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UTAS International Law Forum

Held on the 23rd Sep 2021

at 5:30pm to
7pm


Add to Calendar 2021-09-23 17:30:00 2021-09-23 19:00:00 Australia/Sydney UTAS International Law Forum University of Tasmania and visiting scholars discuss the topic: Is the International Legal System Broken? Lecture Theatre 2, Medical Sciences Precinct, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart and ONLINE
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Venue:

Lecture Theatre 2, Medical Sciences Precinct, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart and ONLINE

Summary:

University of Tasmania and visiting scholars discuss the topic: Is the International Legal System Broken?


Is the International Legal System Broken?

UTAS International Law Forum

It is more than 75 years since the United Nations was established to deal with international economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian challenges. Yet war, climate change, human rights abuses and a global pandemic continue to threaten people worldwide. Has the International Legal System failed to deliver? And if so, what can be done about it? Join us for a live panel discussion with leading experts on environmental and climate change law, intellectual property, refugee protection and human rights. Facilitated by Dr Martin Clark, UTAS Law.

Those attending in person are invited to stay for refreshments after the event.

Panellists:
  • Dr Peter Lawrence, UTAS Law (the Paris Agreement and climate change)
  • Professor Rosemary Rayfuse, UNSW Law (law of the sea)
  • Dr Matt Killingsworth, UTAS Politics and International Relations (international relations)
  • Dr Tamara Wood, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law (refugee law and forced migration)
  • Dr Olugbenga Olatunji, UTAS Law (patent law and COVID-19)
  • Robin Banks, UTAS Law (human rights and discrimination)
  • Closing remarks:  Professor Michael Stuckey, Dean and Head of School, UTAS Law
Collage of speaker photos
About the Speakers

Dr Peter Lawrence is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Tasmania Law School where he teaches international law and is co-convener of the Climate Justice Network. Peter has written extensively in the field of international environmental law and is author of Justice for Future Generations, Climate Change and International Law (2014) and a contributor to the Oxford Handbook on International Environmental Law. Peter is a singer with a YouTube channel which includes climate activist songs: see ‘Peter Lawrence baritone climate songs’.

Prof Rosemary Rayfuse is Emeritus Scientia Professor in International Law at UNSW Sydney and a fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Her research focuses on the law of the sea and protection of the marine environment and she has special expertise in high seas fisheries, climate change and the oceans, and polar oceans governance. She a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law and the International Law Association's Committee on International Law and Sea-Level Rise.

Dr Matt Killingsworth is Head of Politics and International Relations and a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Tasmania, where he researches the evolution of the modern laws of war, and International Criminal Justice. In 2013 he was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict and in 2014 was the recipient of a United States Department of State ‘Study of U.S. Institutes for Scholars’ grant. He is the Chair of the Tasmanian Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Committee, and is a regular contributor to local and national media.

Dr Tamara Wood is a Visiting Fellow at the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW, and a Postdoctoral Researcher (external) for ‘Refugees are Migrants: Refugee Mobility, Recognition and Rights’ – a five-year ERC-funded project based at the Hertie School, Berlin. Tamara is an expert in refugee protection and forced migration, with special expertise in disaster and climate change-related human mobility.

Dr Olugbenga Olatunji is a recent PhD graduate from the UTAS Law School, where he also worked as an adjunct lecturer in the fields of contract and corporate law. He has an LLB from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), an LLM in International Law from the University of Cambridge (UK), and a Master in Intellectual Property from Africa University (Zimbabwe). His research interest intersperses intellectual property rights (particularly patent law), access to medicines, anti-counterfeiting and trade law. In January 2022, Gbenga will commence as a lecturer at the USYD Law school.

Robin Banks has worked in government, private and not-for-profit legal roles, including as Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Commissioner and CEO of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (NSW), which has a particular interest in the operation of international human rights law for Australians. Robin also worked at the Canadian Human Rights Commission and has a strong background in disability rights. She is a PhD candidate at UTAS researching discrimination law reform. Robin grew up in Tasmania and holds an LLB from the UNSW.

Dr Martin Clark is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Tasmania and a Modern Law Review postdoctoral fellow. He holds a PhD in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, teaches legal theory and contract, and researches in the history of public and international law.

Arrival at 5:15pm is encouraged to allow for health screening and check-in via the Check-in Tas App.

Book your ticket to join in person at the Stanley Burbury Theatre or by Zoom webinar.