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Welcome to the fourth edition of the Melbourne LLB Newsletter for 2008. The purpose of this publication is to inform you of key issues and events related to your studies. If you need any further clarification on anything, please contact the Melbourne Law School Student Centre on 8344 4475, or the contact listed.
biobanks - we trust banks with our money but what about our genetic information?
Presented by Professor Don Chalmers as part of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service’s annual Transfusion Update Conference.
Biobanks. These international banks won’t hold gold bullion, dollar bills, or bags of coins, but blood and cell samples. Containing genetic information, these samples can help research into the causes of illnesses and new medical treatments and cures. But is it ethical and how will peoples’ privacy be protected?
Don Chalmers, Faculty of Law professor at the University of Tasmania will be hosting a free public lecture with a talk crossing the jurisdictions of both law and medicine, discussing issues surrounding privacy, ethics, and international legislation.
The lecture will touch on how Biobanks will become essential tools for biomedical research and will consider the current patchwork of regulation in the area of genetic privacy.
When: Monday 5 May 2008 at 7:00 to 8:00pm
Where: The Promenade Room, Crown Conference Centre, Southbank
For further information, please contact Rebekah Cowie on 02 9333 3210 or visit the Australian Red Cross Blood Service website.
university of melbourne human rights forum - public lecture
Reflections on the Commission of the Status of Women 2008
Susan Brennan, President of the World YWCA, will discuss her recent visit to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
In July 2007, Susan Brennan was elected President of the World YWCA, a global movement of 25 million women and girls working for justice, peace, health, human dignity, freedom, and the environment in 125 countries. She attended the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 as a young woman delegate for the YWCA of Australia and represented the YWCA in drafting the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Susan has organized human rights hearings on peace with justice, violence against women, economic development and HIV/AIDS at the YWCA International Women’s Summit in 2003. Between 2004 and 2007, she was instrumental in redrafting the World YWCA’s Constitution, including its basis and purpose. She has served on the boards of the International Women's Development Agency, Reprieve Australia and the Women's Rights Action Network of Australia.
A graduate of Melbourne Law School and a former Jessup mooter, Susan is a barrister practising in town planning and environment law.
When: Tuesday 6 May 2008 at 1:00 to 2:00pm
Where: Room 316, Alice Hoy Building, University of Melbourne
Copyright Law Reform Through a Human Rights Lens
Speaker: Professor Graeme Austin, J Byron McCormick Professor of Law, University of Arizona
When: Tuesday 6 May 2008 at 12:45 to 1:45pm
Where: G08, Melbourne Law School
The US Political System and the 2008 Contest
Speaker: Associate Professor David Tucker, Department of Political Science, University of Melbourne
When: Tuesday 13 May 2008 at 12:45 to 1:45pm
Where: G08, Melbourne Law School
Life as a General Counsel
Speaker: Mr Leonard Vary, General Counsel, Linfox Group of Companies
When: Tuesday 20 May 2008 at 12:45 to 1:45pm
Where: G08, Melbourne Law School
The Guest Lecture Series is a series of weekly lectures in law and legal practice for Melbourne Law School students. Details of all forthcoming guest lectures for Semester 1, 2008, are available here.
taking your beefs to the wto: the continuing hormones dispute and issues in wto dispute settlement
An Institute for International Law and the Humanities Seminar
Speaker: Victoria Donaldson, Visiting WTO Fellow at the Institute for International Trade (University of Adelaide)
Convenors: Dr Andrew Mitchell and Dr Tania Voon
In 1998, Canada and the United States succeeded before the World Trade Organization in their legal challenge to an EC ban on the import of hormone-treated beef. However, the ban remains in place today. The multiple proceedings relating to this dispute that have taken place over more than 10 years illustrate both the strengths and weaknesses of the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism. Victoria Donaldson will discuss some significant and current issues in WTO dispute settlement, drawing in particular on the ongoing hormones dispute. She will cover issues such as transparency and public hearings at the WTO, evidence in WTO dispute settlement, the use of retaliatory trade sanctions, and discussions amongst WTO member states as to how to improve their dispute settlement system in the future.
Victoria Donaldson is the current Visiting WTO Fellow at the Institute for International Trade of the University of Adelaide. She has taken a six-month leave of absence from her job as a Counsellor at the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat, where she has worked since 1999. From 1996-1999 she practiced law with the Brussels office of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton, and from 1995-1996 with Russell & DuMoulin in Vancouver. Ms Donaldson obtained Bachelors degrees in Law from University of Oxford and University of British Columbia, and a Master of Law from Harvard Law School. She has served as a law clerk to Justice Peter de Carteret Cory at the Supreme Court of Canada. Ms Donaldson has contributed to books on WTO dispute settlement, writing in particular on dispute settlement procedures in international trade.
When: Thursday 22 May 2008 at 6:00 to 7:30pm
Where: Room 0920, Melbourne Law School
RSVP: Ms Vesna Stefanovski, tel 03 8344 6589 or email law-iilah@unimelb.edu.au
jessup international law moot team - meeting for interested students
The Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the largest international law moot court competition in the world. It involves both written submissions and oral argument on current issues raised by a hypothetical international law problem dealing with pressing social and political issues.
Each year the Melbourne Law School sends a team of 5 students to compete at the national level in Canberra. The top two teams in Canberra then represent Australia at the international competition in Washington DC. In the past, Melbourne has been very successful in the competition at both the national and international levels.
