COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND LAW | 1

Newsletter

Law e-newsletterDean’s MessageIt is a great pleasure as the newly appointed Dean of Law within the College of Business and Law at

Charles Darwin University to welcome you to our newsletter. This is an exciting time to be part of CDU College of Business and Law. The Law Discipline was the first to initiate innovative online teaching. We continue to excel in the delivery of online legal education to a diversity of students throughout Australia. As the pioneers of online legal education, CDU still delivers the best online product in the market. We are committed to offering one of the best products in Australia and internationally to help prepare our students for changes in the practice of law driven by changes in digital technology. Indeed, we will be offering a Winter Session intensive subject next year entitled’ Artificial Intelligence, Robots and the Law’. One of the aspects of the course will examine the impact of technology on law, including legal practice. We are also making giant strides in producing students who will have international and domestic perspectives. Our law degree focuses on transnational issues as well as those of particular interest to the Northern Territory. There are practical and theoretical dimensions to our law degree offerings.

We remain dedicated to social justice. We are continuing to expand our indigenous law program. This year we commenced a pre-law indigenous program in partnership with the Bilata Indigenous Legal Pathways program to recruit prospective students and provide an alternative pathway for indigenous Australians to study law. Our commitment to indigenous issues is reflected in our curriculum. A number of courses, including Comparative Legal Systems, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law and Human Rights Law integrate indigenous perspectives into these units. Our flagship elective on Indigenous Peoples and the Law continues to be a popular choice for students. Building on our commitment to indigenous issues, we are exploring opportunities for collaboration with law schools in North America and New Zealand for reciprocal faculty and student exchanges, internships and joint research on indigenous legal issues.

We continue to provide our students with real world experiences through our clinical placement program which is offered for both our internal and external students. In recent years, we have expanded the range of choices offered to students in our clinic placement, including a refugee law stream, indigenous justice stream as well as placements with law firms, the courts and legislative bodies. For the fourth year, we will be sending a student to Harvard to undertake a one-month internship with their Immigration and Refugee Clinic. Our students continue to have opportunities offered by the New Colombo Plan Programs to take intensives in other countries in the Asia-Pacific region to learn something about the legal systems and culture of other countries in our geographical region.

Whether you are a current or prospective student, alumni, or member of the profession, I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter which highlights some of these exciting developments as well as the achievements of our best students.

Professor Ned Aughterson recently announced he will be leaving Charles Darwin University to take up a position as a Senior Tribunal Member with the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Professor Aughterson has served as Head of School since 2013. Ned was the Foundation Dean of Law at the Northern Territory University from 1990 to 1996. He was responsible for establishing the Northern Territory’s first law faculty before it changed to CDU. On behalf of all of the faculty, staff and students at CDU College of Business and Law, I want to thank Professor Aughterson for his long service. During his time at CDU, Ned has provided unparalleled leadership. He possessed a vision and understood the importance of providing a legal education to students who would be entering a globalised employment market. He built relationships with the local legal profession but also established links with other universities in our region, including the Philippines, Indonesia, and China. Ned’s leaving marks the end of an era at CDU. We wish him the best. On a more personal note, I am very grateful for the smooth transition Ned has made possible for me in assuming the Dean’s role in April of this year.

Associate Professor Dr. Alan Berman

1 of 2018

CONTENTS

Dean’s Message 1

Law Prize Giving 2 Ceremony 2018

Graduation 2018 3

Indigenous 3 Pre-Law Program

Lecturer in Profile 4

Academic Library 4 Benchmarking Survey

Harvard Law 5 School Internship Program in Immigration and Refugee Law

New Colombo 5 Plan Programs

AAT Moot Team 5

Recent and 6 Upcoming Events

Research and 7 Scholarship

Law Student 8 Society

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND LAW | 2

Law Prize Giving Ceremony 2018

Celebrating ExcellenceRecently, we celebrated the achievements of our best students at the Law Prize Giving Ceremony along with their family, friends and the generous prize sponsors. Our external students and their well-wishers also participated in the ceremony via live streaming.

