A new UQ seminar series designed to bring together insights from judges, practitioners and legal academics on current legal issues has proved to be highly successful.
Launched in February 2009 under the patronage of the Chief Justice of Queensland, the Hon Justice De Jersey AC, the Current Legal Issues (CLI) Seminar Series is a joint collaborative initiative of the TC Beirne School of Law and the Queensland Bar Association.
TC Beirne School of Law Director of Research Associate Professor Kit Barker said the seminars were modelled upon the highly successful seminars run by the late Professor Peter Birks at All Soul’s College, Oxford University.
“The series is designed to foster genuine interaction and debate about the law and to break open isolated compartments of legal learning to encourage discussion, co-operation and fruitful interaction between judiciary, practitioner and the legal academy.
“Each of these perspectives gives a slightly different appreciation of the law’s past, present, pitfalls, possibilities and prospects. Legal practice has its focus on client based solutions and is influenced by matters of system; legal academia often look at longer term perspectives and connective agendas; and the judicial viewpoint provides a key internal view on decision-making, which tries to be sensitive to broad implications whilst respecting constitutional role.”
Associate Professor Barker said the CLI seminar series speakers and commentators are leaders in their respective fields with expertise in a number of topical legal areas.
“The inaugural seminar of the series was delivered by Professor Andrew Burrows QC, FBA, Norton Rose Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Oxford, one of the world’s leading private law scholars and a highly successful practitioner. Other distinguished contributors have included David Jackson QC, John McKenna SC, The Hon Justice Keane, John Sheahan SC, Dr David Hamer and the Hon Justice Holmes.
“A wide range of current legal issues has been discussed, including the shape of the modern law of unjust enrichment, estoppel directors’ duties during insolvency; propensity and relationship evidence in criminal proceedings and problematic aspects of the Trade Practices Act.”
The final seminar for the year will take place on September 17 and will focus on judicial review. TC Beirne's School of Law Dr Anthony Cassimatis will present a paper which will be the subject of a critical commentary by the Hon Justice Kiefel of the High Court of Australia and the session will be chaired by Walter Sofronoff QC, Solicitor General for Queensland. The session will be video recorded.