Climate litigation against companies in a comparative perspective
2022-11-30 12:00 - 13:00 (Australia/Sydney) | The University of Sydney Law School, Boardroom, Level 4, New Law Building F10
Climate litigation against companies in a comparative perspective
In-person event
In this seminar, Prof M Marc-Philippe Weller (Heidelberg University) takes the spectacular 2021Â Milieudefensie v ShellÂ ruling from a first instance court in The Hague as an opportunity to identify cross-jurisdictional problems of civil climate change litigation from a comparative perspective.
The Shell case was the first climate action between private parties that was successful in the first instance and led to Shell’s obligation to drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, including its Scope 3 emissions. From the perspective of legal realism, the Dutch ruling provides a momentum for climate litigation worldwide. However, from the perspective of potential lawsuits for the reduction of CO2 emissions against companies in Germany, one must assert that the Shell ruling cannot simply be transposed into the German legal order.
Discussant: Dr Katherine Owens,Â Director of the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law.

About the speaker
Prof. Dr. Marc-Philippe Weller, Vice-Rector for International Affairs of Heidelberg University
Prof. Marc-Philippe Weller has been Vice-Rector for International Affairs of Heidelberg University since 2019. He was appointed Professor for Private Law, Company Law, Private International Law, and Comparative Law at Heidelberg University in 2014. As Vice-Rector, Prof. Weller is responsible for the international partnerships of Heidelberg University, in particular the 4EU+ European University Alliance (Sorbonne, Copenhagen, Geneva, Heidelberg, Milan, Prague and Warsaw), as well as the Heidelberg University’s centres abroad in Santiago de Chile, New York, Delhi, and Kyoto. He is also in charge of legal compliance.
Prof. Weller studied Law at the universities of Heidelberg and Montpellier, and earned his doctorate at Heidelberg University in 2004, while he was also employed as an associate advocate. He completed his habilitation at the University of Cologne in 2008. Before accepting the appointment to Heidelberg University, Prof. Weller held a Chair at the University of Mannheim from 2008 to 2011, and at the University of Freiburg from 2011 to 2014. He has been a visiting professor at universities in Austria (Vienna), France (Paris), Sweden (Goteborg), Taiwan and the USA (Georgetown). Prof. Weller has also directed two summer courses at the Hague Academy for International Law.
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Wednesday 30 November
Time: 12-1pm
This event is being held in-person at Sydney Law School.
Location: The University of Sydney, Boardroom, Level 4, New Law Building (F10)
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CPD Points: 1
This event is proudly presented by the Sydney Centre for International Law and the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law.

Works-in-Progress Conference
2023-02-16 13:00 - 16:30 | Camperdown Campus – venue to be confirmed
Works-in-Progress Conference
Hybrid Event
Works-in-Progress Event
On Thursday, 16 February, the Sydney Centre for International Law hosts its first-ever works-in-progress conference in association with its annual International Year in Review conference.Â This hybrid afternoon event features authors from around the world workshopping papers dealing with the situation in Ukraine and interstate dispute settlement (ISDS), two topics that are discussed at the International Year in Review conference.
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Thursday 16 February 2023, 1-4.30pm AEDT
Click here to the program.Â (Last updated 8/02/2023)
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Attendees should contact Prof. Stacie Strong (stacie.strong@sydney.edu.au) to obtain copies of the papers under discussion.
This event is hosted by theÂ Sydney Centre for International LawÂ at The University of Sydney Law School.

Gender persecution: New frontiers in international criminal law
2023-03-01 13:00 - 14:00 | Law Lounge, Level 1
Gender persecution: New frontiers in international criminal law
In-person event

The Sydney Centre for International Law warmly invites Sydney Law School staff, students and external guests to this conversation on the crime against humanity of â€˜gender persecution’, which is currently being prosecuted for the first time in the International Criminal Court.
This event is free of charge, but registration is required.
Speakers:
Lisa Davis, Special Advisor on Gender Persecution to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor and Associate Professor at The City University of New York (CUNY) Law School
in conversation with
Rosemary Grey, Senior Lecturer, Sydney Law School and Co-Director of the Sydney Centre for International Law

Wednesday 1 March 2023
Time: 1-2pm AEDT
Venue: University of Sydney, Level 1, Law Lounge, New Law Building Annex (F10A), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown
CPD Points: 1

This event is proudly hosted by theÂ Sydney Centre for International LawÂ at The University of Sydney Law School.Â

Conflict-of-norms in the information society: national security and cross-border data flow
2023-03-03 11:00 - 12:00
Conflict-of-norms in the information society: national security and cross-border data flow
Online event
National security has increasingly become a concern for cross-border data flow. In this panel discussion, we will survey the conflicts and potential collaboration between protecting national security and enhancing digital trade. Our distinguished panel will cover relevant laws and practices in big (the US and China), medium (the UK), and small (Vietnam and Taiwan) jurisdictions.
Speakers

Professor Anupam ChanderÂ (Professor, Georgetown University)

Trump v. TikTok:Â How a Chinese big tech platform defeated the President of the United States, and why that’s important for free expression
When then-President Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok, ostensibly because of its Chinese roots, US courts came to TikTok’s rescue. Rather than deferring to the president’s claims of a national security emergency justifying the ban, courts held that the president lacked statutory authority to ban TikTok. This talk will explain why, and what was at stake in this struggle.

Ms. Nguyen Ha (Visiting Scholar Harvard University, Research & Teaching Associate Monash University)

Conflicting cybersecurity norms in Vietnam: the borrowing of local actors
As scholars grapple with the complexity of international cybersecurity, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam offers a surprisingly rich snapshot of cybersecurity norms in the global arena. This talk discusses the Vietnamese cybersecurity regime that has been shaped by local actors, who borrowed conflicting cybersecurity norms from international laws and trade agreements.

Dr. Phoebe LiÂ (Reader, Sussex University)

How national security is shaping digital sovereignty: the cases of middle power countries
Economic security has been a main driver for countries to develop digital and data sovereignty in order to protection national security. This talk will discuss the comparative efforts of the UK government in developing an AI strategy after leaving the EU and how the Taiwanese National Security Law has been strengthened by the recent law reform in trade secrets protection.

Moderators/commentators
â€¢Â Dr.Â Han-Wei LiuÂ (Senior Lecturer, Monash University)
â€¢Â Dr. Jie (Jeanne) HuangÂ (Associate Professor Sydney University, Visiting Scholar Harvard University)

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Friday 3 March, 11am-12pm AEDT (Thursday 2 March, 7-8pm EST)
This event is being heldÂ online.Â
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This event is presented by the Sydney Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney and Private International Law, Monash University, and Law & Technology interest groups of the American Society of International Law.

