Welcome to the fifth edition of the Melbourne LLB Newsletter for 2007. 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 Undergraduate Studies Office on 8344 4475, or the contact listed.

Andrew will discuss the aftermath of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, in particular the United Nations response.

Andrew is a former military negotiator for the International Red Cross in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and has also worked for the UNHCR in Geneva. He served as the Chief of Operations for the United Nations Emergency Coordination Centre in response to the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. He is currently a Senior UN Advisor to the Government of Pakistan.

This seminar has been organized by the University of Melbourne's Human Rights Forum.

Reflections on the Death Penalty: The Legal, Spiritual and Personal Ramifications of Capital Punishment

Three eminent panelists will discuss the legal, spiritual and personal effects of capital punishment from very different perspectives. Further information and a flyer are available online.

Andrea Durbach defended South Africa’s Upington 25 in a notorious trial where 14 people were sentenced to death for a policeman’s murder in apartheid’s final days. One of her colleagues was assassinated. She is the Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre at UNSW.

Peter Norden SJ AO was the parish priest of Melbourne man Van Nguyen, who was executed in Singapore last year. He is a former prison chaplain and convenor of the Victorian Criminal Justice Coalition.

Brian Morley witnessed Australia’s last execution as a journalist. Watching it immediately ended his ambivalence towards the death penalty, and changed his life profoundly.

Associate Professor Kristen Walker will be discussing some of her recent appearances in the High Court of Australia. She will cover the process of taking a case to the High Court, starting with the commencement of proceedings and finishing with oral argument. She will also discuss the challenges and joys of presenting oral argument to seven judges.

melbourne law school annual tax lecture

Tax Avoidance: Developments in UK Law

Speaker: John Tiley, Professor of Law of Taxation and Fellow of Queens' College, University of Cambridge

Bookings by 12 April 2007 to law-rsvp@unimelb.edu.au (please include 'Tiley' in subject heading)

For further information, please visit the Law School website.

The Melbourne Law School 2007 Prize Giving Ceremony will be held during the evening of Wednesday 23 May. Prize winners will soon be announced and sent further information on their prizes and details regarding their attendance at the ceremony.

victoria law foundation legal policy internship program 2007

The Victoria Law Foundation is coordinating a Legal Policy Internship Program for law students with a career interest in:

legal research
policy development
community legal education (including legal publishing)
legal and community sector capacity-building and development

Placements will be made with a number of public sector organizations including:

Victoria Law Foundation
Victorian Law Reform Commission
Victorian Council of Social Services
Judicial College of Victoria
Department of Justice
Court Network
Banking and Finance Services Industry Ombudsman
Liberty Victoria
Office of the Public Advocate
National Institute of Forensic Science

Nature of the Internship

The internship will generally operate as follows, although arrangements may differ between organizations/agencies:

The internships will be four weeks in length, either full time as a four week block or on a part time basis over an extended period of time depending on the needs of the organization. The internships will take place during the mid-year break (July) and the summer break (December/January). The number of positions available may vary, once again depending on the needs of the various agencies.
The internship experience will provide students with the opportunity to develop their skills in a range of areas including legal research, policy research, event/project management, legal and community sector capacity building, marketing and publishing, and administration and office management.
Interns will have the opportunity to work with public sector agencies, community groups, industry, government, the judiciary and other legal institutions.
The Foundation will provide support and general supervision throughout the internship. The Foundation will also facilitate interaction between the various interns and will offer a series of skills workshops to all interns. Direct project supervision will be provided by the agency in which the intern is placed.
The Foundation will provide its own interns with a modest weekly honorarium designed to cover transport, meals and other incidental costs of the work placement. Rates of remuneration may differ between agencies.
Please note that internships should not be undertaken in order to obtain credit toward a university law subject.

For further details and the selection criteria, please see the Victoria Law Foundation website.

Applications close on Friday 20 April 2007.

Applications are open to all law students who have completed, or are currently completing, the property law component of their legal studies and are interested in working in native title and indigenous policy organizations.

Most internships run for 5 or 6 weeks over the June to July and November to March university breaks. Applications for the winter 2007 intake are now open. Applications close on Thursday 5 April 2007 at 5:00pm.

Want to learn more about the US legal and political system? Live in the US for 2 months? Immerse yourself in the US Congress? Melbourne Law students who are Australian citizens (or dual citizens) are eligible to participate in the 2008 Uni-Capitol Washington Internship program, which establishes internships in the US Congress in Washington DC.

The Uni-Capitol Washington Internship runs for 8 weeks from 3 January 2008 to 29 February 2008.

