Conference focuses on law’s future role

Conference focuses on law’s future role

From “generation rent” to artificial intelligence, robotics and driverless cars, experts from around the world will tomorrow converge at Victoria University of Wellington to grapple with topical and challenging legal issues.

The Australasian Law Teachers Association (ALTA) Conference 2016 brings together 130 lawyers from Australasia and beyond to debate the theme Advancing Better Government, Sustainable Economies, Vibrant Communities: Law’s Role?

The three-day conference will be opened in the Beehive tomorrow and the audience will hear from world-renowned experts from Canada, the Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand.

“Many issues have a legal component. So it is essential that we get together to explore the role law teachers and scholars should play in forming the next generation of graduates, practitioners, government officials and civil society advisers,” Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Law Mark Hickford says.

“As a capital city university, Victoria University has a mandate that sets us apart as a leader in advancing better government. This conference is one of the ways we can deliver on that mandate.”

More than 30 panel sessions will gather together academics and practitioners to explore challenging topics and present cutting-edge research, including:

• Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles—equipping lawyers for a fast-changing world

• Machine Learning and the Future of Law

• Reforming China’s Population Policies and the Rule of Law

• Mapping the Legal Landscape of Chinese Government-Controlled Companies in Australia

• Advancing Security of Tenure in Private Residential Tenancies for Generation Rent

During the conference, Life Membership of ALTA will be granted to Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC and Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias in a presentation by the Honorary Secretary of ALTA, Emeritus Professor David Barker AM (Member of the Order of Australia).

“Life membership is granted to those who have given distinguished service to ALTA or to legal education,” Professor Barker says.

“Sir Geoffrey Palmer, who is a Distinguished Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington’s Faculty of Law, has not only been Prime Minister of New Zealand, he has also served as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. He has both practised and taught law and has a long association with ALTA.

“Dame Sian Elias is a prominent member of the New Zealand judiciary who has supported the aims and objectives of ALTA and has attended and spoken at conferences, including this 2016 event.”

More information about ALTA, including the programme, is available at www.victoria.ac.nz/alta-conference

Biographies of new ALTA Life Members

The Right Honourable Sir Geoffrey Palmer KCMG QC (Distinguished Fellow, Victoria University of Wellington)

Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC was admitted as a solicitor in 1965 and to the bar in 1966 and practised in Wellington with O'Flynn and Christie before taking up a British Commonwealth Fellowship to the University of Chicago where he graduated JD cum laude in 1967. He was a Law Professor in the United States and New Zealand for some years before entering politics as the MP for Christchurch Central in 1979. In Parliament, he held the offices of Attorney-General, Minister of Justice, Leader of the House, Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister. He was Minister for the Environment from 1987-1990. He holds four honorary doctorates.

On leaving politics in 1990, he was a Law Professor at the University of Iowa and the Victoria University of Wellington. In 1994, he became a Foundation Partner of Chen & Palmer Public Law Specialists where he remained until 2005 when he was appointed President of the Law Commission, a position he occupied until 2010. During that period he also chaired the Legislation Advisory Committee.

He has appeared extensively in the superior courts, including the Privy Council. He has written extensively on parliamentary reform and the legislative process. He was made a Master of the Bench, Middle Temple, London, in June 2016.

The Right Honourable Dame Sian Elias GNZM PC QC (Chief Justice, Supreme Court of New Zealand)

The Right Honourable Dame Sian Elias is the 12th Chief Justice of New Zealand and the first woman to be appointed to that office. She graduated from Auckland University with an LLB Honours Degree in 1970 and was admitted to the New Zealand Bar the same year. She studied at Stanford University, from which she graduated in 1972 with a Master’s Degree in Law. Following her return to New Zealand, Dame Sian worked first as a solicitor and then as a barrister in Auckland. From 1984-1989 she was a member of the Law Commission, working particularly on the reform of company law.

In 1988, Dame Sian was appointed a Queen’s Counsel. She appeared in a number of significant cases, including cases concerning the Treaty of Waitangi. She was awarded a Commemorative Medal in 1990 in recognition of services to the legal profession.

In 1995, Dame Sian was appointed Judge of the High Court in Auckland. On 17 May 1999, she was appointed Chief Justice of New Zealand and was made a Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. The Chief Justice was appointed a Privy Councillor in 1999 and first sat on the Privy Council in 2001.

When in 2003 the Supreme Court Act established a final Court of Appeal in New Zealand, the Chief Justice became the head of the new Supreme Court. That Court began sitting in July 2004.

ENDS

© Scoop Media