2021 Kirby Seminar List

Defining the Scope of the Model Law for Cross-Border Insolvency: A Matter of Statutory Interpretation

(The role of statutory interpretation in resolving legal issues)

Monday 10 May 2021 at 1 pm AEST

Adjunct Professor Charles Qu, School of Law, University of New England

In this Kirby seminar, Adjunct Professor Charles Qu will present the argument of how an ambiguity in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Model Law for Cross-Border Insolvency may be resolved through statutory interpretation. The ambiguity concerns the relevance of the debtor’s insolvency for determining whether a winding-up proceeding is within the scope of the Model Law. The paper will discuss a group of cases, including an Australian precedent and a recent UK High Court decision. The seminar concludes that the solution of the issue raised requires, inter alia, a holistic analysis of all available interpretive tools, including the drafting history and the European Insolvency Regulation, which is a statute in pari materia. Among the issues discussed are also the reasons for the admissibility, as an interpretive tool, of the updated Guide to Enactment, which was publicised subsequent to the Model Law.

Intelligent regulation: harnessing networks and technology for regulating complex environmental challenges

Thursday 5 August 2021 at 1 pm AEST

Professor Cameron Holley, Faculty of Law and Justice, UNSW

In this Kirby seminar, Professor Cameron Holley will present the argument that water supply is essential to the environment, our economy and our future and remains a top five global risk due to continuing pressures from population growth, energy, food and climate change. Yet, the implementation and enforcement of water laws has fallen far short of what is required to address environmental challenges. This is particularly the case in relation to agricultural and other nonurban water uses, which comprises more than 50% of all water consumed. This presentation draws insights from the experiences of nonurban water users and regulators in Australia and France to identify five key challenges that undermine water regulation and enforcement. Pathways for overcoming these challenges will be explored, including harnessing water user networks and utilising monitoring and modelling technologies to enable more productive interventions, higher levels of compliance and, ultimately, better environmental outcomes.

Lawful Networks: European Emigres’ Impact on Australian law and legal education

Monday 23 August 2021 1pm AEST    

Professor Katherine Biber, Faculty of Law, University of Technology, Sydney  

In this Kirby seminar, Professor Katherine Biber will discuss the history of when during and immediately after World War II, Australia received legally-trained migrants fleeing fascism and persecution in Europe. Some of these managed to gain positions in Australian law schools, some entered the legal profession, and some followed different paths. Mark Lunney has remarked that the influence of these European émigré lawyers is a “forgotten history”. In this presentation, Katherine will set out a larger collaborative project which seeks to uncover the journeys, careers and legacies of these lawyers.

30^th Anniversary of the Royal Commission Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Report – Too Little and Too Late

Monday 20 September 2021 1pm AEST    

Professor Thalia Anthony, Faculty of Law, University of Technology, Sydney  

In this Kirby Seminar, Professor Thalia Anthony will look at the legacy of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) which set down 339 recommendations to reduce First Nations deaths in custody. 30 years on, there have been almost 500 First Nations deaths in custody. This reflects the failure of governments to substantively implement the recommendations and address systemic racism in the penal system. Yet the Federal Government claims to have overwhelmingly implemented the recommendations. Its logic is based on an outsourced review of RCIADIC implementation by consultancy firm Deloitte Access Economics. This presentation will highlight how positivist assumptions in the Deloitte Review and in the academy broadly have hamstrung justice for First Nations, expanded carceral controls and misrepresented the progress on self-determination.

Identifying Tax Aggressive Behaviour of Corporate Taxpayers

Wednesday 22 September 2021 1pm AEST  

Professor Kerrie Sadiq, Faculty of Business and Law, Queensland University of Technology  

In this Kirby seminar, Professor Kerrie Sadiq will discuss the ways in which tax scholars have attempted to identify and measure corporate tax aggressiveness.  Her study discusses the numerous different proxies that have been used, each with different characteristics as well as perceived advantages and disadvantages.  Specifically, the two common proxies that allow for a continuous ranking of corporate taxpayers, effective tax rates and book-tax differences, are examined, along with dichotomous proxies such as a presence in a harmful tax regime and involvement in tax disputes.  The study then evaluates the application of the different proxies to the ASX200 to determine whether there is any consistency in the manner in which they estimate the tax aggressiveness of large publicly listed corporate entities.  The findings indicate that there is little correlation of results from the 14 continuous proxies.  Nor is there a significant correlation between companies identified as tax aggressive using the continuous proxies and those identified as tax aggressive using the dichotomous proxies.

Transforming Legal Understandings of Intimate Partner Violence

Wednesday 24 November 2021 1pm AEDT

Associate Professor Stella Tarrant, School of Law, University of Western Australia

In this Kirby seminar, Associate Professor Stella Tarrant will outline the report, Transforming Legal Understandings of Intimate Partner Violence. The seminar will examine the theories of intimate partner violence (IPV) that are typically relied on when women are charged with homicide of their abusive partner and the effect of these choices on the proper application of the law of self-defence. The model of violence and self-preservation used by prosecutors, expert witnesses, judges and others shapes decisions about which facts are selected as relevant to understanding a killing, how those facts are framed and presented and the conclusions drawn from them. It shows how and why changes to the law of self-defence have not had their intended effect.