Interns work full time in the US Congress on administrative and substantive matters, in exchange for unique access into and educational perspectives on the US Congress. This is the fifth year of involvement of Melbourne Law School with the Uni-Capitol Washington Internship Program. It has run very successfully for several years. In early 2007, four Interns participated from Melbourne University including two from the Law School (out of a total of 12 from 7 participating Australian universities). Former interns have obtained jobs on Congressional committees; have attended the State of the Union address, been to social functions and met the US President; written speeches and heard them made in Congress; and have seen the day to day political and legal running of the US Congress in action.

Participation in this Internship MUST BE credited towards the subject Legal Internship, or towards a subject in Politics.

If you are interested in applying for this Internship, you MUST prepare the draft one page statement required for the Melbourne University Pre-selection process, as set out on the Information Sheet for Law Students 2008. Submit it by email to m.stewart@unimelb.edu.au by 5:00pm on Thursday 10 May 2007.

INFORMATION SESSION
This Information Session with former interns and by phone hookup with the Director of the Internship Program in Washington DC is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED if you wish to write a successful application. It is likely to take about 2 hours.

Time: 11.30am
Date: Friday 11 May 2007
Place: Lecture Theatre G08, Ground Floor, Law School.

All information about the Capitol-Washington Internship is available for download from the Legal Internship subject webpage. Applications for the Internship must be submitted by end of 1 June 2007. There is no extension allowed.

Selection into the Washington Internship Program is made by the Director of the Program in Washington. There are no set academic or other credentials required for application to the Internship but the selection process is comprehensive and demanding. This ensures that successful applicants are placed with the Placement Participant office that will provide the best "fit" and internship experience for you.

All inquiries about the Internship will be dealt with at the Information Session. All inquiries about the Legal Internship subject should go to the Coordinator of that subject, Mr Jurgen Kurtz.

On Monday 23 April 2007 at 1:00pm in Room G27 an information session will be run for all students interested in being involved with Reprieve Australia's volunteer Internship program. For more information on the program, please refer to the Reprieve Australia website.

Associate Professor Beth Gaze and Ms Dominique Allen are seeking a student with excellent word processing skills to undertake confidential transcription of focus group and interview sessions conducted as part of a research project on anti-discrimination law. All material contained in both the focus group and interviews is confidential and the transcriber will be required to maintain strict confidentiality and sign a confidentiality agreement prior to commencing work.

The position is for a minimum of one day (8 hours) per week at hours determined by the student in consultation with Dominique. The student would be required to start as soon as possible and to complete the transcribing over the course of semester 1.This is a casual position at the standard hourly rate at the HEW 1 level of $24.68. It is expected that around 100 hours of work is available now, and further work may be offered pending extra funding being available.

All applications should be in writing and sent by email to Dominique at allend@unimelb.edu.au. Applications must include a covering letter addressing the selection criteria and a current CV with the names and phone numbers of at least two referees. Applicants must also state their availability during the week and how soon they can commence work. Applications close 13 April 2007.

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is a global organization active in more than 40 countries. It is focused on creating economic opportunity for those in need through community programs developed by student teams from the world’s leading universities.

Each team leverages their own educational experience to implement enterprising projects by working in partnership with faculty advisors and leading members of the business and corporate community. The impact of each university’s programs on their respective communities are then judged at competition, first at national and then at international level.

In just over three months, the Melbourne University SIFE team will represent the University at the National Championships in Melbourne, with a view to qualifying for the 2007 World Cup in New York. With this in mind, the University is looking to recruit the next generation of students to represent the University at these upcoming events.

We invite you to apply for a position with the team by completing the application form (which can be found at www.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/faculty/news.html) and returning it to SIFE Office, Room G03, Economics & Commerce Building, by 5pm on Wednesday 4 April 2007. Should you have any queries about the team's activities, please refer to the background information or contact Joel Aitken, President, Unimelb SIFE at j.aitken@ugrad.unimelb.edu.au

Please send any feedback/comments or suggestions you have about this newsletter to Tom Hewitt-McManus.

When:	Monday 2 April 2007 at 1:00 - 2:00pm
Where:	Room 119, Level 1, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, Swanston Street, University of Melbourne

When:	Tuesday 17 April 2007 at 5:15pm (for 5:30pm), with drinks and refreshments to follow
Where:	DLA Phillips Fox, Level 21, 140 William Street, Melbourne (Cnr Bourke and William Streets)

When:	Wednesday 18 April 2007 at 1:05 - 2:00pm
Where:	Room 102, Melbourne Law School

When:	19 April 2007 at 6:30pm for 7:00pm
Where:	Melbourne Law School

Tutorial	Day	Time	Room
Constitutional Law	Monday	1-2pm	223
PPL	Monday	1-2pm	222
Equity & Trusts	Tuesday	1-2pm	223
Property	Tuesday	1-2pm	222
Obligations	Wednesday	1-2pm	223
LMR	Thursday	1-2pm	223
Legal Theory	Thursday	1-2pm	G29