The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory kindly hosted the annual Ceremony, and the Hon Justice Judith Kelly presented the awards to the prize recipients who were present at the event.

These prizes recognise our highest achieving students in each subject and are a testament to long hours spent grappling with complex legal cases and principles, writing assignments and research papers. They also represent the generosity of members from the legal community who consistently provide sponsorship and support.

We provide a unique digital learning environment that enables a diverse cohort of students to obtain an exceptional legal education. Our medalists demonstrate this diversity, along with the rewards of intellect and hard work undertaken in an innovative academic environment.

Attorney-General’s Medal The Hon Natasha Fyles, the Attorney-General, presented her namesake medal to Kiah Hanson. Kiah earnt the medal for being the most outstanding graduand in the preceding academic year. Kiah had an impressive academic record, having completed a Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Population Studies interstate. Like so many Territorians, Kiah came on a short-term contract and never left. Kiah primarily studied part-time, while working, and achieved First Class Honours with 14 High Distinctions and 9 Distinctions during her studies. Kiah has completed her Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP) and is looking forward to a legal career in Darwin.

The Supreme Court Medal The Hon Justice Judith Kelly presented the Supreme Court Medal to Fadzai Mamvura recognising her as the graduand with outstanding professional promise through scholarship, character and leadership. Originally a qualified lawyer in Zimbabwe, Fadzai migrated to Tasmania in 2014. Living in a small regional town of about 1000 people and celebrating the arrival of her first child, Fadzai initially believed that studying to obtain admission in Australia would be impossible in her circumstances. Our flexible online learning environment allowed her to study law externally while still caring for her baby daughter. Even relocating to Perth for her husband’s work didn’t disrupt her studies. Fadzai has since won a number of academic prizes.

Fadzai fell in love with Darwin, on her recent trip, and hopes to return soon perhaps to further pursue her legal career.

Alpha Capaque, Si Kitenci, Felicia Richards (for Kiah Hanson), Kate Wheen, Matthew Gardiner, Assoc Professor Alan Berman (Dean of Law), Thomas Salter, Kristal Laister-Hartman, Terry Roth, Margaret Turnbull and Fadzai Mamvura celebrate outstanding academic achievements at the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory.

The Hon Justice Kelly & Fadzai Mamvura

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND LAW | 3

Graduation 2018

A family traditionIn a memorable graduation ceremony, Kiran McLaren, (LLB Hons 2018) spoke on behalf of all graduands from the College of Business and Law. Kiran praised the expertise and enthusiasm of our academic staff. She said “we are so very fortunate to have had such passionate lecturers, who know their material like it was their child’s favourite bedtime story” It was a proud moment for our Law School, as Kiran became the second generation of the McLaren family to graduate. Kiran’s mother, Asha, is also alumni. Kiran studied her degree as an internal student and is currently Associate to the Hon Chief Justice Michael Grant.

Kiran grew up in Darwin attending Essington International School before completing her senior years at boarding school. She chose to follow in her mum’s footsteps and studied law at CDU because it gave her the opportunity to follow her dreams at home in Darwin. In her future career, Kiran hopes to improve and strengthen the law and ensure that the administration of justice is upheld.

We are rightly proud of the dedication, commitment and achievements of our 2018 graduating class. We look forward to following their continued success.

Kiran and Asha McLaren with Samantha Miles (Lecturer and Asha’s former classmate) – Two generations have now graduated from our College

IPLP candidates on the steps of the Northern Territory Supreme Court after their legal debate

Gabriel Hill, Shamiena Ebrahim, Ninik Stroud – Graduated in May

A life changing journey beginsDespite the importance of Indigenous people, law and culture to the Northern Territory (and Australia), only 2% of all legal practitioners are Indigenous. This year our College set out to change that.