Participating in the Jessup is an immensely rewarding experience. Team members gain an unparalleled opportunity to improve their skills in oral argument, research, writing and teamwork. The Jessup Moot has a wide and illustrious worldwide alumnus including many international law scholars, judges, and barristers.
As a member of the team you will need to be available from late November 2008 to early February 2009. Team members may obtain credit for the Jessup Moot subject (though you can also do it in addition to your full load if you wish).
If you are interested in participating in the Jessup Moot Team then please attend the information session on Thursday 8 May 2008 at 1:00 to 2:00pm in Room 102, Melbourne Law School.
If you would like to participate in the competition, but you are not able to attend the meeting please email Alison Duxbury on a.duxbury@unimelb.edu.au
The Melbourne Law School’s WorkSkills website was launched on 19 April 2008. Students, staff, and employers of law graduates received an overview of the new interactive website, which assists students to develop their employability skills during their studies. The website includes a ‘skills audit’ for students to self-assess their current skill level and identify their skill strengths and weaknesses. The website also identifies the opportunities (in the LLB curriculum and in extra curricula activities) for further skill development. It includes sample resumes to demonstrate the way in which these skills can be presented to prospective employers.
The website is available to Melbourne Law School staff and students at http://workskills.law.unimelb.edu.au
call for participants in international virtual moot competition
During the first week in September an opportunity exists for a team of 2 to 4 Melbourne University Law students to participate in the third annual International Virtual Moot competition. A team from Melbourne Law School won the inaugural 2006 competition, defeating a team from the William & Mary School of Law, Virginia, USA.
The applicant, respondent and judging panel will be linked by videoconference technologies on a problem involving intellectual property in the digital realm. There will be at least two rounds of oral argument before the final. The team is required to produce a written outline of argument for the applicant and respondent.
Interested students should contact Peter Jones, Director Legal Information Resources, email p.jones@unimelb.edu.au, tel 03 8344 6203 for further information.
More details about the moot problem and the competition rules can be found here.
Practical Legal Training at Leo Cussen Institute
Speaker: Judith Dickson, Director Practical Training Course
Leo Cussen Institute presents its Practical Training course and Traineeship Modules and answers your questions on pathways to admission to practice.
When: Monday 12 May 2008 at 1:00 to 2:00pm
Where: GM17, Melbourne Law School
Reprieve Australia Information Session
Reprieve Australia is a not-for profit organization that provides legal and humanitarian assistance to impoverished people facing the death penalty. Their mission is to both to raise awareness about matters related to the death penalty in Australia, as well as to place volunteers, mostly law students, in capital defence offices in countries with capital punishment. To date they have placed 50 of these volunteers in offices principally in the southern United States, which has amounted to the equivalent of one person working full-time for approximately 15 years.
Two former interns, Lucy Larkins (Articled Clerk, Arnold Bloch Liebler) and Ben Kiely (Articled Clerk, Mallesons Stephen Jacques) both graduates of Melbourne Law School, will talk about the work done by Reprieve Australia and their experiences acting for those facing the death penalty in Texas.
When: Wednesday 14 May 2008 at 1:00 to 2:00pm
Where: GM17, Melbourne Law School
thinking about going on exchange?
Come along to the Law Exchange Information Session
A Melbourne Abroad representative and the Law Academic and Administrative Exchange Contacts will be on hand to answer all of your questions about undertaking an exchange through the Law School. Come along to find out more!
When: Wednesday 21 May 2008 at 1:00 to 2:00pm
Where: Room 106, Melbourne Law School
The inaugural Walk for Justice will be held in Melbourne at 7.30am on Monday 19 May 2008.
The Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH) Victoria is conducting the walk to raise money for PILCH and its various public interest schemes. The walk will coincide with walks in Brisbane, New South Wales, and the UK.
The Melbourne Walk for Justice will begin on the steps of Parliament and will proceed through to the legal precinct and finish in the Flagstaff Gardens, in the shadow of the High Court of Australia. It might be a chilly Melbourne morning, but there will be breakfast for all participants to enjoy at the finish-line.
Registration fees are $20.00 per walker.
Please click here for a registration form.
volunteer in india or australia with friends of kolkata - information session
Would you like to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate? Want to volunteer in India? Have an hour spare a week or a fortnight?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, come to an information session and find out how to get involved! Friends of Kolkata is a unique and exciting organization, we're all volunteers, so everything we raise goes directly towards our projects. We organize fundraising and awareness raising events in Australia, and a volunteer program in India. Our work is primarily carried out in partnership with two NGOs in Kolkata seeking to protect women's and children's rights by providing poor communities with access to education, vocational training, and health services.
We are currently recruiting for our volunteer program in Kolkata at the end of this year and also looking for volunteers in Australia. Come to an information session, visit our website, or email Catherine Dow at volunteer@friendsofkolkata.org for more information.
We look forward to meeting you!
If you are expecting to complete at the end of this semester (30 June 2008) and the completion date that appears in your record does not reflect that, please advise the Student Centre so we can amend it.
Please send any feedback/comments or suggestions you have about this newsletter to Tom Hewitt-McManus.
previous editions of LLB newsletter
Previous editions of the newsletter are available on the Melbourne LLB website.
