New Initiatives: The Current Legal Issues Seminar Series

The Current Legal Issues Seminar Series is a joint enterprise initiated in 2009 by the Queensland Bar Association and The TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland, which aims to bring together the  insights of judges, practitioners and legal academics upon topical legal issues of our time. Modelled upon a series of highly successful seminars run by the late Professor Peter Birks at All Soul’s College, Oxford, it is designed to foster genuine interaction and debate about the law, to break open isolated compartments of legal learning and to encourage discussion, co-operation and fruitful interaction between judiciary, practitioner and the legal academy. The series is pitched at high intellectual level and draws upon speakers and commentators who are leaders in their respective fields. Papers offered by practitioners are often subject to academic commentary; and vice versa. Opportunities for debate are then proffered to the audience. Each seminar is followed by a brief reception.

The inaugural seminar of the series this year 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 to boot. It precipitated lively debate and no little controversy. Other distinguished contributors have included (in  order of contribution) David Jackson QC, John McKenna SC, The Hon Justice Keane, John Sheahan SC,  Dr David Hamer and the Hon Justice Holmes. Topics have included the shape of the modern law of unjust enrichment, estoppel by convention, directors’ duties during insolvency; propensity and relationship evidence in criminal proceedings and problematic aspects of the Trade Practices Act. The final seminar in 2009 on judicial review will be delivered on 17th September by Dr Anthony Cassimatis (TC Beirne School of Law) and will be the subject of a critical commentary by the Hon Justice Kiefel of the High Court of Australia. The session will be chaired by Walter Sofronoff QC, Solicitor General for Queensland. All papers are available to audiences in advance and some sessions are video recorded to increase their accessibility.

The success of this initiative is unremarkable when one has regard to the personalities involved and the generous support that has been received from all quarters include the Chief Justice of Queensland, The Hon Justice de Jersey AC and from the Bar Association itself, particularly the President, Michael Stewart and Helene Breene. The picture of the law that eventuates, as the seminars have successfully shown, is at once more three-dimensional and higher in resolution. We hope the series will contribute to understanding, interaction and co-operation between all strands of the legal community.

Associate Professor Kit Barker, MA BCL,
Director of Research, TC Beirne School of Law,
The University of Queensland.

For further information on this and next year’s series, including papers, commentaries and (where available) video download, please visit: http://www.law.uq.edu.au/current-legal-issues-series