Law Student Gazette

1. International Conference on Human Rights in Closed Environments

Monday 20 – Tuesday 21 February, 2012

Monash University Law Chambers, Melbourne

Where liberty is restricted in closed environments, such as prisons, police cells, immigration detention, and closed psychiatric and disability settings, the potential for human rights abuses is high. The management of such environments requires a delicate balance between the rights of individuals, and the safety and security of others in the closed environment and the broader community.

Further information is available from The Conference Organiser P/L at info@conorg.com.au or +61 3 93492220

http://www.law.monash.edu.au/castancentre/events/2012/closed-environments.html.

and International Conference Notice

1. The ACCJSI Presents a Public Lecture: “Scaling Up: How We Can Meet the Future and Take on Bigger and Better Challenges”

Please click on the image below to view larger

1. Alumni Speaker Series 2011

Join us at our final Alumni Speaker Series event for 2011! Our panel of experts, moderated by alumnus Ben Richards, will play fictitious characters who must respond to this hypothetical scenario and ethical problems it poses.

What lies beneath?

What if one of Melbourne’s most iconic buildings burnt to the ground? Of course we would rebuild. Or would we? What if beneath the ash of this historic building we found the most significant Indigenous archaeological site yet discovered on the Australian continent? How would we respond?

2. ‘Privacy in an Age of Augmented Reality’ Seminar

Monash Law Chambers lunchtime seminar Tuesday 29 November

Monash law students are invited to a seminar ‘Privacy in an Age of Augmented Reality’ by international privacy scholar Alessandro Acquisiti to be held at the Monash Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street from 1-2 pm on Tuesday 29 November. No rsvp required.

1. Conference – Are States Meeting Their Responsibilities to Trafficked Persons?

We are proud to invite you to the 2011 Castan Centre for Human Rights Law / Mallessons Stephen Jaques Annual Lecture presented by:

Conference – Ms Joy Ezeilo, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially in Women and Children

Destination countries for human trafficking are obliged to protect and assist victims of trafficking.  This includes providing trafficked persons with protection of privacy and identity, measures for ‘physical, psychological and social recovery of victims’, and their physical safety.  They should also provide effective remedies for trafficked persons, such as compensation, and restitution.  Are destination States meeting these responsibilities in the 21st century?

Joy Ngozi Ezeilo is a human rights lawyer and professor at the University of Nigeria. She has also served in various governmental capacities, including as Honourable Commissioner for Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Development in Enugu State and as a Delegate to the National Political Reform Conference. She has consulted for various international organizations and is also involved in several NGOs, particularly working on women’s rights. She has published extensively on a variety of topics, including human rights, women’s rights, and Sharia law. Ms. Ezeilo was conferred with a national honour (Officer of the Order of Nigeria) in 2006 for her work as a human right defender. Ms. Ezeilo assumed her functions as Special Rapporteur on 1 August 2008.

2. International Conference on Human Rights in Closed Environments

Where liberty is restricted in closed environments, such as prisons, police cells, immigration detention, and closed psychiatric and disability settings, the potential for human rights abuses is high. The management of such environments requires a delicate balance between the rights of individuals, and the safety and security of others in the closed environment and the broader community.

3. Tackling the Legal Challenges in Cross-border Transactions Symposium

.: End of Student Gazette 14.11.2011 :.

1. Conference – Are States Meeting Their Responsibilities to Trafficked Persons?

We are proud to invite you to the 2011 Castan Centre for Human Rights Law / Mallessons Stephen Jaques Annual Lecture presented by:

Conference – Ms Joy Ezeilo, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially in Women and Children

Destination countries for human trafficking are obliged to protect and assist victims of trafficking.  This includes providing trafficked persons with protection of privacy and identity, measures for ‘physical, psychological and social recovery of victims’, and their physical safety.  They should also provide effective remedies for trafficked persons, such as compensation, and restitution.  Are destination States meeting these responsibilities in the 21st century?

Joy Ngozi Ezeilo is a human rights lawyer and professor at the University of Nigeria. She has also served in various governmental capacities, including as Honourable Commissioner for Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Development in Enugu State and as a Delegate to the National Political Reform Conference. She has consulted for various international organizations and is also involved in several NGOs, particularly working on women’s rights. She has published extensively on a variety of topics, including human rights, women’s rights, and Sharia law. Ms. Ezeilo was conferred with a national honour (Officer of the Order of Nigeria) in 2006 for her work as a human right defender. Ms. Ezeilo assumed her functions as Special Rapporteur on 1 August 2008.

2. International Conference on Human Rights in Closed Environments

Where liberty is restricted in closed environments, such as prisons, police cells, immigration detention, and closed psychiatric and disability settings, the potential for human rights abuses is high. The management of such environments requires a delicate balance between the rights of individuals, and the safety and security of others in the closed environment and the broader community.

1. The London International Human Rights Congress 2011

“Immigration & Integration in an Age of Austerity: Challenges and Opportunities”

(London, November 22 – 25 2011)

On behalf of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, I am writing to
bring to your attention the following major program hosted by us in
partnership with other leading organizations. The program will bring
together governmental and diplomatic officials, civil society
practitioners, private sector representatives, journalists, young
professionals, students and scholars and other interested stakeholders
from across the world for a program of lectures, workshops, group
discussions and cultural excursions featuring leading figures from the
fields of politics, civil society, academia, and the media.

We are currently accepting applications for the event and I would be
grateful if you could share this announcement by forwarding the
information below to anyone you think may be interested in attending.

