Law (ANU Podcasts)

Professor Don Rothwell of The Australian National University's College of Law speaks with Fairfax correspondent Tim Lester about the sale of uranium to India and the possible implications of the treaty of Rarotonga.

The Herbert & Valmae Freilich Foundation Annual Lecture in Bigotry and Intolerance 2011When gays ask to be granted the right to marry, they are not asking for something that can be adequately conceptualised by an ideal of equality that demands equal access to good and opportunities for all citizens of a polity. Nor do they ask for something that can adequately be expressed in classical liberal ideals. They ask, I believe, for the recognition, by their fellow citizens, of the depth and dignity of their sexuality; and they ask it from those of their fellow citizens who appear to believe that gay sexuality does not have the kind of depth that deserves to be celebrated in marriage. Married love, such people believe, deepens sexual love, but it can do so only for sexuality that has the potential for such deepening. They believe, therefore, that gay marriage is a kind of conceptual absurdity, even when they do not find it morally distasteful. There are many kinds of opposition to gay marriage: this kind has, limited but interesting, analogies with the incapacity of racists to see depth in the lives of the victims of their denigration.

'Michael Kirby Paradoxes and Principles' is the first biography of the honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG; written by one of Australia's leading public law and polictical science acholars, AJ Brown.

To outsiders, India and China show some striking similarities. Both are ancient civilizations reincarnated as modern republics in the mid twentieth century, and are now rising powers. Both have nuclear weapons, burgeoning economies, expanding military budgets and large reservoirs of manpower, and seem to be vying for influence in the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, Africa, Central Asia and East Asia. Yet little attention is paid to the relationships between them. (From India and China: Conflict and Cooperation by David M Malone and Rohan Mukherjee, Survival, 2010)

On Friday, 5 September 2008, Professor Ross Garnaut released his much awaited supplementary draft report on targets and trajectories. The report argues that Australia's mid- and long-term targets should be to reduce emissions net of international trading by 10 per cent from 2000 levels by 2020, and 80 per cent by m2050. This, we are told, is a proportionate contribution to the ‘achievable' international goal of stabilising the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases at 550 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e). This lecture, Do Garnaut's targets add up? An analysis of the Garnaut Review's targets and trajectories recommendations, explored whether the proposed national targets are consistent with the goal of stabilising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at 550 ppm CO2-e and whether the risks associated with his 'overshoot' strategy have been fully explored.

The 14th Annual Lions Oratory Competition saw selected ANU students from across the University present eight minute orations to convince the judges and the audience that they deserved to win the ANU Lions Oratory Trophy and prizes totaling $3,000 in cash. The event was hoseted by Esther Sainsbury, last years winner of the 2007 Lions Oratory Competition and judged by an esteemed panel of public-speaking experts. The oratory saw speakers addressing a range of subjects incorporating the Lions' messages of truth, righteousness, peace, love and non-violence - the core values of all major religions.Prizes included: First prize - The ManikKam Reddy Award: $1,500Second prize: $800Third prize: $500Donated by the Lions Club of Canberra Woden People's Choice Award: $400Donated by the Australian National University and the Lions Club of Canberra Woden

Warfare has become a legal institution. Law organises and disciplines the military, defines the battle-space, privileges killing the enemy, and offers a common language to debate the legitimacy of waging war - down to the tactics of particular battle. At the same time, law is no longer a matter of firm distinctions - combatant and non-combatant, war and peace. It has become a flexible and strategic partner for both the military and for humanitarians seeking to restrain the violence of warfare. The relationship between modern war and modern law is made all the more complex by today's asymmetric conflicts, and by the loss of a shared vision about what the law means and how it should be applied. In this lecture Professor Kennedy explores the ways in which good legal arguments can make people lose their moral compass and sense of responsibility for the violence of war. Professor Kennedy's visit was organised by the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law.

2008 has already brought major new challenges for diplomats. The situations in Kenya and Pakistan underline the depths of the problems in Africa and elsewhere. The Security Council and UN peacekeepers were already at historically high levels of activity in 2006-2007. Can they take on any more? NATO, the EU, the US, the Nordics, and Australia and New Zealand also seem to be stretched to the limit. Perhaps it is time for some searching analysis of whether the current machinery for international collective security is up to the challenges of the 21st Century. The UN Security Council is at the heart of that system. But is it living up to its potential? Can it be reformed and what kinds of reforms might improve the overall outlook? What does the future hold? These are all important questions at a time when Australia is exploring new options for an enhanced multilateral role.

Part of a series of public debates hosted by the Australian National University and The Canberra Times. Join a diverse panel of ANU experts in a lively discussion of the major issues driving this election. The Dr Mohamed Haneef case continues to be a thorn in the Federal Government’s side, as more questions are raised about the way in which his visa was removed. Now overseas doctors are said to be ‘boycotting’ Australia because of the incident. Are Australia’s anti-terror measures doing the nation good or harm? How do both major parties plan to keep Australian’s secure? And how do they differ on what it means to be Australian in the first place?

Part of a series of public debates hosted by The Australian National University and The Canberra Times. A diverse panel of ANU experts in a lively discussion of the major issues driving this election. Debate 2 – The States of the Nation – is moderated by Andrew Fraser. What is the future of federation? What impact is the Federal Government’s foray into water, health, education and Indigenous Affairs having? And how will these shifts affect the outcome of the election?