Book launch: Constitutional Public Reason by Professor Wojciech Sadurski
2023-05-15 17:30 - 19:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Book launch: Constitutional Public Reason by Professor Wojciech Sadurski
In-person event
The University of Sydney Law School is delighted to invite you to the launch of Constitutional Public Reason by Professor Wojciech Sadurski, Challis Chair in Jurisprudence, Sydney Law School.
The book will be launched by The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG.
About Constitutional Public Reason
Public reason, which urges that only laws based on principles reasonably agreeable to all those bound by them are legitimate, has rarely been applied to constitutional law, and never in a comparative way. This book aspires to fill that gap, by studying the use of public reason in different constitutional systems. In doing so, it studies public reason both as a normative idea – as a principle postulated for democratic constitutionalism, and as a descriptive account – as helping to understand many important doctrines in constitutional adjudication of some leading constitutional courts around the world, and also in the supranational sphere.
Constitutional Public Reason questions the performance of leading ‘exemplars of public reasons’, including the top courts of the United States, India, Canada, Australia, Germany, and South Africa, as well as the European Court of Human Rights. It also attempts to show how this performance can be improved in fields such as freedom of expression, non-establishment of religion, and anti-discrimination law. Ultimately, it finds that the best resonance between the ideal of public reason and constitutional interpretation is found in doctrines that locate the illegitimacy of laws in the wrongful motives (or purposes) pursued by legislators. Scrutinising motives is often as important as scrutinising consequences.
Find out more about the book and order it online here.
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Monday 15 May 2023
Time: 5.30-7pm (including a cocktail reception)
Venue: Level 4, Common Room, New Law Building (F10)
This event is being held in-person at Sydney Law School.
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About the author
Wojciech Sadurski is Challis Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Sydney and Professor of the Centre for Europe at the University of Warsaw; formerly Professor and Head of Department of Law at the European University Institute in Florence. He is author of several books, most recently Poland’s Constitutional Breakdown (2019) and Constitutionalism and the Enlargement of Europe (2012). He regularly teaches, as visiting professor, in top universities around the world, including at Yale and New York Universities.
CPD Points: 1
This event is presented by the University of Sydney Law School.

Private International Law and Voices of Children
2023-06-01 18:00 - 19:30
Private International Law and Voices of Children
Online event
When making decisions, adults should think about how their decisions will affect children. Recent years have witnessed, in private international law cases and legislation, the protection of children is increasingly mingled with gender, indigenous issues, refugees, violence, war, surrogacy technology, etc. This is evidenced by the US Supreme Court 2022 judgmentÂ Golan v. Saada, the Australian caseÂ Secretary, Department of Communities & Justice v Bamfield, the 2023Â German Constitutional Court decision, theÂ Chinese Civil Code, the Australia Family Law (Child Abduction Convention) Amendment (Family Violence) Regulations 2022, and developments at the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH Children Conventions) and the United Nations (Convention on the Rights of the ChildÂ and its additionalÂ Protocols).
On this International Children’s Day, let us join thisÂ CAPLUSÂ webinar in cooperation with conflictoflaws.net and American Society of International Law Private International Law Interest Group to hear voices of children in private international law.
Speakers

Ms. Anna Mary Coburn

After 22-years of public service as a U.S. Department of State Attorney-Advisor for Children’s Issues as well as a USAID Regional Legal Advisor/Senior Advisor for Children/Youth in Conflict, Anna has transitioned to practicing international family law with a focus on child rights cases and issues.

Mr. Philippe Lortie

Philippe is co-head of the International Family and Child Protection Law Division at the Hague Conference on Private International Law Permanent Bureau and has more than 30 years’ experience in the field of child protection.

Ms. Miranda Kaye

Ms Miranda Kaye is an academic at the Faculty of Law in the University of Technology Sydney in Australia and a member of Hague Mothers, a project aiming to end the injustices created by the Hague Child Abduction Convention. She also has experience in the public service (Law Commission of England and Wales) and as a practicing solicitor (family law in the UK).

Professor Lukas Rademacher

Lukas is a Professor of Private Law, Private International Law, and Comparative Law in Kiel, Germany. He studied law at the Universities of DÃ¼sseldorf and Oxford, and received his PhD at the University of MÃ¼nster. He wrote his postdoctoral thesis at the University of Cologne.

Ms. Haitao Ye

Haitao is a lawyer at the Shanghai Office of the Beijing Dacheng Law LLP specializing in marriage and family dispute resolution, family wealth inheritance and management. She is a former experienced judge in civil and commercial trials at the Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Court in China.
Moderators/commentators
â€¢Â Dr. Jie (Jeanne) HuangÂ (Associate Professor at Sydney Law School, University of Sydney)

Thursday 1 June, 6-7.30pm AEST
(4-5.30am Washington D.C./9-10:30am London/10-11.30am the Hague/4-5.30pm Beijing)

This event is proudly co-presented by theÂ Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney, conflictoflaws.net and the American Society of International Law Private International Law Interest Group.

Book launch: Comparing Online Legal Education
2023-08-03 17:30 - 18:30 | Law Lounge, Level 1
Book launch: Comparing Online Legal Education
In-person event
The University of Sydney Law School is delighted to invite you to the launch of Comparing Online Legal Education, co-edited by Professor Luke Nottage, Sydney Law School, for the International Academy of Comparative Law.
The book will be launched by The Hon. Andrew Bell, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW, and previously part-time lecturer at Sydney Law School.
About Comparing Online Legal Education
This pioneering work by leading comparative lawyers examines developments in online legal education, particularly in universities but also in professional associations, before and especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The book posits and largely confirms that transformations are linked to the extent and scope of respective legal professions (often, but not always, correlating to common versus civil law traditions), funding and other aspects of university-level education, and information and communications technology infrastructure in each jurisdiction. It charts the dramatic shift to online legal education in almost all jurisdictions even with different levels of COVID-19 infections and deaths, or mobility restrictions imposed by law and/or social norms. It also details how law teachers and students adapted to the challenges and opportunities of new technologies and practices, sometimes benefitting from serendipitous earlier events supporting online legal education, and a considerable â€˜reversion to the mean’ as the pandemic has abated.
The special reports incorporate extensive empirical data, including surveys on online legal education experiences. They cover 13 jurisdictions across the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Canada, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan and Pakistan), Europe and beyond (Croatia, Cyprus, Italy and Seychelles), ranging from micro-states to very large economies, at various stages of economic development and from different legal traditions. Comparing Online Legal Education provides rich resources and lessons for legal academics and professionals, as well as those involved in education policy.
Find out more about the book and order it online here.
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Thursday 3 August 2023
Time: 5.30-6.30pm (Cocktail reception to follow book launch)
Venue: Level 1, Law Lounge, New Law Building Annex (F10A)
This event is being held in-person at Sydney Law School.
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About the editors
Luke Nottage (PhD VUW, LLD Kyoto) is Professor of Comparative and Transnational Business Law at the University of Sydney, Associate Director of its Centre for Asian and Pacific Law (CAPLUS) and founding Co-Director of the Australian Network for Japanese Law (ANJeL). He is Honorary Professor at the University of Wollongong, Special Counsel with Williams Trade Law and a titular member of the International Academy of Comparative Law. Professor Nottage has published 19 books and taught law in Australasia, Southeast Asia, Japan, North America and Europe.
Makoto Ibusuki (LLD Hokkaido) is Professor of Law at Seijo University in Tokyo and ANJeL-in-Japan Program Convenor for the Australian Network for Japanese Law. His major areas of research, teaching and writing are in cyberspace law and criminal procedure. He was a founding director of the Hojohogakkai (Association for Legal Informatics) and a key member of a study group promoting IT issues in Japan’s major reforms to criminal and civil justice. Professor Ibusuki formerly taught at Kagoshima University in Kyushu (1990-2002) and at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto (2002-2008).
CPD Points: 1
This event and book project are supported by theÂ Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at Sydney Law School, and the Australian Network for Japanese Law (ANJeL).