Thank you for your attention and for your cooperation in sharing the
news of our upcoming events.

For further information please see:
http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/gphr/index.php?en_bihrc-2011

1. Engaging the Asian Economies Conference 20 October – Student Discount

The second Engaging the Asian Economies law and Practice conference will be held on Thursday 20 October at the Monash University Law Chambers.

The 2011 conference brings together distinguished leaders, lawyers from the different branches of the legal profession, Judges of the Commercial Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria, to address the importance of Asia to the Victorian economy and how we could engage with Asia more effectively. It will also enable participants to understand the increased need for cross border legal representations as the liberalisation of legal practices has opened up the market for competition.

As a student, we are offering you a discounted rate to attend the conference. Students will pay the discounted rate of $120 instead of the full price of $245.

Method of payment for the discounted student rate is by credit card only – Contact Jessica Chang at Monash University on 9905 1301 with your credit card details

For more information please visit:
http://www.law.monash.edu.au/about-us/events/conference/asian-economies/

2. Lecture: “Digital Natives, Sexting, and How Old Law Meets New Phenomena”

The Progressive Law Network presents Judge Felicity Hampel on:

“Digital natives, sexting, and how old law meets new phenomena”

1. ‘Momcilovic v R: The High Court’s Views on the Constitutionality and Operation of theVictorian Charter‘

Presented by The Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Public Seminar – All Welcome

In the recent decision of Momcilovic v R, the High Court of Australia handed down a landmark decision on the operation of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities within the broader context of the Commonwealth Constitution. This seminar will explore the competing views on the constitutionality of the limitation (s 7), interpretation (s 32), and declaration (s 36) provisions of the Charter, and the broader constitutional issues pertaining to separation of judicial power and inconsistency between State and Commonwealth laws. The seminar will shed light on the implications of the decision for the Charter, highlighting where agreement was reached and identifying areas of uncertainty going into the future.

Speakers

James Stellios is an Associate professor at the ANU College of Law where he teaches public law. His primary research interest is constitutional law and, in particular, Chapter III of the Constitution. In 2010 he published The Federal Judicature: Chapter III of the Constitution. Prior to joining the ANU College of Law in July 2011, he spent a number of years in legal practice, including as Counsel Assisting the Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth. James is also a Consultant to Sparke Helmore.

Dr Julie Debeljak is a foundational Deputy Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, and a Senior Lecturer in Law at Monash University. She teaches and researches in domestic, comparative and international human rights Law. Dr Debeljak has published widely in the human rights area, including publications on human rights and democracy, the domestic implementation of human rights obligations (including the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities), the rights of indigenous peoples, and access to civil justice and human rights. Dr Debeljak completed numerous consultancies preparing various governmental and non-governmental bodies for the commencement of the Victorian Charter. Dr Debeljak is a chief investigator on two major research grant concerns Australia’s legal Response to Trafficking in Persons in the Asia-Pacific region; and (b) the second research grant relates to Human Rights in Closed Environments.

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.

2. Strengthening Community Forum

LRCD Student Project Presentation

SMLS is a community organization providing free, confidential legal advice to all members of the community. Since the emergence of community legal centres in the 1970s, the philosophical basis of SMLS has been the provision of accessible legal assistance and information, community legal education and law reform to disadvantaged members of the community.

Student Project Presenters:

• Katie Mc Gorian
• Camille Davies
• Matt Kaplan
• Talia Levy
• Nicolette Muratti
• Mavis Law
• Clare Hughes

1. ‘Momcilovic v R: The High Court’s Views on the Constitutionality and Operation of the Victorian Charter‘

Presented by The Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Public Seminar – All Welcome

In the recent decision of Momcilovic v R, the High Court of Australia handed down a landmark decision on the operation of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities within the broader context of the Commonwealth Constitution. This seminar will explore the competing views on the constitutionality of the limitation (s 7), interpretation (s 32), and declaration (s 36) provisions of the Charter, and the broader constitutional issues pertaining to separation of judicial power and inconsistency between State and Commonwealth laws. The seminar will shed light on the implications of the decision for the Charter, highlighting where agreement was reached and identifying areas of uncertainty going into the future.

Speakers

James Stellios is an Associate professor at the ANU College of Law where he teaches public law. His primary research interest is constitutional law and, in particular, Chapter III of the Constitution. In 2010 he published The Federal Judicature: Chapter III of the Constitution. Prior to joining the ANU College of Law in July 2011, he spent a number of years in legal practice, including as Counsel Assisting the Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth. James is also a Consultant to Sparke Helmore.

Dr Julie Debeljak is a foundational Deputy Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, and a Senior Lecturer in Law at Monash University. She teaches and researches in domestic, comparative and international human rights Law. Dr Debeljak has published widely in the human rights area, including publications on human rights and democracy, the domestic implementation of human rights obligations (including the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities), the rights of indigenous peoples, and access to civil justice and human rights. Dr Debeljak completed numerous consultancies preparing various governmental and non-governmental bodies for the commencement of the Victorian Charter. Dr Debeljak is a chief investigator on two major research grant concerns Australia’s legal Response to Trafficking in Persons in the Asia-Pacific region; and (b) the second research grant relates to Human Rights in Closed Environments.

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.

1. 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

For further information please see Lucinda lecture

2. The Success and Challenges of Transitional Justice in Sierra Leone

Date: Monday 26 September, 2011
Time: 6.00pm – 7.30pm
Venue: Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
RSVP: castan.centre@monash.edu or (03) 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.