campbell Oration: Fostering Fairness Fighters
Monash University Faculty of Law
Date: 15 November 2022
Time: 5:30-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Online or In-person at Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 3000The Ombudsman exists to redress the imbalance of power between individual and state – a fundamentally unfair relationship.
As Monash alumna, and proud beneficiary of the clinical legal education program, Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass will reflect on fairness, the role of her office in ensuring it and the contributions of countless student interns and young lawyers.
Since 2014, Monash Law has honoured Susan's memory by hosting the Susan Campbell Oration, a series of public lectures by leading clinical legal education scholars.
In delivering the Susan Campbell Oration, scholars have spoken on issues relating to extending the reach and impact of clinical programs, enabling experiential education to achieve its great potential.
For more information, and to register, click here.
The Power to Go to War
Centre for International and Public Law, Australian National University
Date: 16 November 2022
Time: 1:00-2:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Phillipa Weeks Staff Library, ANU College of LawThe Minister for Defence has referred to the parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Trade and Defence the question how Australia makes decisions to send service personnel into international armed conflict. The decision to go to war is arguably the most important decision any government can make. Yet it is the least regulated of any government decision. We have all observed the many hours of parliamentary debate and back room negotiation on controversial legislation. Yet the Prime Minister alone can decide to send Australian service personnel into international armed conflicts. How can this be? Is this consistent with our democracy? How do similar countries deal with the decision to go to the war? What are the alternatives? These are some of the issues to be explored.
Speaker: Ernst Willheim, Honorary Professor, ANU College of Law
For more information, and to register, click here.
How Can Artificial Intelligence Combat Disinformation?
Monash University Faculty of Law
Date: 16 November 2022
Time: 6:00-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Online or In-person at Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 3000This event is part of an ongoing collaboration between Monash Law and Monash IT focusing on Ethics in AI.
Social media use has given rise to many public policy concerns about so-called ‘fake news’: unwitting misinformation and deliberate disinformation.
In this Changemakers event, we explore the different multidisciplinary challenges this presents, and some solutions being deployed. With 6 expert speakers from a variety of backgrounds, we explore fundamental questions in how Artificial Intelligence, digital technology more broadly and law and public policy can regulate disinformation.
Who is responsible and who can be held to account? Are the same politicians and social media giants both the cause of the problem and the source of the proclaimed solution?
We will look at the scientific research that can help us safeguard democracy and free expression, including citizens’ right to be informed.
Presenters:
- Professor Monica Whitty, Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security, Monash University
- Research Professor John Cook, Climate Change Communication Research Hub, Monash University
- Associate Professor Michael Veale, University College London
Commentators:
- Associate Professor Yuan-Fang Li, Department of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (DS+AI), Monash University
- Associate Professor Michelle Lazarus, Director, Monash Centre for Human Anatomy Education
Commentator and Moderator: Professor Chris Marsden, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Technology and the Law, Monash University
For more information, and to register, click here.
The Public International Law Webinar Series: The Public International Law Year in Review
Sydney Law School
Date: 16 November 2022
Time: 8:30pm (AEDT)
Location: OnlineModerators:
- Kexin Yu, Duxton Hill Chambers, Singapore Group Practice
- Harpreet Dhillon, Twitter
Panellists:- Loretta Malintoppi, 39 Essex Chambers
- Professor Ben Saul, University of Sydney
- Professor Mathias Forteau, University of Paris Ouest, Nanterre La Défense
- Oonagh Sands, Fietta LLP
Closing Address: Professor Zachary Douglas KC, Matrix Chambers
For more information, and to register, click here.
11th Austin Asche Oration in Law and Governance - Executive Discretion in a Time of COVID-19
Charles Darwin University; Australian Academy of Law
Date: 17 November 2022
Time: 5:00-7:00pm (ACST)
Location: Online or In-person at Grand Ballroom, Hilton Darwin, 32 Mitchell Street, DarwinExecutive 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, Australian Human Rights Commission
For more information, and to register, click here.
