Murdoch
University
School of Law
Perth,
Western Australia
29 September - 2 October 2002
It is with
great pleasure that the School of Law at Murdoch University
welcomes you to the 57th Australian Law Teachers
Association Conference.
The conference will be held from Sunday 29th
September through to Wednesday 2nd October 2002.
There will
be an enormous range of papers presented in the various Interest
Groups that will be run over the 3 days of the Conference. Some
relate directly to our theme this year: "Law- What is it good
for?", although it is fair to say that most do not. That is
as it should be. These Conferences are a major part of the
process of bringing us together in our community of interest as
teachers of law in universities. We are an increasingly diverse
community with a great deal of value to say to one another.
As has been
the case in past Conferences, this year we have a number of
plenary sessions that will provide us with the opportunity to
hear presentations from the distinguished guests of the
Conference on matters related closely to our theme. That theme
was chosen to reflect the fact that 2001/2002 presented us with
some very significant challenges. These included the terror
attack on September 11, governance breakdowns, the plight of
refugees, and the response of government to these phenomena. I
would Particularly commend those presentations to you, and
encourage you to participate in the debate we are hoping they
will stimulate.
This year,
we also have two other plenary events, one on a project to
involve legal educators and their students in a social justice
initiative with international resonances, and the other to
discuss the accreditation of legal education. Both of these, on
our final Conference day, will, we hope, provide all of us with
even more food for thought. The sustenance is not, however,
simply intellectual. There is a rich social program that should
also serve to strengthen our community of interest that is the
best justification for these important annual events for legal
educators across our region.
Welcome to
Perth!
Ralph
Simmonds
Head of School
2001-02 ALTA President
The
Theme for the Conference is:
“Law-
What is it good for?”
Globally, regionally and
domestically, 2001/2002 has presented our communities with
significant challenges:
* The response to the terror attack of September 11
* Government Breakdowns
* The plight of refugees, and
* The response of governments to these phenomena.
All of these represent challenges
for policy makers and have prompted many commentators to
question law's role in meeting them.
Beyond these, there are economic
and environmental issues arising from increased globalisation,
new forms of intellectual property, bio-scientific advances that
raise privacy concerns, legal jurisdiction in defamation cases,
the roles and rights of Indigenous minorities in many countries
within the region, and new legislation which impacts upon civil
and political liberties. All of these have one common feature.
They raise questions regarding the role of law, lawyers,
teachers and their students in addressing important policy
issues.
Whether law can help, and what help
it can provide, are therefore important questions for ALTA
members to consider and address as a part of the 2002
conference.
Interest
Groups
The Conference
organisers are keen to encourage papers to be presented at the
interest group sessions. Papers reflecting the broad theme of the
conference are particularly encouraged. However, Law teachers and
other participants are also invited to present on other topics
relevant to all the various interest groups. We want to see as many
participants as possible.
Information
about the various ALTA interest groups is available on the ALTA
website.