Comparative History of International Arbitration: Australia, Japan and Beyond
2023-09-21 16:00 - 17:30 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Comparative History of International Arbitration: Australia, Japan and Beyond
Hybrid event
This hybrid-format webinar compares the historical trajectory of international arbitration law and practice in Australia and Japan in regional and global contexts. An aim is to explore the evolving images and contours of arbitration and scope for cross-border collaboration in promoting this popular but sometimes contested form of dispute resolution.
Speakers

Prof the Hon Marilyn Warren AC KCÂ (Monash University, former Chief Justice of Victoria) The History of Arbitration in Australia
(based on chapter in recent textbook with Justice Clyde Croft and Dr Drossos Stamboulakis reviewed in ALJ and here: https://japaneselaw.sydney.edu.au/2022/01/international-and-australian-commercial-arbitration-book-review/)

Prof Giorgio ColomboÂ (Nagoya University) The Maria Luz Arbitration in Meiji Japan
(based on his 2022 book:Â https://www.routledge.com/Justice-and-International-Law-in-Meiji-Japan-The-Maria-Luz-Incident-and/Colombo/p/book/9781032249025)

Asst Prof Nobumichi TeramuraÂ (Universiti Brunei Darussalam) The History and Potential of International Arbitration in Japan
(based on his 2023 chapter with Luke Nottage for Lars Markert et al, eds, International Arbitration in Japan, Wolters Kluwer, forthcoming)

Commentator

Prof Luke NottageÂ (University of Sydney)(Drawing on the concluding chapter in his 2021 book: https://japaneselaw.sydney.edu.au/2020/08/book-in-press-with-elgar/Â and his Encyclopedia entry on ACICA (with Prof Richard Garnett) atÂ https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4431276Â )

Chair

Assoc Prof Jeanne HuangÂ (University of Sydney)

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Thursday 21 September
Time:Â 4-5.30pm
Location:Â The University of Sydney, Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown
Cost:Â Free, but registration is essential. Please select your attendance type during registration.
CPD points:Â 1.5 points
This event is being held an online and in-person at Sydney Law School. Please indicate your viewing preference when registering.
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This event is proudly co-presented by the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law, the Resolution Institute and the Australian Network for Japanese Law at the University of Sydney Law School.

2nd Annual Global Sports Law Symposium: Dispute Resolution
2023-09-22 16:00 - 17:30
2nd Annual Global Sports Law Symposium: Dispute Resolution
In-person event
Abstract
This symposium brings together luminary experts and practitioners in sports law to discuss dispute resolution in the world of sports (it follows on fromÂ ANJeL’s seminar on international arbitration). The symposium’s first panel will feature two giants of the Australian sports law world reflecting on their careers in jurisprudence and sports administration resolving disputes in the sports area. The second panel will be a case study focusing on dispute resolution in baseball with two experts on both Japanese and Australian baseball.

About the Speakers
Dispute Resolution in Sports: Expert Reflections
Professor Deborah HealeyÂ (University of New South Wales)
Deborah Healey is the Director of the Herbert Smith Freehills China International Business and Economic Law (CIBEL) Centre and the Editor of the Sports Law Journal. She has more than 30 years of experience serving on the boards of major sports governance organizations and serves on the National Sports Tribunal.
Professor the Hon Marilyn Warren AC KCÂ (Monash University)
Marilyn Warren is a Vice Chancellor’s Professorial Fellow of Monash University and is the former Chief Justice of Victoria. She practices as a commercial arbitrator and teaches law as a Professor at Monash’s Law Faculty.

Dispute Resolution in Sports: Baseball Case Study
Mr. Mark MarinoÂ (CEO, Baseball NSW)
Mark Marino has been the CEO of Baseball NSW since 2014 and is an Executive Committee Member of the Australian Baseball Players Alumni Association. Mark played collegiate and professional baseball in the United States and was the CEO of the Sydney Blue Sox 2014-2018.
Dr. Matt NicholÂ (Lecturer, Central Queensland University, (Melbourne))
Matt Nichol is a lecturer and sports law academic at the School of Business and Law at Central Queensland University and a board member of Baseball Victoria. His research uses approaches to labour law and regulatory theory to understand the regulation of labour in professional team sports.

Moderator:Â Mr. Micah Burch, Senior Lecturer, Sydney Law School.
Hosts: Sydney Law School, Australian Network for Japanese Law, Australia New Zealand Sports Law Association
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Date: Friday, 22 September 2023
Time: 4.00-5.30pm
Location: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10), The University of Sydney
Please follow directional signage on arrival.
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CPD Points:Â 1.5
This event is proudly co-presented by The University of Sydney Law School, the Australian Network for Japanese Law and the Australia New Zealand Sports Law Association.

Business, human rights and development: A case for course correction
2023-11-03 13:30 - 14:30 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Business, human rights and development: A case for course correction
In-person event
Businesses are expected to respect all human rights. However, there is little evidence that human rights abuses-linked to businesses are on the decline despite the evolution of plethora of standards. Businesses are also expected to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, as highlighted by the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023, the world is seriously offtrack to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and businesses have again not done enough to overcome global challenges such as poverty, inequalities, child labour, hunger or climate change.
What should businesses do differently in future? Building on his first thematic report (A/78/160) to the UN General Assembly as the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development, Professor Deva will argue that a fundamental shift is required in the current role and place of business in society. There is a need to reorient the purpose of business, change irresponsible business models and go beyond the â€˜do no harm’ approach. By doing so, businesses will be able to make a meaningful contribution not only to achieving inclusive and sustainable development but also to building a human rights economy.

About the speaker
Surya Devais a Professor at the Macquarie Law School and Director of the Centre for Environmental Law at Macquarie University. He is also the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development and a Co-Director of the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum. Deva is an internationally recognised scholar in the field of business and human rights. He served as a member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (2016-22). Deva has advised UN agencies, governments, national human rights institutions, multinational corporations, trade unions and civil society organisations on issues related to his expertise. He researches in the areas of business and human rights, comparative constitutional law, international human rights law, sustainable development, climate change, and gender equality. Deva is one of the founding Editors-in-Chief of the Business and Human Rights Journal, and is an elected Vice President of the International Association of Constitutional Law (2022-26).

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Friday 3 November
Time: 1.30-2.30pm
Venue: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10)
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This event is proudly co-presented by the ANZIL International Human Rights Law Interest Group (IHRLIG) & The University of Sydney Law School.

