2005 Events
- The Workplace Relations Advertising Case
- Church State Relations in the Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights
- Overlap, Inconsistency and Conflict: The Problem of Multiple Applicable Laws
- The Constitution, the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Federal States
- A Bill of Rights for Victoria? A Public Forum
- Fulbright Symposium on Peace and Human Rights Education
- Feminism and Federalism Research Network
The Workplace Relations Reform Advertising Case : Constitutional and Policy Perspectives on Government Advertising
November 14 2005
This seminar bought together leading constitutional lawyers, media lawyers and political scientists to examine the constitutional and policy implications of one of the year’s most keenly awaited High Court decisions. Earlier this year, the ACTU and the Federal Opposition challenged the Commonwealth government’s use of public funds to advertise and promote its new workplace relations laws. The High Court has now rejected their challenge and upheld the government’s spending: Combet & Roxon v Commonwealth [2005] HCA 61 (21 October 2005). The decision has far-reaching implications for control of government spending and public accountability. It raises once again important policy questions about whether and how to regulate government advertising.
Presenters:
Dr Simon Evans is the Director of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies. He specialises in research on constitutional law and theory, government accountability and human rights.
Joo-Cheong Tham is a member of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies and the Centre for Media and Communications Law. He is also a committee member of Liberty Victoria and an expert on Australian laws regulating the funding of political parties.
Dr Sally Young is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications. She has researched political and government advertising for five years, written a book on the topic (The Persuaders, 2004) and was called as an expert witness to the Senate Inquiry into Government Advertising.
Church State Relations in the Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights
October 2005
Earlier in the month, Dr Carolyn Evans presented a keynote address on Church State Relations in the Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights at a conference hosted by Brigham Young University, Utah, USA. The conference brought together religious freedom scholars, as well as judges and government officials from 49 countries. Carolyn discussed the extent to which religious freedom provisions in international treaties such as the ECHR shaped the permissible scope of relations between religions and governments.
Overlap, Inconsistency and Conflict: The Problem of Multiple Applicable Laws
October 2005
Simon Evans and Cheryl Saunders presented a paper at the at the Conference of the International Association of Centres for Federal Studies at Villa Vigoni, Lake Como, Italy in October. The paper analysed how courts in federal states go about addressing the problems that arise when more than one law might apply to the same situation.
The Constitution, the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Federal States
3 - 4 October 2005
Katy Le Roy presented a paper at the International Conference on Federalism and Multiculturalism held in Manila, , hosted by the Center for Local and Regional Governance of the University of the . Katy's paper was on 'The Constitution, the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Federal States' and covered issues that constitutional delegates might wish to consider in drafting a federal constitution for the . Katy was one of six international speakers invited to present at the conference. The conference was co-sponsored by the Institute of Federalism in Fribourg, - one of the international partners of the CCCS.
A Bill of Rights for Victoria? A Public Forum
13 July 2005
The CCCS and the Australian Association of Constitutional Law (Victorian Branch) presented A Bill of Rights for Victoria? A Public Forumon Wednesday 13 July 2005 at the Melbourne Law School. You can listen to an audio recording of the event or download the slides. (To listen to the audio recording you will probably need to follow these instructions). You can find out more about the consultative process or make a submission at the Department of Justice's Human Rights Website. The Victorian government has recently established a Consultative Committee which is considering how best to protect human rights in Victoria. The Committee has been asked to consider whether Victoria should adopt a Bill of Rights, among other options. Members of the CCCS discussed:
• options for protecting human rights, including how this has been done in other Commonwealth countries
• what human rights might be included in a Bill of Rights
• what the roles of the courts and parliament might be under a Victorian Bill of Rights
• whether Victoria can ‘go it alone’ and have its own Bill of Rights the consultation process and how all Victorians can have their say.
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Fulbright Symposium on Peace and Human Rights Education
21-25 June 2005
Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne
The Fulbright Symposium on Peace and Human Rights Education was hosted by the Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne in 2005 and convened by Melissa Conley Tyler and Carolyn Evans. The Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies was one of the supporters of this symposium. To access the papers, slides and other presentation material given to us by speakers at the Symposium, click here.
Feminism and Federalism Research Network
11 June 2004
Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne
In 2003 Associate Professor Kim Rubenstein, then a member of the Centre, initiated and has since been coordinating a network of academics currently pursuing research on feminism and constitutional law. On 11 June 2004, 18 academics from Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, the US and the UK participated in a workshop on Feminism and Federalism at the University of Melbourne, Law School. To access the notes and resources of this workshop, click here.