The Faculty of Law continues to foster excellence in research performance through academic research by Law Faculty staff members, honorary research fellows, postgraduate candidates and undergraduate students, and also through partnerships with industry, government and research organisations. The Faculty was ranked at level 3 (world class) in the 2010 Excellence in Research for Australia exercise.
The Law Faculty seeks to maintain a strong level of research outputs, particularly through publication of articles in high quality refereed journals, research books and book chapters with leading publishers. As with previous years, 2010-11 saw multiple refereed articles and book chapters on a wide variety of subject matters.
These publications are supplemented by a range of other outputs, including edited books; revised editions; books by non-commercial publishers; a large number of other articles, case notes and letters; and submissions to international and national law reform agencies and parliaments. Notably, during 2010 and 2011 Professor Gino dal Pont published two new research books, Powers of Attorney and The Law of Charity, as well as new editions of Equity and Trusts in Australia, Lawyers Professional Responsibility in Australia. He was also appointed as general editor of Halsbury’s Laws of Australia.
Postgraduate candidates are actively encouraged to publish their research work during the course of their postgraduate studies and it is pleasing to see various articles published by recent graduates and current candidates. The outputs by former PhD candidate Dr Lorana Bartels and LLM candidate Mr Jason Allen are particularly noteworthy. The Faculty also recognised the prolific output of one of our honorary research fellows, Mr Rohan Price.
The Faculty continues to foster research through the publication of two journals, the University of Tasmania Law Review and the Journal of Law, Information and Science. The former is edited by undergraduate students, under the supervision of Peter Lawrence. The latter is under the editorship of Dr Brendan Gogarty.
Another key aspect of the Faculty’s research performance is its successful pursuit of competitive funding, particularly through the Centre for Law and Genetics (CLG). In 2010 and 2011 Professor Dianne Nicol and Dr Jane Nielsen commenced a project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) focusing on patenting issues for the Australian biotechnology industry. Also in 2010, Dianne Nicol and Professors Don Chalmers and Margaret Otlowski successfully applied for funding from the Australian Research Council for a project on the regulation of personalised medicine, which commended in 2011. Don Chalmers continued his research collaboration with biomedical researchers from the Menzies Research Institute of Australia, funded through the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Cancer Research Foundation.
A key aspect of the Faculty’s partnership with government is the Tasmania Law Reform Institute (TLRI), which is the premier law reform body in Tasmania, established jointly by the state government, UTAS and the Law Society in 2001. The Institute is operated by its Director, Professor Kate Warner, with assistance and advice from its Board and a group of committed research assistants.
In 2010 the TLRI released two final reports: Criminal Liability of Drivers Who Fall Asleep Causing Motor Vehicle Crashes Resulting in Death or Other Serious Injury: Jiminez; and The Law of Easements in Tasmania. Two further reports were released in 2011: Consolidation of Arrest Laws in Tasmania; and Racial Vilification and Racially Motivated Offences.
Kate Warner also continued her own research project on jury attitudes towards sentencing, funded by the Criminology Research Council.
Dr Gail Lugten worked on two consultancies from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation during 2010 and 2011: The FAO Global Record on Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Vessels and Fishing Support Vessels; and The Role of International Fishery Organisations or Arrangements and Other Bodies concerned with the Conservation and Management of Living Aquatic Resources.
The Faculty retains a strong focus on community and professional development, with many members of staff involved in a range of community and profession related activities drawing on their areas of expertise, including public lectures, participation on workshops, panels, hypotheticals and other public forums.
In recognition of his community service in his area of research expertise in heath law and ethics, Don Chalmers received the Australian Red Cross Medal and the NHMRC Ethics Award in 2010.
The Faculty aims to provide high quality research training programs that suitably prepare candidates for careers as researchers. The Faculty of Law prides itself on providing a supportive, vibrant and engaging research environment for its postgraduate students. It provides a seminar program for staff and postgraduate students and specialised library skills training. The Faculty’s Research and Postgraduate Studies Committee oversees this area.
During 2010 and 2011 the Faculty had an average of around 15 LLM and PhD postgraduates enrolled, with three successful LLM completions (Elise Clark, James Jenkins and Warwick Marshall) and one PhD completion (Dr David Plater).
Professor Dianne Nicol
Associate Dean of Research
Professor Kate Warner, Director
The Tasmania Law Reform Institute (TLRI) was established on the 23rd of July 2001 by agreement between the State Government, the University and the Law Society of Tasmania.
The Institute is the premier law reform body in Tasmania, undertaking law reform research and projects proposed by any person or group, including the Institute itself. The Institute is run by its Director, Professor Kate Warner, with assistance and advice from its Board members, research assistants and Law Faculty staff and students. By basing the Institute within the Law Faculty the Institute is given easy access to legal expertise and resources, while at the same time providing valuable research opportunities for staff and students.