Indigenous students face complex socio-economic, educational and cultural barriers to participation in education, particularly at tertiary level. In partnership with the Bilata Indigenous Legal Pathways Program and supported by the Public Purposes Trust of the Law Society of the Northern Territory, we designed a pre-law course tailored to the learning needs of Indigenous students.

The Indigenous Pre-Law Program (IPLP) involved an intensive four-week program to help students upskill and ultimately complete a law degree.

In January 2018, seven Indigenous women began the IPLP and took the first step in what one participant described as a “life changing” journey. The determination and enthusiasm of the candidates were impressive.

Participants started with limited legal knowledge, however, under the expert guidance of lecturer Ben Grimes and supported by all our academic staff, the series of lectures and practical exercises undertaken in the IPLP developed their confidence and ability sufficiently to enable them to conduct a legal debate in the Supreme Court before former Chief Justice the Hon Justice Trevor Riley. The pilot program resulted in six participants being accepted into our College.

We look forward to continuing this important and innovative program in 2019 and congratulating our first IPLP graduates in due course.

For further information contact Ben Grimes Phone 8946 6085 Email ben.grimes@cdu.edu.au

Indigenous Pre-Law Program

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND LAW | 4

Lecturer in Profile

Ben GrimesBen joined us in January 2018 to run the Indigenous Pre-Law Program and lecture in Criminal Law and Indigenous Peoples and the Legal System.

A trained linguist and lawyer, Ben was living in Kupang, West Timor, with his wife and three

children when the proposal for an Indigenous Pre-Law Program became a reality. As a proponent of the program who had written the proposal, he jumped at the opportunity to implement it. In a frantic two weeks, over Christmas 2017, Ben and his family speedily packed and relocated to Darwin. In a frenzy of activity, Ben prepared and then successfully delivered the IPLP in January/February 2018. He then immediately commenced teaching Criminal Law.

Ben was born in Indonesia and grew up speaking four languages. With his usual self-deprecating style, Ben says he spoke only three of these languages well. He moved to Darwin aged 16 and completed high school at Marrara Christian School. A degree in Asian Studies and Law at ANU followed. A stint with the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) was a fascinating start to Ben’s legal career. He spent two years practising criminal law in Nhulunbuy where 98% of clients spoke a primary language other than English. On his return to Darwin, Ben worked in community legal education programs that empowered traditional elders to participate in sentencing processes and establish diversionary programs aimed particularly at youth offenders. In 2012-2014, Ben was the Program Manager for the NT Government Aboriginal Interpreter Service. Ben and his extensive team (50 full-time staff and 350 casual interpreters) developed the NT Bush Court interpreting system and improved legal training for

Aboriginal interpreters. In 2014, Ben returned to Indonesia working at a language centre with minority language groups. Ben completed a Masters in Linguistics, following a family tradition that extends for three generations, with his grandparents and his father all accomplished linguists.

Ben’s recent research was titled Telling my story in court and considered a deceptively simple question:

If two witnesses, from two different language backgrounds, viewed the same event, would there be significant differences in how they told the story of that event?

Importantly, would these differences have a noticeable impact on the perceived reliability or credibility of the witness in court?

As part of the Research, participants were shown two short videos, the first showing a pub fight and the second showing an altercation on a bus. Each participant was then asked questions similar to those that would be asked in evidence-in-chief. The first 50% of participants spoke standard Australian English as their first language, while the other 50% of participants spoke a variety of Yolngu Matha (from Northeast Arnhem Land) as their first language.

The Research identified 10 differences between how the two groups interpreted and told the story of the two events. Importantly, the identified differences may lead to a judge or jury drawing incorrect but negative inferences about the credibility of Yolngu witnesses. The Research demonstrated that the two different language groups had different ways of telling stories, including which details to include and how to prioritise them. Interestingly, English speakers tended to focus on physical aspects of the fight and emphasise things like who threw the first punch. Yolngu Matha speakers tended to focus on the social aspects of the confrontation and have a different view about when the fight started. The Research showed there is potential for truthful Aboriginal witnesses to have their credibility damaged when assessed through the lens of standard Australian English, which is the language of the courts.

