Monday, May 20, 2019

Gray on "Internment of Terrorist Suspects and the Australian Constitution"

Professor Anthony Gray of the USQ School of Law and Justice has published a new article in Volume 93(4) of the Australian Law Journal.  The article is titled "Internment of Terrorist Suspects and the Australian Constitution".  Here is the abstract:

"This article considers constitutional questions that arise in relation to recent calls for internment in Australia with respect to those suspected of engagement in terrorism activity. Internment has been practised in the past in Australia with respect to war or warlike conditions, though the extent to which Australia is currently “at war” is of course highly contested. Laws in various Australian States, and at federal level, also currently contemplate preventive detention, though this is in the context of individuals who have already been convicted and sentenced for crime. As such, the current proposal differs significantly from preventive detention as currently practised in Australia. The article considers whether the Commonwealth’s defence power would likely support such a scheme, whether it would be valid if the power were reposed in a member of the Executive, and whether it would be valid if reposed in a court. As a result, it considers whether such schemes are punitive in nature, and the essential character of such a power. The article is focused on the constitutionality of such a scheme, rather than its merits as public policy."

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Collins Co-edits and Contributes to a New Book on Place and Conflict

Professor Pauline Collins of the USQ School of Law and Justice has recently co-edited and contributed to a new collection of essays titled: The Nexus among Place, Conflict, and Communication in a Globalising World.  Published by Palgrave MacMillan, the book is summarised as follows:

"The world abounds with conflicts and the associated communication practices and technologies that perpetuate and contest conflict as it occurs in place. All conflicts are crucially connected with place, and all conflicts are communicated in multiple ways. This book explores the complex nexus among place, conflict and communication and brings together 11 investigations around the interplay of place, conflict and communication. The interdisciplinary focus includes education, history, international relations, law and sociology. The chapters are geographically diverse, traversing Aceh in Indonesia, Australia, England, Finland, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The book highlights the possibilities for reimagining the future so that more democratic and peaceful understandings of place can lead to fewer conflicts and less conflict-based communication. Better futures are possible only if place is replotted, conflict is reconceptualised and communication is recontextualised from new, varied and more inclusive perspectives with a vision to creating a more harmonious world."

Monday, May 13, 2019

Programme for "The Past is Prologue: The Impact of Law's History" Colloquium


The Past is Prologue: The Impact of Law’s History

University of Southern Queensland
16 May 2019

8:30–8:40am Registration

8:40am Welcome by Professor Reid Mortensen

8:45–10:15am Session One : Law and the Constitution

Legal Pluralism in Magna Carta: Implications for the Present Australian Constitution and the Uluru Statement from the Heart
Jason Taliadoros, Deakin University

‘Christian Capitalism’ and the Constitution Act 1867 (Qld)
Julie Copley, USQ

The Impact of Identity Politics on the Rule Of Law in Australia: The Constitution’s External Affairs Power and the Commonwealth’s Expanding Legislative Potential
Joshua Anderson, Notre Dame

Chair: Marcus Harmes

10:30–11am Morning tea

11–11:45am Address

The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG: The Strange and Tragic Death of Legal
History in Australian Law Schools


Chair: Reid Mortensen

11:45am–12:45pm   Session Two: Law and Money

A Conspiracy of Paper? William Paterson and the Mysterious Origins of Banking and Company Law
John Farrar, Bond University

Historical insights into the marketing of professional legal services
Keith Thompson, Notre Dame

Chair: Sarah McKibbin

12:45–1:30pm Break for Lunch

1:30–3:00pm Session Three: Law and Rights

From Nicklin to Now: Prologue to Human Rights Legislation in Queensland
Nicky Jones, USQ

Brook v Brook: Marriage and Choice of Law
Sarah McKibbin, USQ

Ultra Vires in Van Diemen’s Land, 1826-1828?
Rosemary Lucadou-Wells

Chair: Jeremy Patrick

3–3:30pm Break for Afternoon tea

3:30–4:00pm Final Session: Medieval Law

The History of Bills of Privilege in the Court of King's Bench
Susanne Brand, Oxford

Chair: Reid Mortensen

4–5pm Keynote address

Married Women in the English Medieval Royal Courts: Women Under the Control of Their Husbands or Women with Minds and Wills of Their Own?
Professor Paul Brand, Oxford

Chair: Reid Mortensen

Hemming on Prisons in Halsbury's Laws of Australia

Dr. Andrew Hemming, a Senior Lecturer in the USQ School of Law and Justice, has contributed another entry in Halsbury's Law of Australia: Title No 335 Prisons [335 – 1]–[335 – 1645], LexisNexis Australia, Published 11 February 2019, 247pp.