Events
1. 2011 Costello Lecture – Enlarging Our Vision of Rights
Speaker Monash Alumnus, Mr Brian Walters SC, prominent barrister and human rights advocate (BA/LLB 1977) Introduced by Tim Costello AO (BJuris 1976, LLB 1978, DipEd 1979), CEO, World Vision Australia Last year the Rudd Government rejected the recommendation of the National Human Rights Consultation Committee for a Human Rights Act. Not the Victorian Charter is under challenge. Is it asking too much to have human rights protection in Australia? Or do we in fact ask too little? With dangerous climate change now a reality, perhaps it is not merely the rights of humans we should seek to recognise and protect. Brian Walters SC is a Melbourne senior counsel. He is a former president of Liberty Victoria and has written and spoken widely on human rights issues. He has also had a long involvement in environmental issues, including co-founding ‘Wild’ – Australia’s wilderness adventure magazine – and campaigning on numerous environmental issues from the Franklin River to the forests of East Gippsland.
| Venue: | Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne |
| Date: | Thursday 15 September, 2011 |
| Time: | 6.00 pm – 7.15 pm |
| RSVP: | by Friday 9 September, 2011 law-marketing@monash.edu or (03) 9905 2630 |
2. Monash Law School’s 18th Lucinda Lecture
“Interpreting the Constitution – Words, History and Change” The Honourable Robert French AC Chief Justice of The High Court of Australia
| Venue: | Building 08/R5 Monash University, Clayton Campus | |
| Date: | Tuesday 20 September, 2011 | |
| Time: | 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm | |
| RSVP: | by Friday 9 September, 2011 law-marketing@monash.edu or (03) 9905 2630 |
For further information please see Lucinda lecture
3. Registration for the workshop “Rights and Realities: Children and the Australian State” is Now Open
This multidisciplinary one day proposes to bring together academics, researchers and practitioners working on Children’s Rights in Australia to exchange ideas and promote collaboration. It is necessary to examine how collaboration across disciplines can bring Australian children’s rights from the realm of theory into reality. The motivation behind the workshop is the belief that shared knowledge, concentrated academic research and excellence can help bring about social policy change. While the workshop is concerned with children’s rights as a whole, it will particularly focus on the child’s relationship with the Australian State–that is, their legal and political rights. The workshop will be held at the Crawford School, ANU, Canberra on 18th November 2011. More information about the workshop is available at www.rightsandrealities.com. Registration can be completed online. For further information please see (5.9.11-Children and the Australian State Workshop.pdf) For queries about the workshop, please contact Mhairi.cowden@anu.edu.au or joanne.c.lau@anu.edu.au
4. The Rule of Law
Proudly presented by the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration and Monash University Faculty of Law To be delivered by The Rt Hon the Lord Igor Judge Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
| Venue: | Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne |
| Date: | Monday 5 September, 2011 |
| Time: | 5.30pm |
| RSVP: | Please phone (03) 9905 3357 or alternatively email law-marketing@monash.ed |
5. “The Success and Challenges of Transitional Justice in Sierra Leone”
The Castan Centre for Human Rights Law and the The Victorian Bar invite you to this public lecture with Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai,founder of The Society for Democratic Initiatives, Sierra Leone
| Venue: | Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne |
| Date: | 6:00pm to 7:30pm |
| Time: | Argument structure and cohesion |
| RSVP: | castan.centre@monash.edu or tel. 9905 3327 |
Full details: http://www.law.monash.edu.au/castancentre/events/2011/sierra-leone.html
Sierra Leone, a country that experienced ten years of one of the most brutish civil wars between 1991 and 2002, can offer answers at least to some of the myriad of accountability questions raised in transitional justice arena. Sierra Leone essentially established two institutions: a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SLTRC) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). The SLTRC assembled together under single roofs many perpetrators of atrocities during the war and victims of the same war, as well as those who could have created the sociological, political and economic environment that led to the war in the first place. The SCSL is a unique hybrid tribunal of local and international law, established to indict, prosecute, and convict those who bear ‘greatest responsibility for war crimes’ committed within the country during the period of the Sierra Leonean civil war. This presentation will look at the political, sociological as well as legal successes and challenges of the SLTRC and SCSL, discussing the ramifications of setting up those two mechanisms simultaneously and the financial implication of setting up the court.
Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai is a lawyer by profession, whose only brother was abducted and killed by rebel forces when Sierra Leone exploded into civil law. In 2003, he established The Society for Democratic Initiatives (SDI) in Sierra Leone, a non-government organization working to entrench democratic governance and to protect and promote human rights. SDI plays a critical role towards democratic development in Sierra Leone given issues arising in the wake of a one-party governing system and a decade long civil war. Although the war officially ended in February 2002, socio-economic progress remains extraordinarily difficult to achieve in a political climate of corruption, harassment, violence and intimidation. Good governance by leaders with the interests of the common people at heart is the key to progress, and SDI’s unflinching commitment to this goal increases the prospect that history does not ever repeat itself. During Sierra Leone’s transition, Emmanuel worked at both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
The Victorian Bar kindly acknowledge Travel Bar who have sponsored Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai’s travel to Australia
NB: If this particular educational activity is relevant to your immediate or long term needs in relation to your professional development and practice of the law, then you should claim one ‘unit’ for each hour of attendance.
6. Voice of Experience – Women in Law Cocktail Night
Gaining insight about what leading female professionals now know about success in the legal profession.
| Venue: | Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne |
| Date: | Wednesday 21 September, 2011 |
| Time: | 6.00pm – 9.00pm |
| Price: | $10, food, beer and wine provided |
| Ticket Selling: | Law Basement in week 4, 5, and 6 except Friday (from 1-2 pm) |
Keynote Speakers • Honourable Rosemary Anne Balmford – Victoria’s first female Supreme Court Judge • Honourable Felicity Hampel – Judge of County Court • Bronwyn Lincoln – Partner at Freehills Students will be able to ask any questions from the attending legal professionals as we aim to have a ratio of 1:3, legal professionals to students. The legal professionals will include judges, barristers and partners from major law firms (such as Baker and McKenzie, Minter Ellison, Norton Rose, Middletons, Arnold Bloch Leibler etc, just for a sneak peak!). For JD students who wish to attend, please email monashlawambassadors2011@gmail.com to arrange tickets.