Making children's needs knowable to law. This project addresses the growing concerns that the family law system is not adequately safeguarding children's wellbeing in parenting cases. Its development of an evidence-based framework for decision-making will facilitate the production of outcomes that will better support the wellbeing of families affected by relationship breakdown.
Directing China's Top 100 Companies: corporate governance, accountability and corporate law in the top 100 companies in China. Governance, transparency and accountability in listed companies are worldwide concerns; this is especially so for PRC companies listed in China and abroad. Using a mixture of fieldwork, financial data-base analysis and library research in China and Australia, the project will map the impact of corporate disclosure requirements on governance practices of the Fortune magaz ....Directing China's Top 100 Companies: corporate governance, accountability and corporate law in the top 100 companies in China. Governance, transparency and accountability in listed companies are worldwide concerns; this is especially so for PRC companies listed in China and abroad. Using a mixture of fieldwork, financial data-base analysis and library research in China and Australia, the project will map the impact of corporate disclosure requirements on governance practices of the Fortune magazine top 100 PRC companies. PRC companies are internationally active and engaged with Australian companies and capital markets. Post-WTO entry PRC reforms of Chinese corporate governance and accountability practices will be assessed. A new theorization of governance, law and accountability in Chinese companies will be developed.Read moreRead less
The legal framework of public administration: a comparative study. This project explores the relationship between administrative law and public administration in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. It's main aim is to give Australians generally and Australian public administrators in particular a clearer understanding of the way law frames and regulates the day-to-day implementation of public policy and programmes.
Indonesia's Constitutional Court: safeguarding democratic transition? This project analyses the Indonesian Constitutional Court's decisions in election-related cases. It examines the Court's role in maintaining democracy and, ultimately, the national unity of Indonesia. By explaining how Indonesian democracy 'works', this project will enhance Australia's economic, political and cultural engagement with Indonesia.
Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Courts: Making or Breaking Governance Reform? This project plans to help policy-makers and the community to understand Indonesia’s new regional anti-corruption courts. Indonesia has notoriously high levels of public-sector corruption which are undermining Indonesia’s post-Soeharto governance reforms, eroding support for democracy and decentralisation, and threatening stability. Regional anti-corruption courts were established from 2011, ostensibly to help curb corrupt ....Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Courts: Making or Breaking Governance Reform? This project plans to help policy-makers and the community to understand Indonesia’s new regional anti-corruption courts. Indonesia has notoriously high levels of public-sector corruption which are undermining Indonesia’s post-Soeharto governance reforms, eroding support for democracy and decentralisation, and threatening stability. Regional anti-corruption courts were established from 2011, ostensibly to help curb corruption. This project plans to examine how these courts operate and assess their effectiveness. Their performance is critical to the success of Indonesia’s broader governance reforms, including democratisation and decentralisation, which in turn help Indonesia sustain political stability and economic development, both of which affect the economic and security interests of Australia and the region.Read moreRead less
Open justice and open secrets: the cultural afterlife of criminal evidence. This project explores the consequences of using criminal evidence in the cultural field, after the conclusion of the trial. It investigates whether an appropriate regulatory or ethical framework can be developed in response to challenging or controversial re-deployments of this material by artists, curators, journalists, scholars and others.
Australian feminist judgments project: jurisprudence as praxis. This project will investigate relationships between feminist theory and practice in Australian judicial decision-making. It will highlight possibilities, limits and implications of a feminist approach to judging, through analysis of existing decisions and practices and production of a collection of imagined feminist judgments in significant cases.
The Legal Regulation of Behaviour as a Disability. People who exhibit socially challenging behaviour are increasingly defined in law as having a disability. This project explores the problem of how law should respond to this growing cohort, a problem that becomes more acute as advances in genetics and the brain sciences expand the set of socially unacceptable behaviours that are identified as biologically based. Using detailed case studies of the regulation of genetic screening of embryos for di ....The Legal Regulation of Behaviour as a Disability. People who exhibit socially challenging behaviour are increasingly defined in law as having a disability. This project explores the problem of how law should respond to this growing cohort, a problem that becomes more acute as advances in genetics and the brain sciences expand the set of socially unacceptable behaviours that are identified as biologically based. Using detailed case studies of the regulation of genetic screening of embryos for disability and the application of disability discrimination law to behavioural traits, the project is expected to determine how, if at all, law should regulate variant personality and behaviour.Read moreRead less
Construing Statutes: The Interaction between a Statute’s Linguistic Content and Principles of Statutory Interpretation. This project aims to identify the factors that determine what legal effect a statutory provision has; what effect it has on the content of the law; in cases where its legal effect is modified by another legal rule or principle. Such cases are commonplace, but the way in which statutory provisions interact with other legal rules or principles is poorly understood. The outcome of ....Construing Statutes: The Interaction between a Statute’s Linguistic Content and Principles of Statutory Interpretation. This project aims to identify the factors that determine what legal effect a statutory provision has; what effect it has on the content of the law; in cases where its legal effect is modified by another legal rule or principle. Such cases are commonplace, but the way in which statutory provisions interact with other legal rules or principles is poorly understood. The outcome of this project will be a general methodology for construing Australian statutes which can resolve problems that existing methodologies cannot. This will provide much-needed guidance to judges, and will advance our understanding of important legal and political issues concerning the effect that statutory provisions have on the content of the law.Read moreRead less
...and by opposing, end them: A Comparative Examination of Opposition Processes in Patent Law. Patent law is central to the key Australian economic aim of encouraging an innovative culture. One aspect of patent law, the opposition process, is directly linked to two important issues currently facing our patent system: improving patent quality, and minimising predatory behaviour by powerful firms. This project will assess the operation of the opposition process here, and the practice of equivalent .......and by opposing, end them: A Comparative Examination of Opposition Processes in Patent Law. Patent law is central to the key Australian economic aim of encouraging an innovative culture. One aspect of patent law, the opposition process, is directly linked to two important issues currently facing our patent system: improving patent quality, and minimising predatory behaviour by powerful firms. This project will assess the operation of the opposition process here, and the practice of equivalent international procedures in other jurisdictions, in order to inform Australian policy in current and ongoing negotiations towards global harmonisation. Material from this project will lead directly to proposals for improving the Australian patent system, and ensuring that it promotes, and does not retard, innovation. Read moreRead less