CDU ranks firstA recent benchmarking survey that canvassed students from 27 academic libraries ranked our library as top of the class.

Our library staff are delighted with this result which reflects their dedication and commitment to our students. Far from resting on their laurels, the librarians are busy analysing the data to further improve student experiences.

The library continues to broaden its collections and improve the resources available for research. In the law library, new resources are now available, including Lexis Advanced

US Research, which covers a vast range of international law material. Our library also has a great selection of lighter general interest reading and highly recommends Flipster, which houses a variety of digital magazines including Choice, Wellbeing and Vogue Australia.

Our liaison librarians are available year-round to help with your research and reference queries, and continually run workshops to help students get the best from the library.

Academic Library Benchmarking Survey

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND LAW | 5

Harvard Law School Internship Program in Immigration And Refugee Law

A world class opportunity One of the many opportunities available to our students is a chance to participate in the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Internship. Each year one of our talented students is fortunate to be selected to spend four weeks in a clinical program at one of the world’s most prestigious law schools.

Last year’s intern was Paul Lardner. Paul’s experience included taking instructions from a client who recounted the deeply moving and harrowing story of his journey to the USA and attending a rally for peace following the Charlottesville riots.

Paul’s legal challenges included coming to grips with the legal system in the US, preparing a writ of habeas corpus (a writ to produce the person in order to protect them from unlawful deportation or incarceration) and drafting a user-friendly guide to the principles of Sanctuary.

Sanctuary is where churches and other religious institutions around the United States provide sanctuary to removable non-citizens as part of their faith and compassion. Highlights included attending the Immigration Court in action and witnessing the judge strive to make the clients feel at ease, and take the time to meet Paul.

Paul was inspired by the commitment and passion for social justice demonstrated by all of the staff and interns involved in the program.

The 2018 recipient of the internship is Errol Chua who will travel to Boston in August. Originally from Singapore, Errol is one of our high achieving students who has a talent for advocacy. Errol aspires to become a barrister in his legal career.

An immersive legal, cultural and social experience Our students have the opportunity to take intensives through the New Colombo Plan Programs (NCP), in many other jurisdictions, where they learn something about the legal systems and culture of those countries. Our students have studied in Jakarta, Manila, Beijing, Yogyakarta and Hong Kong.

Students, Emma Boeck and Errol Chua, said they were able to fully immerse themselves in the interactive program during their NCP Beijing visit and further their education about Chinese law through cultural and social experiences. Studies extended beyond classroom lectures, and they gained practical experiences with visits to courtrooms, the arbitration centre and law firms. Their most important lessons were learnt walking the streets of China, eating the local cuisine and the many candid and frank conversations held with other Chinese university law students. Our students found the study exchanges fascinating. In the exchanges, students examined an Australian case and applied Chinese law to it, and then observed a Chinese case and applied Australian law to it. Despite the differences in the legal systems, our students found they and their Chinese counterparts shared the same core concern, namely to see justice served.

New Colombo Plan Programs

Paul Lardner at Harvard Law School

Our aspiring advocatesWe are preparing for the inaugural CDU team to compete in the AAT Moot Competition. Our team, Katherine Wheen and Michael Halkitis will tackle a complex administrative law moot problem, prepare written submissions and then present a detailed oral argument before a member of the AAT and against another team. Our team’s participation in the AAT Moot is part of our strategy to help our students develop into assured advocates.

AAT Moot Team

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND LAW | 6

Recent And Upcoming Events

May 2018 – ‘A Resilient Darwin its People, Laws and Environment’?

