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 (Australia/Sydney) | 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.

What are the responsibilities of freedom and why do we need them?
2024-09-10 18:00 - 19:30 | Lecture Theatre 101, level 1, New Law Building F10A, Campderdown Campus
What are the responsibilities of freedom and why do we need them?
A thought provoking discussion on one of the abiding themes of our time as explored in Professor Kinley’s new bookâ€¯The Liberty Paradox.

In-person event

Sydney Law School is delighted to host a discussion on liberty and the dangers it faces today from the myopic demands of freedom without limit, as explored inÂ Professor David Kinley’sÂ new bookÂ The Liberty Paradox: Living with the Responsibilities of Freedom.
Join Professor Kinley in conversation with special guest Alexander Heffner, host of PBS’sÂ The Open Mind, in what promises to be a lively, engaging and thought-provoking discussion of the complexities that shape our society and challenge our perceptions of freedom and responsibility in today’s world.
Acclaimed by theÂ New York TimesÂ as â€œa thorough meditation on the complexities of negotiating our desires with those of other people,â€Â The Liberty ParadoxÂ offers some answers as we tackle life’s challenges of health, happiness, wealth, work, security, voice, respect, trust, love and death.
About the speakers
Professor David KinleyÂ holds the Chair of Human Rights Law at the University of Sydney. He is also an Academic Expert Member of Doughty Street Chambers in London, a founding member of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, and a board member ofÂ Cisarua, an Afghan refugee-led education centre located in Indonesia.
Alexander HeffnerÂ is the host ofÂ The Open Mindâ€”America’s longest-running current affairs TV programâ€”and the creator ofÂ Breaking Bread with AlexanderÂ on Bloomberg TV. He is also the co-author of the bestsellingÂ A Documentary History of the United States. He has been covering American politics and civic life since the 2008 presidential campaign.

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Tuesday 10 September 2024
Time:Â 6-7.30pm
Venue: Sydney Law School, Lecture Theatre 101, Level 1, New Law Building (F10A), University of Sydney, Camperdown campus
CPD points = 1.5
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About the book
Copies of Professor Kinley’s new bookÂ The Liberty Paradox: Living with the Responsibilities of Freedom will be available for purchase at the event, courtesy of Gleebooks.
**Please note that the event will be recorded for broadcast in the US and online**

This event is presented by the University of Sydney Law School.

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.