Business and Human rights: Recent Developments and Comparative Lessons
2023-12-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Business and Human rights: Recent Developments and Comparative Lessons
In-person event
Given that human rights abuses-linked to businesses are on the rise rather than in decline, it is no surprise that â€˜business and human rights’ remains a rapidly evolving research field. There are various national initiatives (e.g. the French loi de vigilance, one of the pioneer laws in this field, the new German Lieferkettengesetz or the currently ongoing review of the Modern Slavery Act in Australia). At the same time, there are various international initiatives (e.g. the UN Guiding principles or draft of a new binding treaty at the UN Human Rights Council) with different prospects for success. The talk will analyze the most recent developments on the different legal levels (national, regional and international) and draw comparative conclusions for the field of business and human rights. In doing so, the talk with focus on two distinct sub-questions: corporations’ human rights obligations vis-Ã -vis the environment as well as corporate human rights due diligence in areas of conflict.
About the speaker
Pierre ThielbÃ¶rger is a Professor of Public Law and Public International Law at Ruhr University Bochum. He is also the Executive Director of the Institute for the International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), Germany’s biggest research institute on armed conflicts and humanitarian crises. He serves as chairman of the General Assembly of the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA), is co-convener of the Interest Group on Human Rights of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) and sits on the advisory board of the German Institute on Human Rights. He advises the German government on all matters concerning the United Nations as well as humanitarian action and is the co-editor of several peer-reviewed journals in international law. His research field is (business and) human rights, the law of peace and armed conflict, ICL and transitional justice, as well as environmental law and the law of the global commons (including water).
Tuesday 5 December 2023,
Time: 1-2pm AEDT
Venue:Â Level 4, Common Room, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus
CPD Points: 1

This event is proudly presented by the Sydney Centre for International LawÂ at The University of Sydney Law School.

Corruption, Criminal Law, and China: Offering and Accepting Bribes
2024-02-20 17:00 - 18:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Corruption, Criminal Law, and China: Offering and Accepting Bribes

In-person event
The XII Amendment to Criminal Law of P.R.C adopted by the Standing Committee of People’s Congress on 29 December 2023 is guided by two principles. One is to enhance protection for private enterprises and the other is to punish offering bribes and accepting bribes equally. The reason that accepting bribes, which has been punished ever since the foundation of P.R.C, is stressed now is of course the serious situation of bribery. Meanwhile, although the logic behind this is acceptable, whether legislative purpose can be realized to a high degree depends on judicial efforts.
Judging from typical cases and relative statistics, I believe four principles should be observed in terms of criminal law. In the first place, different approaches should be taken to deal with offering bribes committed by organizations and individuals. Compliance model might be a choice. Secondly, crime and civil or administrative violation should be carefully differentiated to prevent criminal punishments from leading to undue harms. Thirdly, the question whether public authorities can be charged with offering or accepting bribes should be answered in specific context. Finally, more flexible systems, such as disqualification and corporate probation, should be considered.
Speaker
Professor Zhenjie Zhou,Â Vice Dean, Beijing Normal University School of Law, China
Zhenjie Zhou, Professor and Doctor of Law. He is now vice Dean of Beijing Normal University College for Criminal Law Science Â He obtained his Doctor degree at the Law Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and then worked at Waseda Institute for Advanced Sciences (Japan) for three years. He was visiting fellows at several internationally renowned academic institutions such as the Center for Criminology at Oxford University (UK) and Australia Research Center for Excellences at Griffith University (Australia). His academic achievements in many fields, including fundamental principles of criminal law, corporate crime and history of criminal law, can be seen in books and articles he has published in Chinese, English and Japanese, awards from authoritative organizations such as Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Chinese Law Society and research funds supported by high level organizations such as EU and National Foundation of Stoical Sciences of China.
Commentators

Peili Ying, Professor at the Criminal Law School of East China University of Political Science and Law, he serves as the Vice President of the Chinese Society of Criminology, President of the Shanghai Society of Criminology, and President of the Social Governance Research Society of the Shanghai Law Society. His main research focus is criminology, and he has undertaken several research projects funded by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Education. Pei Li has published over 10 academic papers and authored three monographs.
Judy Zhou is a Consulting Solicitor of Taylor Rose Australia with dual-qualifications in both Australia and China who has a practice focus of financial and white-collar crime, proceeds of crime litigation, investigations and dispute resolution, and legal advisory concerning AML/CTF and corporate compliance. Judy is also an ACAMS certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist. Having previously worked at a leading criminal defence law firm in Australia, Judy is the winner of Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards criminal law category, and was nominated by Finance Monthly as the Australian White Collar Crime Defense Lawyer of the Year in 2022 and 2023.

Tianqi Gu received her PhD from the Sydney Law School. She is the recipient of an Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship. Tianqi obtained an LLB from Dalian Maritime University and two LLMs from University College London and the University of Sydney, respectively. Tianqi’s research focuses on the impact of China’s latest round of State-owned Enterprise (SOE) reforms on Chinese SOEs’ foreign investment in Australia. Tianqi and professor Vivienne Bath co-authored a book chapter titled Foreign Investment, Investment Treaties, and Corruption in China and Hong Kong for the book Corruption and Illegality in Asian Investment Arbitration, which will be published in 2024.

Chair
Associate Professor Jie (Jeanne) Huang, Sydney Law School.
Tuesday 20 February
Time:Â 5-6pm
CPD Points: 1
Venue:Â Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10)

This event is proudly co-presented by the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law and the Sydney Institute of Criminology at the University of Sydney Law School.

30th Anniversary of the Shanghai Winter School
2024-02-21 17:30 - 19:30 | New Law Building (F10)
Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Shanghai Winter School
In-person event
Join us for a special reception hosted by the University of Sydney Law SchoolÂ Centre for Asian and Pacific Law, commemorating three decades of theÂ Shanghai Winter SchoolÂ program. We extend a warm invitation to our esteemed staff, students, alumni, and anyone passionate about Asian and Pacific Law to be part of this joyous occasion.
This event offers a unique opportunity to connect with renowned scholars and practitioners in various legal fields, particularly business compliance in the Asia Pacific region.
Chair:Â Dr. Jie (Jeanne) Huang, Co-director, Centre for Asian and Pacific Law of the University of Sydney
Speakers:

Dean and Professor Simon Bronitt, University of Sydney Law School
Vice President and Professor Peili Ying, East China University of Political Science and Law
Professor Vivienne Bath, University of Sydney Law School
Professor Bing Ling, University of Sydney Law School

This event is being held in conjunction with the Business Compliance in International Commercial Transactions in Asia Pacific Conference. Visit this page for further details and registration.
Wednesday 21 February 2024
Time:Â 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Venue:Â New Law Building (F10), University of Sydney, Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus

Catering and beverages will be provided to enhance your experience.
Let’s come together to reminisce, network, and celebrate the rich legacy of the Shanghai Winter School. We look forward to your presence at this memorable reception!
This conference is hosted by the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at Sydney Law School and the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

China as a Development Model for the Global South: Opportunities and Limits
2024-02-22 13:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
China as a Development Model for the Global South: Opportunities and Limits