Law Week EventIn the aftermath of Cyclone Marcus, which wreaked devastation on Darwin’s tropical foliage, compromised its water supply and left thousands of Darwinians without electricity, we hosted a multi-disciplinary forum regarding our city’s resilience. Informed by the response to Cyclone Marcus, the forum explored how to rebuild a more resilient Darwin through architecture, infrastructure and culture. Particular challenges embraced by the panellists included the effects of a relatively small and transient population, the geographical isolation, the economic boom and bust cycle and the harsh tropical environment. The impacts of our particularly severe weather events that include cyclone, flood, storm surge, gale force winds and severe lightning storms presented considerable challenges.

There was strong local interest in the event with lively presentations from panellists and active audience participation. Some interesting ideas about building up Darwin’s resilience were shared including drawing on local Indigenous knowledge, world lessons and how to achieve resilience within the existing legal framework.

The forum recognised that the resilience of Darwin required a commitment to responsiveness and revitalisation of the natural and built environment as well as appropriate and detailed disaster planning which was informed by multi-disciplinary expertise and perspectives.

June 2018 - The Right to Erasure (the so-called ”Right to be Forgotten): Its Application and Limits in New ZealandVisiting academic, Associate Professor Gehan Gunasekara from the University of Auckland, gave a fascinating examination of the common law and statutory developments in New Zealand regarding the right to erasure (the so-called “right to be forgotten”). Focusing on the Privacy Act 1993, he canvassed the connection between the need for us to be able to correct or delete inaccurate, outdated or prejudicial content and related privacy concerns. The particular challenges arising from the digital sphere where information is linked or indexed online present a complex problem that requires quick and effective solutions. Gehan Gunasekara is the Deputy Chair of the Privacy Foundation New Zealand Inc., a not for profit organisation that advocates for the protection of the privacy rights of New Zealanders.

July 2018 - ‘Prison Officials and Administrative Decision-Making; an Australian Perspective’Lecturer in Law and PhD candidate Shelley Eder presented her preliminary work to the British Society of Criminology conference in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Shelley’s research project seeks to add to the vast body of prison ethnographic research by investigating practices and understandings from the perspective of prison officials in the course of conducting their duties. Overall, the thesis is concerned with how prison officials perceive and respond to the various accountability pressures that arise in their work on a daily basis.

September 2018 - The 8th Austin Asche Oration in Law and Governance - “Human Rights and Freedoms on Campus: Do we need a Charter of Rights and Freedoms just for Universities?”Charles Darwin University established an annual public oration in law and governance named in honour of a great Territorian and Australian, former Chancellor of CDU, former Administrator of the Northern Territory and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, the Hon Austin Asche AC QC. The oration is co-sponsored by the Australian Academy of Law. The oration is designed to stimulate discussion and debate within the Northern Territory and beyond regarding important matters relating to law and/or governance.

Former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia the Hon Robert French AC will deliver the Austin Asche Oration in Law and Governance at 5pm on Monday 17 September 2018 at Parliament House, Darwin.

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND LAW | 7

Research And Scholarship

From human rights to copyrightOur academic scholarship and publications reflect our transnational and comparative law focus.

Protecting Intellectual Property in the Arabian Peninsula

Associate Professor, David Price, co-authored a new book on intellectual property (IP) in the Middle East, in conjunction with Ms Alhanoof AlDebasi.

The past few decades have seen rapid development in IP law in the Arab Peninsula. Initially, foreign influences, such as multilateral trade agreements significantly shaped the relevant IP regimes, however, more recently stronger regional initiatives have arisen. “Protecting Intellectual

Property in the Arabian Peninsula” examines the endeavours of the Arabian Peninsula States to establish national intellectual property protection regimes. A key focus of the book is how the Arabian Peninsula states meet their international treaty obligations while progressing their domestic policy objectives. Such domestic policy objectives include the protection of traditional knowledge and cultural heritage as intellectual property. The challenges faced by the States in enforcing their intellectual property laws receive particular attention. The book continues Associate Professor Price’s longstanding research on IP issues in Asia and the Middle East.