In Conversation with Jon Faine: Karly Warner
Monash University Faculty of Law
Date: 17 November 2022
Time: 6:00-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Online or In-person at Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 3000Karly Warner is CEO of Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT.
Karly Warner is a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman and lawyer who grew up in regional north-east Victoria, on Yorta-Yorta and Dhudhuroa country.
She believes people led movements are critical for self-determination, social change and strengthening democracy.
Karly has a wealth of experience, including as a practicing lawyer in criminal, civil, child protection and family law, and legal policy roles in the public service.
Her commitment to fighting for justice has taken her from the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service Co-operative Limited, to National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS), and now heading up Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT. She is an advisor on the Aboriginal Advisory Council at Lander and Rogers and sits on the board of the Centre for Australian Progress.
Join Karly Warner in conversation with Jon Faine as they explore the fight for justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
For more information, and to register, click here.
An Address by the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP
Network for Law and Human Rights, Western Sydney University; Whitlam Institute
Date: 18 November 2022
Time: 12:00-2:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Building EA, Ground Level, Room 18, Western Sydney University, Parramatta South Campus Corner of James Ruse Drive and Victoria Road, Rydalmere NSW, AustraliaYou are warmly invited to attend an address by the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, jointly hosted by the Network for Law and Human Rights within the School of Law at Western Sydney University, and the Whitlam Institute.
The Labor government was elected in May 2022 on an ambitious program of law reform. The new government has committed to the establishment of a national anti-corruption commission, a new process for judicial appointments, and a constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice to Parliament. The implications of these and other reforms for the legal profession and Australian society are far-reaching.
Please join us in a discussion with the Attorney-General about how these reforms will shape legal policy and practice in the years to come. We welcome members of the legal profession, law students and the wider Western Sydney University community, and members of the public, to this important event.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Lowering the Voting Age in Australia
Electoral Regulation Research Network, University of Melbourne
Date: 24 November 2022
Time: 1:00-2:00pm (AEDT)
Location: OnlineAlthough 86% of countries that hold elections have a minimum age of 18, Australians are currently debating whether or not the legal voting age should be lowered to 16. In 2018 the Australian parliament debated an electoral amendment to lower the national voting age to 16. Despite support from both the ALP and Greens, the bill failed. In this paper I discuss why this happened and why the ALP had good grounds for rejecting the model proposed by the Greens. I also consider what harms and benefits lowering the voting age might bring to Australian political life with specific reference to our unique voting arrangements.
The seminar will be presented by Professor Lisa Hill, University of Adelaide, and moderated by Associate Professor Rodrigo Praino, Flinders University.
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.
15th Melbourne Doctoral Forum on Legal Theory
Melbourne Law School
Dates: 24-25 November 2022
Location: Melbourne Law SchoolThe Doctoral Forum on Legal Theory brings together graduate researchers and early career scholars from a range of disciplines to think critically, methodologically and theoretically about law and legal theory. The Forum aims to create a cordial and safe space for doctoral scholars to share their research. The theme for this year’s Forum is Law, Text and Contrapuntal Reading.
A contrapuntal reading of laws and texts aims to make visible the positionality of the authors, as well as the omitted actors and untold narratives. It goes beyond reading what is explicit in the text. We borrow the idea of contrapuntal reading from Edward Said, who views it as an invitation to a ‘different kind of reading and interpretation’ that includes the ‘forcibly excluded’, ‘overlooked’ or ‘played down’ episodes, traversing the distance between the ‘dominating discourse’ and such episodes. Against this backdrop, we invite participants to the Forum to share their readings of laws and texts that form part of their research.
Non-presenting participants are welcome to join the Forum as observers, to ask questions and support the presenters. To express your interest in attending as a non-presenting participant, please complete this form by 10 November 2022.For participants travelling from outside of Melbourne, the forum may be able to assist a few with travel and accommodation costs on a need basis.
For more information, and to register, click here.