A series of public debates hosted by the Australian National University and The Canberra Times. A diverse panel of ANU experts in a lively discussion of the major issues driving this election. Each debate is moderated by a senior journalist from The Canberra Times.

On 21 June 2007 Prime Minister John Howard and Minister for Indigenous Affairs Mal Brough declared a ‘national emergency’ in relation to child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory. In an unprecedented set of actions, the Commonwealth has taken direct control of communities, overriding the authority of both the NT Government and local community organisations in the name of creating safe and healthy environments for children. In this public lecture, Dr Hinkson, Professor Behrendt, Ms Watson and Professor Altman contributors to the first book about the intervention Coercive Reconciliation: Stabilise, Normalise, Exit Aboriginal Australia assess the intervention from the perspectives of human rights, welfare and land rights reforms, Indigenous representation and reconciliation, and the recognition of cultural diversity.

The lecture was a joint presentation between The Australian National University and The Lowy Institute for International Policy. Over the last decade there has been a serious, and dangerous, loss of momentum and direction in disarmament and non-proliferation efforts. The Chemical Weapons Convention – for whose conclusion and implementation John Gee worked so tirelessly and brilliantly - shows what is achievable. Nuclear weapons cannot be uninvented, but they can be outlawed - as chemical and biological weapons have been - and their use made unthinkable. But that will require from the world's decision-makers an intelligent understanding of present dangers, creative new policy thinking, and above all an end to hypocrisy and double standards. Dr John Gee Memorial Lecture Dr John Gee served with distinction as an Australian diplomat in a number of countries. His greatest contribution, however, was in the field of disarmament, where he had a particular interest in chemical weapons. After a period as a Commissioner on the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq following the first Gulf War, he became Deputy Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, serving there until 2003. In recognition of his achievements, Dr Gee was made a member of the Order of Australia in January 2007.  

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent judicial body with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ICC has recently embarked on its first prosecution: the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for crimes allegedly committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Arrest warrants have been issued for individuals in relation to the situation in Darfur, Sudan, and for crimes committed in Uganda. An investigation into crimes allegedly committed in the Central African Republic has also commenced. As the ICC has become operational, further countries have solidified their support for the Court and recognised its role in the promotion of global peace and security and the rule of law. In this public lecture, the ICC’s first prosecutor, Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, addresses the new system of international criminal justice being spearheaded by the Court.

In intellectual property, there has been much interest of late in the creative use of contract law - especially with the development of the Creative Commons. By necessity, Indigenous communities have been pioneers in the creative use of contract law. In light of the glacial progress to reform legislative regimes and international treaties to protect traditional knowledge, Indigenous peoples have been forced to make creative use of contract law in order to protect their cultural interests. Rather than employing contract law to keep material in the public domain, Indigenous communities have used creative contracts to safeguard traditional knowledge. Creative contracts have been a means to ward-off free riders, copycats, and bio-pirates. In the field of copyright law, contractual terms have been used to provide protection for economic and moral interests in Indigenous intellectual property. Contracts have also been used to deal with the commission, licensing, and resale of Indigenous art. In the area of industrial property, Indigenous communities have relied upon contract law to negotiate benefits arising out of the exploitation of patented inventions, trademarks, and confidential information. In the field of access to genetic resources, Indigenous land use agreements can include benefit-sharing agreements in respect of bioprospecting.

David Hicks, accused of being an enemy combatant in the war on terrorism and held at Guantanamo Bay, has become a household name in Australia. Reports of his case have appeared regularly in the media, often including comments from his defence lawyer Major Michael Mori of the US Marine Corps. In this lecture Major Mori outlines the proposed trial proceedings for US military commissions and discuss whether or not the rules and procedures will accord with the minimum requirements mandated under International Humanitarian Law. He also considers whether the proceedings are able to provide for the appropriate level of independent checks and balances of an established justice system. This lecture was sponsored by  the Australian Red Cross and the Centre for International and Public Law.

Late in his term on the High Court, Justice McHugh, one of the majority in the Mabo decision and one of the dissentients in Wik, expressed criticism of the "costly and time-consuming" native title system. He thought it was unable to fairly evaluate the competing legal rights of landholders and native-title holders. In this lecture presented by the National Centre for Indigenous Studies and the Centre for International and Public Law, Father Frank Brennan argues that the issue now is not the legitimacy of land rights but determining the cut-off point for recognising native-title rights when other parties also have rights over the same land. He also argues the importance of matching the remaining native-title rights with the real, rather than imagined, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aspirations.

A judicial revolution occurred in 1992 when the High Court discarded the doctrine of terra nullius in the Mabo case. The ruling had repercussions for Indigenous peoples within Australia and around the world, especially in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. In this lecture presented by the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Professor Peter Russell considers the background and consequences of the Mabo case, contextualising it within the international struggle of Indigenous peoples to overcome their colonized status. He weaves together a historical narrative of Eddie Mabo’s life with an account of the legal and ideological premises of European imperialism, outlining the implications of the Mabo ruling for judicial, constitutional and Indigenous politics.