In-person event
With its remarkable economic success, China could be regarded by countries in the Global South as presenting a development model that is easier to emulate than that of Western developed countries. In this paper, we examine to what extent the Chinese model, which China calls â€œSocialism with Chinese Characteristics,â€ could be regarded as a universal truth for the Global South. We start with two key features of the Chinese model: its export-oriented growth model, which reversed its import-substitution model that communist China practiced in the first 30 years under Mao, and can still be found in many developing countries; and its extensive use of industrial policy that relies heavily on state-owned enterprises and government subsidies, in contrast to the more market-oriented model in Western countries.
In addition, we discuss two new areas of development that illustrate the complexity and adaptability of China’s heterodox approach to development: the phenomenal growth of its e-commerce sector, despite its longstanding censorship regime; and its sustainable development policies, as illustrated with its recent experience in climate adaptation and energy transition. We conclude by discussing how the Chinese approach, which combines a variety of seemingly irreconcilable approaches, reflects another major feature: experimental pragmatism, and what lessons it might offer to countries in the Global South.
Speaker

Professor Henry Gao,Â Singapore Management University

Chair
David S G Goodman is Director of the China Studies Centre, University of Sydney, where he is Professor of Chinese Politics. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Recent publications include: Local Governance in China: Structures, variations, and innovations Elgar 2023 (with Ceren Ergenc); Class and the Communist Party of China, 1921-2021 (2 Vols) (with Marc Blecher, Yingjie Guo, Jean-Louis Rocca, Tony Saich, and Beibei Tang) Routledge, 2022.
Thursday 22 February
Time:Â 1-2pm
CPD Points: 1
Venue:Â Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10)

This event is proudly co-presented by the Centre for Asian and Pacific LawÂ and the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Responding to repression and strengthening human rights systems | In conversation with Human Rights Watch's Tirana Hassan
2024-04-12 12:30 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Responding to Repression and Strengthening Human Rights Systems | In conversation with Human Rights Watch’s Tirana Hassan
In-person event
The last few years have seen extensive human rights suppression and wartime atrocities. Selective government outrage and transactional diplomacy has carried profound costs for the rights of those not in on the deal.Â The drivers of these human rights crises and their consequences often transcend borders and cannot be solved by governments acting alone. Understanding and responding to these threats needs to be rooted in universal principles of international human rights and the rule of law. These ideas built on shared human histories agreed upon by nations across all regions 75 years ago in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the basis for all contemporary human rights conventions and treaties.
This foundation is needed now more than ever. But this very system we rely on to protect the human rights of people everywhere is under threat. Every time a government overlooks or rejects these universal and globally accepted principles, someone pays a price – in freedoms and liberties, in their health or livelihood, and at times their lives. Australia grapples with the far-reaching arm of transnational repression while at the same time it chooses to sacrifice human rights in the name of military alliances, enabling autocrats, particularly across the Southeast Asia region, to erode the independence of key institutions vital for protecting human rights.
These topics will be traversed in a conversation between Human Rights Watch’s Executive Director Tirana Hassan, and the University of Sydney’s Ben Saul.
About the speakers:
Tirana Hassan is Executive Director at Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s leading international human rights organizations, which operates in more than 90 countries and has over 500 staff members.
Tirana specializes in human rights protection in conflicts and crises. Prior to becoming Human Rights Watch’s Executive Director, Tirana served as director of Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Program and served on the organization’s interim executive team. Between 2010-2015, Tirana worked as a senior researcher in Human Rights Watch’s Emergencies Division. She has worked with various non-governmental organizations including MÃ©decins Sans FrontiÃ¨res (MSF), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and Save the Children. Tirana was a founding member of a refugee legal serviceÂ in Australia in the early 2000s.
She has carried out and lead teams of investigations in the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as East and West Africa. She has authored reports and op-eds for major publications worldwide.
Tirana graduated with honors degrees in both social work and law in Australia and holds a master’s in international human rights law from Oxford University.
Moderator
Professor Ben Saul is Challis Chair of International Law at The University of Sydney and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism.
Friday 12 April, 12.30-2pm AEDT
Venue: Level 4, Common Room, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus
CPD Points:Â 1.5
This event is proudly presented by the Sydney Centre for International LawÂ at The University of Sydney Law School and Human Rights Watch.

Informers Up Close: Stories From Communist Prague
2024-04-30 13:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Informers Up Close: Stories From Communist Prague
In-person event
Informers are generally reviled. After all, â€˜snitches get stitches’. Informers who report to repressive regimes are particularly disdained. While informers may themselves be victims enlisted by the state, their actions cause other individuals to suffer significant harm. Informers, then, are central to the proliferation of endemic human rights abuses. Yet, little is known about exactly why ordinary people end up informing onâ€”at times betrayingâ€”other people to state authorities. Through a case study of Communist Czechoslovakia (1945-1989) that draws from secret police archives, oral histories, and a broad gamut of secondary sources, this book unearths what fuels informers to speak to the secret police in repressive times and considers how transitional justice should approach informers once repression ends.
This bookÂ – co-authored with Barbora HolÃ¡ — unravels the complex drivers behind informing and the dynamics of societal reactions to informing. It explores the agency of both informers and secret police officers. By presenting informers up close, and the relationships between informers and secret police officers in high resolution, this book centers the role of emotions in informer motivations and underscores the value of dignity and reconciliation in transitional reconstruction. This book also leverages research from informing in repressive states to better understand informing in so-called liberal democratic states, which, after all, also rely on informers to maintain law and preserve order.
About the author:
Mark A. Drumbl is the Class of 1975 Alumni Professor and Director, Transnational Law Institute, at Washington and Lee University. He has held visiting appointments and has taught intensive courses at law schools world-wide, including Queen’s University Belfast, Oxford University (University College), UniversitÃ© de Paris II (PanthÃ©on-Assas), Free University of Amsterdam, University of Melbourne, and John Cabot University in Rome. His work has been relied upon by courts; he has served as defense lawyer in genocide trials; and has been an expert in litigation including on international terrorism, with the United Nations in matters involving child soldiers, and the drafting of a global convention to criminalize racist hate speech. Books includeÂ Atrocity, Punishment, and International LawÂ (CUP, 2007),Â Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and PolicyÂ (OUP, 2012), andÂ Informers Up Close: Stories from Communist PragueÂ (OUP 2024, with Barbora HolÃ¡); and co-edited volumesÂ Research Handbook of Child SoldiersÂ (Elgar 2019, with Jastine Barrett);Â Sights, Sounds, and Sensibilities of Atrocity ProsecutionsÂ (Brill, 2024, with Caroline Fournet), andÂ Children and ViolenceÂ (Routledge 2024, with Christelle Molima, Mohamed Kamara et al).

Tuesday 30 April, 1-2pm AEST
Venue: Level 4, Common Room, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus
CPD Points: 1
This event is proudly presented by the Sydney Centre for International LawÂ at The University of Sydney Law School.