Schools, Blood, Guns, & Bombs: Education in Myanmar’s Pro-Democracy Struggle
Australian National University College of Law
Date: 1 December 2022
Time: 11:00am-12:00pm (AEDT)
Location: OnlineFollowing the military coup of February 2021, Myanmar’s education system became a host for civil disobedience protests, with teachers and students protesting the country’s state-run schools. The military, or Tatmadaw, responded by occupying campuses and prosecuting teachers and students. In the time since 2021, the Tatmadaw has escalated its violence, including schools among the targets in its attacks against pro-democracy resistance. The webinar hosts Myanmar natives providing 1st-person accounts of their experiences in the education system amidst Myanmar’s pro-democracy struggle. The webinar addresses the challenges facing teachers and students in Myanmar’s ongoing conflict, and the ways international aid efforts can navigate the ethical and legal challenges of rendering assistance.
Speakers:
- Dr Ka Lok Yip, Associate Professor, Hamad Bin Khalifa University
- Dr Su Yin Htun, Civil Disobedience Movement Professor, International Affairs Department of the Ministry of Education
- Yamin (pseudonym), former Professor in Myanmar until the military coup
Moderator: Dr Jonathan Liljeblad, Associate Professor, ANU College of Law
For more information, and to register, click here.
Annual Harry Evans Lecture: Law and Border - Who Has the Power to Control Movement Across State Borders?
Procedure and Research Section, Australian Senate
Date: 9 December 2022
Time: 12:15-1:15pm (AEDT)
Location: Main Committee Room, Parliament HouseThe Constitution says that ‘intercourse among the States … shall be absolutely free’. When the Commonwealth tried to stop Dulcie Johnson crossing state borders to see her fiancé one last time before he headed off to war in World War II, it failed. When Western Australia closed its border to Clive Palmer during the COVID pandemic, it succeeded.
What powers do the Commonwealth and the states have to close state borders? If a state closes its border, could the Commonwealth override the state and force the border to open? This lecture will explore the difficult question of who really controls freedom of movement across Australia.
The annual Harry Evans Lecture commemorates the service to the Senate of the longest serving Clerk of the Senate, Harry Evans.
Speaker: Professor Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney
For more information, and to register, click here.
Twenty-fourth Geoffrey Sawer Lecture - Human Rights: Beyond Tragedies and Atrocities
Centre for International and Public Law, Australian National University
Date: 13 December 2022
Time: 5:30-7:00pm (AEDT)
Location: ANU College of Law Moot Court, 6A Fellows Road, ActonThe tragic and the atrocious have come to define our understanding of human rights and especially the system that has been designed to promote human rights and exact accountability. The result is itself a tragedy because it distorts the institutional responses, consumes most of the available institutional and other resources, distracts attention away from issues that should be seen to be at least as troubling and urgent, and leaves in its wake an impoverished notion of human rights. It is not by accident that we have gone down this path, and it will only be through an honest diagnosis and a determination to do things very differently in the future that the international human rights regime will start to provide answers to the most pressing problems of our time and be capable of mobilizing the political base that is an indispensable element of a successful regime.
Speaker: Philip Alston AO, former UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights (2014-20) and on extrajudicial executions (2004-10)
For more information, and to register, click here.
Reconceiving Engagement with International Law in a Populist Era
Centre for International and Public Law, Australian National University
Date: 14 December 2022
Time: 5:30-7:30pm (AEDT)
Location: Australian Centre for China in the World Lecture Theatre, Building 188, Fellows Lane, ActonThis public lecture by Professor Peter Danchin (University of Maryland) and Professor Shruti Rana (Indiana University) with commentary from Professor Philip Alston (New York University) seeks to address the fundamental problem of how to reconceive engagement by states with the international legal order in the face of a sustained populist backlash. The ARC funded project ‘Reconceiving Engagement with International Law in a Populist Era’ based at the ANU College of Law and led by Chief Investigators Professor Jeremy Farrall, Professor Jolyon Ford and Associate Professor Imogen Saunders will also be launched at this event.
Refreshments from 5.30pm with the lecture to start at 6pm.
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: Online or In-personThe 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.