Projects generally involve researching and writing an issues paper, which seeks responses from the public and professionals in relation to the proposed law reform. Following consideration of responses, a final report is prepared, usually including recommendations to the Attorney-General.
In 2010/2011, the TLRI Board approved three new projects. The first of these projects reviews the current laws relating to sexual offences involving young persons. In particular it looks at the current ‘mistake’ and consent defences under the Criminal Code. The project also considers the operation and scope of s194K of the Evidence Act 2001. The Attorney-General approved a request from the Institute for an additional $5000 in funding to complete this project.
The two other new projects approved by the Board both relate to property law. The first will review the Land Titles Act 1980 and the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act 1884. The second will consider the operation of current planning regulations in Tasmania in relation to the installation and use of wind turbines.
The TLRI continues to publish a steady stream of papers on a variety of topics on the law in Tasmania. In 2010/2011, the Institute published papers on racial vilification, easements, dangerous driving causing death and consolidation of arrest powers. The TLRI has ongoing projects on non-therapeutic male circumcision and the admissibility of tendency and coincidence evidence in the context of sexual offence cases.
Professor Kate Warner
Director
The Law Library was staffed by Deborah Bowring (Law Librarian), Christine Hurburgh (Library Officer), Carolyn Jarvis and Moira Mahony (Library Assistants) during 2010-2011. Staffing was also supplemented by the use of casual staff to assist in weekend rosters, evening rosters, shelving, and backup support throughout the year.
The Library conducted a major survey of its clients in late September 2010 to find out which aspects of Library services were of most importance, and how we were performing in these areas. This industry-recognised survey has been conducted every two years since 2001 and allows the Library to longitudinally compare performance and to benchmark against other university libraries. 2010 survey results once again showed Law Library staff rated highly with clients. One of the greatest issues requiring improvement was access to sufficient numbers of computers within the Library. The Law Faculty has addressed this issue by installing twenty-four Apple Mac computers in the Law Library. It is envisaged that this area will also be used for small group legal research workshops.
The Law Library continues to be the central hub of the Law School with a noticeable rise in door count statistics. Use of our resources, facilities, and services have been in steady demand, and gate counts have more than doubled, from 226,046 (2008-2009) to 469,493 (2010-2011).
The Law Library supports teaching and learning within the Faculty of Law through an active legal research skills program that is designed to integrate legal research skills into the curriculum. Legal Research sessions were delivered in compulsory units incrementally, and students undertook formal assessment tasks in most of these units. Training was delivered to students both on and off shore.
The Law Library has continued to increase its training percentage of participants undertaking skills training offered by the library. Please see table for library wide comparisons 2010-2011.
2010
2011
In addition to the face-to-face training, we have developed a number of subject specific library guides to assist students with locating legal resources for their units. The Law Library Guide is proving to be a popular resource with the number of ‘hits’, ranging from 11,245 in 2009 to 65,002 in 2011. Students are using this guide as a portal for their legal research and in addition, we are able to provide students with up to date news in relation to the Library. The Law Library continues to offer individually tailored training programmes for all academic staff, research assistants and research students.
Law Library staff supply ongoing research support to the Law Faculty. For example, we offer customised advice and support in how to:
The Law Library continued to develop its collection throughout 2010-2011. Generous funding from the Law Faculty allowed us to build and strengthen our monograph collection, with a particular focus on international law and comparative law. In addition to this funding, the University provided the library with strategic funds to further develop and build our e-book collection.
The following significant electronic purchases were a welcome addition to our library resources:
Coverage: Public International Law, Law of the Sea, International Trade Law, International Labour Law, Environmental Law, European Law, International Relations, International Organizations, Terrorism, Legal History, Islamic Law.
Coverage: Human Rights, Refugee Law, Immigration Law, Health Law, Children’s Rights, Minority and Group Rights, Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law.
Access to over 700 titles from Oxford Studies in European Law, Oxford Monographs in International Law, Oxford Monographs in Criminal Law and Justice, Clarendon Studies in Criminology, Oxford Monographs in Labour Law, Oxford Studies in Modern Legal History, Oxford Studies in International Economic Law, and the International Courts and Tribunals series.
Primary and secondary sources of law from Singapore, including the Singapore Law Reports.
LawOne provides full text access to national legislation in Australia. This includes access to full text legislation across all nine jurisdictions, including amending, subordinate and repealed legislation, Bills, Explanatory Memoranda and Second Reading Speeches along with detailed legislative histories. Point in time access to selected legislation.
The Law Library added approximately 1,400 monographs to the collection throughout 2010-2011 supporting all areas of teaching, learning and research.
The Law Faculty has again been very generous by supplying the Law Library with an additional twenty four Apple Mac computers, a new printer, upgraded wiring, and the installation of new desks and chairs to complete the project.
The Library has hosted many visitors both local and overseas, including the following:
Deb Bowring
Law Librarian.