Speaking Out: Stopping Homophobic and Transphobic Abuse in Queensland Dean Berman has published widely on matters of human rights and social justice. He has had a longstanding interest in the regulation of hate speech and hate crimes. He was one of a handful of academics invited to participate in the first White House Conference on Hate

Crimes during the Clinton administration in 1997. Dr Berman was the Project Manager and Chief Investigator of a $79,200 grant from the Legal Practitioners Interest on Trust Accounts Fund (LPITAF) administered by the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney General to investigate legal responses to homophobic violence in Queensland. Based on the most

extensive survey of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex reactions to violence and harassment ever undertaken in Australia, Dr. Berman published a book titled “Speaking Out: Stopping Homophobic and Transphobic Abuse in Queensland”, which gives voice to the many victims who suffered in what was once recognised as Australia’s most homophobic state. His book tells of the barriers people face in dealing with the legal system, the reasons why some do not report their experiences to law enforcement, and the complex historical, religious and educational factors affecting the perpetuation of homophobia across the country. Most importantly, it provides a roadmap forward for all Australian legislative, policy, and judicial bodies via a wide-ranging set of recommendations, from the individual’s understanding of their rights and responsibilities to the responses of police, legal professionals and judicial officers.

Dr Berman has been a regular radio commentator on social justice issues on programs such as The World Today ABC News and 104.1 Territory FM.

As the number of instances in Australia inciting racial hatred and discrimination as well as threatening physical harm—towards people or their property—on the basis of race has surged in recent years, Dean Berman has argued in a recently published piece ‘Human Rights Law and Racial Hate Speech Regulation in Australia: Reform and Replace?’ Vol.44, No. 1 of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law that several factors justify prosecuting severe racial vilification under federal criminal laws including critical international treaties to which Australia is a party and fundamental human rights principles, such as the right to dignity and equality, which translate into the need for racial minorities to live in the community free from fear of hostility and violence. His article proposes specific criminal law reforms to bring Australia into compliance with international law, to further the objectives of hate crime legislation, and to establish an effective system for enforcement of such legislation.

Last year, Dr Berman travelled to Berlin, Germany to interview governmental officials involved in drafting a law (which took effect in January 2018) that requires large social media platforms, such as Facebook, Google and Twitter to remove ‘illegal content’, including speech that incites hatred (or is defamatory) within 24 hours or face penalties up to $50 million Euros (77.5 million AUD). The atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jews in World War II affected the means deployed by Germany to deal with racist hate speech and explain why Germany is at the forefront globally in regulating the proliferation of online hate speech. Other countries in Europe, such as the UK and France, are also looking to follow Germany’s lead. During a recent interview on Territory FM, Dr Berman discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the German approach to online hate speech, and he looks forward to publishing the results of his research in the near future.

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND LAW | 8

Law Student Society

Building a legal networkThe CDU Law Student Society (CDULSS) kicked off 2018 with a bang. Our launch in March was at the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. Our guests included our Patron, Chief Justice Michael Grant and their honours, Justices Jenny Blokland and Graham Hiley. Dignitaries from across the legal sector mingled with our students at this highly successful event.

The CDULSS team have been working hard on building networks and relationships with the legal community. We are working on plans to broaden student opportunities to participate in internships. We are also hoping our outreach will make more scholarship opportunities available for students. We are delighted to announce that the Northern Land Council are looking for interns. Contact the CDULSS team for more information.

CDULSS continues to strive for better emotional and social wellbeing for students. Students are welcome to contact the executive at any time with any queries or concerns. We are currently working towards an online seminar about stress techniques and a law ball to be held later this year.

CDULSS Team Contacts:

Angie Torr angie.torr@naaja.org.au

Zarah Tenorio zarah.tenorio@menzies.edu.au

Eesha Raut, Kyla Pajarillo, Zarah Tenorio, Emma Boeck, Angelique Torr, Margo Hi and Krishna Capaque at the launch of the Law Student Society