How Canada Chose Exile: The decision to banish Japanese Canadians, 1946
2024-05-03 13:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
How Canada Chose Exile: The decision to banish Japanese Canadians, 1946
This event is proudly co-presented by the University of Sydney Law School and Discipline of History.
In-person event

As the end of the Second World War drew into view, federal officials in Canada faced a policy problem of their own creation. They had displaced over 22,000 people of Japanese descent from their Pacific Coast communities and dispossessed them of their homes. With the scale of Nazi crimes in Europe increasingly known, mass internment of people on the basis of race had become unsustainable. Yet, many remained convinced that Japanese Canadians were â€œunassimilableâ€ in Canadian society on the basis of race. To resolve the problem of internment, Canadian officials devised a new harm, seeking to banish to Japan as many as possible so that the diminished number left behind could be allowed to live freely. This presentation explores Canada’s tangled path to exile amidst the dramatic shifts and stubborn continuities of the close of the Second World War. Seeking to situate Canada’s exile within a global history of the unmixing of peoples in the 1940s, the paper will close in reflection on Australia’s own expulsion of people of Japanese descent in the same era.
About the author:
Jordan Stanger-Ross is Professor of History at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. His past publications include Landscapes of Injustice: A New Perspective on the Internment and Dispossession of Japanese Canadians (2020) which received the John T. Saywell Prize in Canadian Constitutional Legal History.

Friday 3 May, 1-2pm AEST
Venue: Level 4, Common Room, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus
CPD Points: 1
This event is proudly co-presented by the University of Sydney Law School and Discipline of History.

How China governs Big Tech and regulates artificial intelligence
2024-05-06 13:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
How China governs Big Tech and regulates artificial intelligence

In-person event
China has long been recognized as a powerhouse in cultivating Big Tech firms that rival those in the United States. However, the Chinese government recently embarked on a massive regulatory crackdown, targeting its largest tech corporations such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Meituan. Â Many Western experts have perceived China’s tech crackdown as the government’s assault on private businesses, causing growing doubts among investors whether Chinese firms are still investable.
In this talk, Professor Zhang will take us beyond the headlines to unravel the complexity of China’s regulatory governance. Drawing insights from her newly released book, High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy,Â she will introduce the dynamic pyramid model of regulation, a new analytical framework that demystifies Chinese regulatory governance.
Professor Zhang will also apply this model to analyze China’s strategic approach to regulating artificial intelligence and discuss its implications for the global tech rivalry and the prospects for international cooperation. Â Join Professor Zhang as she uncovers how China regulates on the high wire by navigating the intricate balance between innovation, regulation and geopolitical contest.
About the speaker
Angela Zhang is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong and Director of the Philip K. H. Wong Center for Chinese Law. Widely recognized as a leading authority on China’s tech regulation, Angela has written extensively on this topic. She is the author of Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism: How the Rise of China Challenges Global Regulation (Oxford, 2021), which was named one of the Best Political Economy Books of 2021 by ProMarket. Angela’s second book, High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its EconomyÂ was released by Oxford University Press in March 2024. In fall 2024, Angela will join the University of Southern California as a Professor of Law. For more information, please visit her website at AngelaZhang.net, and follow her on Twitter @AngelaZhangHK.

Monday 6 May
Time:Â 1-2pm
CPD Points: 1
Venue:Â Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10)

This event is proudly presented by the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law and the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Peace in the Ancient Near East: Insights into the world's first attested peace treaty
2024-05-15 13:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Peace in the Ancient Near East: Insights into the world’s first attested peace treaty
In-person event

This seminar gives some background to the first attested peace treaty in world history, between Ramses II of Egypt and Hattusili III of Hatti. This treaty survives in several copies, in two languages (Ancient Egyptian and Akkadian) and in two countries (Egypt and Turkey). This seminar will explain some of the provisions of the treaty and also examine some of the treaty’s more unusual aspects, for instance, that its formation was not a direct consequence of conflict, and that not all of its articles are bilateral.
About the author:
Dr Camilla Di Biase-Dyson
A Sydneysider with a passion for Ancient Egypt since childhood, Dr Camilla Di Biase-Dyson has BA(Hons) and PhD degrees in Ancient History from Macquarie University (2000-2008). She moved to Berlin to conduct postdoctoral research in Egyptology and linguistics, first as a Fellow of the Excellence Cluster ‘Topoi: The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations’ (2009-2010) and then with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2010-2012). Following this, she was Junior Professor for Egyptology at the Georg-August University in GÃ¶ttingen, Germany (2012-2019), then a Research Fellow at the University of Vienna (2019-2020). In April 2020sheI moved back to Sydney to take up a Lectureship in Egyptology at Macquarie University.

Wednesday 15 May, 1-2pm AEST
Venue: Level 4, Common Room, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus
CPD Points: 1
This event is proudly presented by the Sydney Centre for International Law at the University of Sydney Law School

Navigating China's regulatory approach to generative artificial intelligence
2024-05-17 13:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Navigating China’s regulatory approach to generative artificial intelligence
In-person event
In-person event
The rapid development and application of generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems have raised growing concerns of their potential risks at a global level. In July 2023, Chinese regulators passed the Interim Measures for the Management of Generative AI Services (the Measures). The Measures target various risks associated with this technology, particularly around content safety and security. At the same time, a key policy objective of Beijing is to promote further growth of the industry. The unresolved tensions between such policy objectives are reflected in the Measures’ provisions relating to obligations on generative AI service providers, which present significant challenges in the implementation of the regulation. As Beijing looks to developing a comprehensive legal framework for AI, legislators will need to further clarify and balance the liability of different regulated actors in a range of contexts.
About the speaker
Mimi Zou is Professor of Law and Head of School of the School of Private and Commercial Law, UNSW Sydney. Her research focuses on the impact of new technologies such as AI and blockchain on private and commercial law, and the regulation of new technologies from comparative and international perspectives. Professor Zou has spent most of her academic career in the UK and Hong Kong, and have held senior positions at top universities including a Chair in Commercial Law at the University of Exeter and the first-ever Fellowship in Chinese Law at the University of Oxford.
Friday 17 May
Time: 1-2pm
CPD Points: 1
Venue: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10)
This event is proudly presented by the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at Sydney Law School and the Chinese Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Book launch: Judicial Dysfunction in Indonesia
2024-07-15 18:00 - 19:30 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
Book launch: Judicial Dysfunction in Indonesia
An analysis of corruption in Indonesia’s courts.

In-person event

The University of Sydney Law School is delighted to invite you to the launch of Judicial Dysfunction in Indonesia by Professor Simon Butt, a revealing book that examines the deep-rooted issues in Indonesia’s judicial system.
Tracing problems back to the authoritarian regimes of Presidents Soekarno and Soeharto, the book explains how the judiciary nearly collapsed by the late 1990s. Despite reforms aimed at improving judicial independence, corruption and inefficiency persist, with judges often acting without accountability.
This essential work offers an empirical analysis of corruption mechanisms, including how bribes are negotiated and paid. It also addresses the impact of public pressure on judicial independence and the prevalence of unsafe convictions.
The book will be launched by Professor Tim Lindsey, University of Melbourne Law School, and Dr Laode Syarif, Executive Director at The Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, and moderated by Lydia Santoso of the Australia Indonesia Business Council.
The book will be available for purchase on the evening.
Find out more about the book and order it online here.

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Monday 15 July 2024
Time: 6-7.30pm (including a cocktail reception)
Venue: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus
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About the author
Simon Butt is Professor of Indonesian Law at the University of Sydney Law School, where he teaches Indonesian law and Private International Law. Fluent in Indonesian, and having spent years in Indonesia, he has written widely on Indonesian law, including Corruption and Law in Indonesia (2012), The Constitutional Court and Democracy in Indonesia (2015), and co-authored The Constitution of Indonesia: A Contextual Analysis (2012) and Indonesian Law (2018) with Tim Lindsey.
This event is presented by the University of Sydney Law School.

The Past, Present, and Future of the Palestine Investigation
2024-07-17 13:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
The Past, Present, and Future of the Palestine Investigation
In-person event

On May 20th, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan KC, announced that his Office had applied for arrest warrants against three senior Hamas leaders and two high-ranking Israeli government officials. This talk, which is based on Professor Kevin Jon Heller’s role as Special Adviser on War Crimes to the Prosecutor, will discuss the past, present, and future of the investigation in Palestine. He will explain what a Special Adviser does, provide a history of the Palestine investigation, discuss the arrest-warrant applications, and offer a few thoughts for what the future might hold for the warrants and the investigation more generally.
About the author:
Kevin Jon HellerÂ is Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Military Studies and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. He is an Academic Member of Doughty Street Chambers in London and currently serves as Special Advisor to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on War Crimes.
Prof. Heller’s books includeÂ The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal LawÂ (OUP, 2011) and four co-edited volumes:Â The Handbook of Comparative Criminal LawÂ (Stanford, 2010),Â The Hidden Histories of War Crimes TrialsÂ (OUP, 2013), theÂ Oxford Handbook of International Criminal LawÂ (OUP, 2018), andÂ Contingency in International Law: On the Possibility of Different Legal HistoriesÂ (OUP, 2021). He is currently co-writing a book with Samuel Moyn (Yale) provisionally entitledÂ The Vietnam War and International Law. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the international-law blogÂ Opinio Juris, where he has blogged for more than 17 years.
Prof. Heller has been involved in the practice of international law throughout his career, most notably acting as one of Radovan Karadzic’s formally-appointed legal associates at the ICTY; serving as the plaintiffs’ sole expert witness inÂ Salim v Mitchell, a successful Alien Tort Statute case against the psychologists who designed and administered the CIA’s torture program; functioning as UNITAD’s Special Expert for International Criminal and Humanitarian Law; and acting as legal advisor to and expert witness for Ramzi bin al-Shibh, one of the defendants in the 9/11 trial at Guantanamo Bay.

Wednesday 17 July, 1-2pm AEST
Venue: Level 4, Common Room, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campus
CPD Points: 1
This event is proudly presented by the Sydney Centre for International Law at the University of Sydney Law School

Corruption and Investment Arbitration in Asia: New Frontiers
2024-08-01 17:00 - 19:00 | New Law Building (F10)
Corruption and Investment Arbitration in Asia: New Frontiers
In-person event

This seminar hosted by the University of Sydney Law School will involve a local re-launch of a new book on Corruption and Illegality in Asian Investment Arbitration (Teramura, Nottage and Jetin eds, published in Open Access in Springer’s Asia in Transition series in April 2024) and discussion of some new research.
Participants include:

Opening: Professor Simon Bronitt (University of Sydney)
Chair and re-launch: Hon Wayne Martin AC KC (Francis Burt Chambers, former Chief Justice of Western Australia)
Book overview and key findings: Assistant Professor Nobumichi Teramura (Universiti Brunei Darussalam)
New pan-Asian empirical study: Professor Luke Nottage (University of Sydney), with Teramura
China focus: Professor Vivienne Bath and Dr Tianqi Gu (University of Sydney)
Indonesia focus: Professor Simon Butt (University of Sydney) and Antony Crockett, Herbert Smith Freehills (Hong Kong).
Commentator: Dr Amokura Kawharu (President, New Zealand Law Commission)

Click here for more information.

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Thursday 1 August 2024
Time: 5-7pm (including a cocktail reception)
Venue: Sydney Law School, Law Lounge, level 1, New Law Building (F10A), Eastern Avenue, Camperdown campusÂ
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This event is presented by the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney Law School and the Australian Network for Japanese Law.

The proliferation of Chinese surveillance tools overseas: sovereignty, resistance, and debt
2024-08-08 11:30 - 12:30 | Law Lounge, Level 1
The proliferation of Chinese surveillance tools overseas: sovereignty, resistance, and debt
In-person event

The heightened public and scholarly attention to Africa-China relations is chiefly inspired by the growing trade, investment, and aid between Beijing and the Global South. More specifically, the research on digital surveillance in Africa focuses largely on the wide distribution of Chinese technology, drawing attention to the fact that regime type is a poor predictor of the purchase and use of that technology.
Questions concerning how digital technologies work, their high local demand, and how they alter or do not alter state capacity have received far less study. More importantly, though, the literature that has already been written ignores an important paradox: if increased digital surveillance is wanted to support government authority because of its ability to police and administer, it may also work against state sovereignty.
In the latter regard, digital surveillance tools are embedded within processes that result in the privatization of the state. The outsourcing of its functions to Chinese tech giants, like Huawei, has transformed the government, done within the context of a supposedly weak African state that seeks to ameliorate its inefficiencies, in part, into a holding company in the business of franchising out many operations, including police services, and hence much of its sovereignty. This is all done within the context of supposedly weak postcolonial states that seek to improve their states’ practical and technical inefficiencies.
In this presentation, we explore how postcolonial states seek to use scientific knowledge and technology to scale state capacities. Accordingly, it interrogates claims around China’s growing technological footprint, the role of those technologies in emergent forms of state-corporate venture, the nature of African developmental states, and challenges to local data privacy.
This is the first event in the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law HDR/ECR series.
About the speaker
Bulelani Jili is a Meta Research PhD fellow at Harvard University. His research interests include ICT development, Africa-China relations, cybersecurity, post-colonial thought, and privacy law. He is also a visiting fellow at Yale Law School, a cybersecurity fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, a scholar-in-residence at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a visiting fellow at Hong Kong University Law, a fellow at the Atlantic Council, and a research associate at Oxford University.
Commentator: Jose-Miguel Bello Villarino, Sydney Law School
Moderator: Jie (Jeanne) Huang, Sydney Law School
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Thursday 8 August, 2024
Time: 11.30-12.30pm
Venue: Law Lounge, Level 1, New Law Building, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney, Camperdown campus

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CPD Points = 1 point
This event is co-sponsored by the China Studies Centre and the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law.

A new explanation of China's patenting phenomenon with a focus on the patenting of traditional medical knowledge
2024-09-02 01:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
A new explanation of China’s patenting phenomenon with a focus on the patenting of traditional medical knowledge
In-person event

This seminar will present how Dr Ben Hopper’s thesis explains why people are getting patents over traditional medical knowledge in a way that differs from (and adds to) the usual explanations for China’s â€œpatent boomâ€. These â€œusual (explanatory) suspectsâ€ are based on State interference (patenting subsidies, etc.), level of innovation and level of human capital. It will draw on his original fieldwork data comprising a survey of the approaches to patenting of 53 mostly ethnic minority traditional medical practitioners in China’s southwestern, relatively poor and isolated province of Guizhou. The analysis of those data involved a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods. The seminar will conclude that a key (and, thus far, missing) ingredient in explaining patenting activity in China is the individual’s extent of marketisation, with more marketised individuals having a statistically significant higher propensity to get patents and to obey patent laws.

This event is part of the PhD/ECR presentation series hosted by the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law.

About the speaker
Dr Ben HopperÂ is a lecturer at Melbourne Law School. He teaches and researches in the areas of intellectual property, traditional knowledge, technology law, civil procedure, and legal ethics. He examines doctrinal developments in these areas of law, with a focus on intellectual property law. His research uses empirical methods to illuminate the â€œliving lawâ€, including people’s lived experiences of the law, and legal subjectivity. He draws on both legal theory and broader social theory to explain the results of his empirical research.
Ben’s current research focus is China, the locus of his PhD on patenting of traditional knowledge, and where he has completed projects on geographical indications in the tea industry and internal migration in Xinjiang. He has a J.D., B.A. (Hons), and D-Lang (German) from the University of Melbourne, and an LL.M. from Harvard University.
Commentator: Dr Olugbenga OlatunjiÂ (University of Sydney Law School)
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Monday 2 September, 2024
Time:Â 1-2pm
Venue: Common Room, Level 4, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney, Camperdown campus
CPD Points: 1 point
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This event is co-sponsored byÂ theÂ Centre for Asian and Pacific LawÂ and theÂ Ross Parsons Centre.

CANCELLED A new era" of Chinese law: The theoretical origins of Xi Jinping Legal Thought
2024-09-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Common Room, Level 4, Sydney Law School
#N/A

Book launch | Research Methods in Private International Law: Educating the Next Generation of Conflicts Lawyers
2024-09-23 18:00 - 19:30
Book launch | Research Methods in Private International Law: Educating the Next Generation of Conflicts LawyersOnline event

Research Methods in Private International Law: A Handbook on Regulation, Research, and Teaching

This incisive research handbook provides valuable insights into the various methodological approaches to Private International Law from regulatory and educational perspectives. It comprehensively unpacks central themes in the field including international jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement, and scrupulously analyses core debates whilst addressing legislative and policy issues.

In collaboration with the editors Xandra Kramer (Erasmus School of Law/Utrecht University) and Laura Carballo PiÃ±eiro (University of Vigo), this online book launch will feature contributions from eminent speakers, focusing on global insights in teaching Private International Law.

Speakers and discussion topics

Laura Carballo PiÃ±eiro/Xandra Kramer

Methods in private international law are not only important for the purpose of regulation and research, but also for societal and educational purposes. To continue developing and fulfil its regulatory and societal functions, private international law requires the nurturing of strong scholarship and thus research on creating a suitable learning environment for it to be diversified. Highlighting perspectives from university teaching in different countries, laypersons, colonialism, and feminism enriches the development of private international law and increases awareness of its role as a global governance tool.

Veronica RuizÂ Abou-Nigm

Private international law matters for everybody. Why then is it perceived to be so marginal? We identify three distorted perceptions: irrelevance, impenetrability, and indifference. Private international law is considered to be irrelevant, because relevant decisions are taken in substantive law. It is considered impenetrable because many of its doctrines appear strange and general intuition offers little guidance towards the correct solution. And it seems indifferent to questions of values and questions of political economy. We address each of these perceptions in turn. We demonstrate that private international law, far from being irrelevant, is an indispensable part of private law. Whoever wants to make full use of private law must think of private international law as well. We suggest that private international law can seem impenetrable because it requires a whole different way of thinking: thinking between legal orders. Lawyers and non-lawyers alike are used to thinking within one order that is relatively coherent. That thinking is of little help in resolving issues that take place in-between such coherent orders. And we describe what we view as the ethical minimum of private international law: responsivity, cultural humility, and intercultural competence. These attitudes, which are not confined to the law, raise the possibility that private international law could teach something of relevance to everyone beyond its own disciplinary boundaries. Putting these insights in practice can, we hope, be transformative towards Private International Law for Everyone.

Ramani Garimella

The human catastrophe witnessed in Bhopal, India, remains pertinent for the domain of private international law. The US court ruled against the forum’s jurisdiction as being forum non conveniens and return it for the jurisdiction of India’s courts. Adherence to a formalist/positivist approach that believed in the public-private distinction allowed the court to avoid a discussion on the immense public interests that were involved in the suit. Such approach dwarfed the nature and magnitude of loss for the victims and demonstrated how far the ideas of territoriality and jurisdiction moved away from the notion of â€˜unified international law’. The author suggests revisiting this distinction from a methodological perspective – historicity – to understand the reasons for the survival of this distinction, especially in the third world countries as a vestige of the colonial law. This research, exemplifying through India, explores the zealous adherence to the colonial law on the rules of private international law including the methodology of the domain, and the absence of any significant local contribution to the domain. The research argues that the distinction emerged as an expression of the positivist international law (often non-representative/non-participative) that had helped further the legitimation of colonialism. The research suggests a historicity-based methodology for identifying the domain’s content so as to ensure a justice-centric regime that takes note of the rights of the victims of human error.

Chukwama Okoli/Abubakri Yekini

Many African countries aim to capitalise on globalization to enhance cross-border trade and commerce. This necessitates an effective private international law framework to resolve frictions that inherent in cross-border transactions. While scholarly work often focuses on PIL’s role in facilitating cross-border trade, the teaching of PIL and the preparedness of budding lawyers to tackle modern issues have been largely overlooked. This chapter addresses this gap by examining the effectiveness of PIL education in Nigeria. Through empirical research involving questionnaires administered to 75 undergraduate students from seven universities, the study provides insights into the current curriculum and teaching methodologies. The findings suggest that existing approaches are inadequate for producing transnational lawyers equipped with the necessary hands-on skills. The paper recommends a multi-method teaching approach, with a strong emphasis on clinical education and comparative law.

Aukje van Hoek

An inventory of (online) course descriptions of courses in private international law at different European universities show a diversity in approaches to teaching PIL. Which choices are made when developing a specific course, will depend on the staff teaching the course and the wider â€˜Umfeld’ in which the course is situated. Three approaches will be discussed and put in context.

Moderator: Dr.Â Jie (Jeanne) Huang, Co-chair of ASIL PIL Interest Group and Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Law School.

About the book
Research Methods in Private International Law- A Handbook on Regulation, Research and Teaching

Edited byÂ Xandra Kramer, Professor of Private Law, Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Professor of Private International Law, Utrecht University, the Netherlands andÂ Laura Carballo PiÃ±eiro, Professor of Private International Law, Universidade de Vigo, Spain.

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Monday 23 September 2024
Time: 6pm-7.30pm AEST
You will receive Zoom details closer to the date of the webinar.
CPD points = 1.5

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This event is jointly presented by the American Society of International Law Private International Law Interest Group and the University of Sydney Law School.
