New centre provides opportunities for studies in comparative legal history
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Chief Justice of NSW the Hon Jim Spigelman speaks at the launch of the Centre for Comparative Law and History as a Centre for Canadian Studies in Australia. |
Graduates with an interest in how the law relates to social, political and historical issues will find what they are looking for at the new Centre for Comparative Law and History at Macquarie University.
The Centre brings together researchers from the Division of Law at Macquarie along with associates from a consortium of international universities.
Researchers in the Centre for Comparative Law and History are dedicated to the study of legal development and the historical relationship between law and society. The Centre boasts a broad range of research interests including: the history of the legal profession; the historical and comparative study of Indigenous legal rights; and the historical and comparative study of property and land law.
"What differentiates us from other law schools is the incredible concentration of talent in legal and comparative legal history," explains Centre Director, Associate Professor Andrew Buck. "We have a well established reputation as being highly contextual rather than technical in the way we treat law. Macquarie University is the premier location for research and graduate study in legal history in Australia."
Projects under development for graduates
The Centre has a number of projects currently in development of interest to graduates.
* Approval was recently awarded for the development of a new masters program in legal history. The course has been designed to provide legal professionals the opportunity to undertake graduate study in legal history with a strong comparative dimension. This Masters by Coursework program will be available from 2008.
* With research the principal focus of the Centre, Buck is looking to expand the postgraduate research program. "At the moment we have a number of postgraduates undertaking legal history projects," says Buck. "But there is room for expansion as we have a strong concentration of people who can supervise postgraduates."
* The Centre is awaiting final approval to advertise for postdocs in legal history. Once finalised, the Centre will advertise in the second half of this year for 2007 commencement.
* The creation of a graduate law degree is also in its final stages. "In Australia law degrees are usually combined with a second degree, such as a BA or a BEc," explains Buck. "We are hoping to cater for graduate students who wish to undertake a law degree as market research shows there is a clear interest."
New link with Canada
The Centre for Comparative Law and History was recently launched as a Centre for Canadian Studies in Australia. The gala launch was held in the Banco Court of the NSW Supreme Court buildings and hosted by the Chief Justice of NSW. Macquarie joins a distinguished network of Canadian Studies Centres throughout the world that are designed to raise the profile of Canada internationally.
"Because of connections we have individually and collectively with Canadian academics, I made overtures to the Canadian Government," says Buck." Since there was cross fertilisation between the countries in terms of research within the Division of Law, we thought we should formalise this and use it as a way of developing graduate research links."
For further information contact Associate Professor Andrew Buck: andrew.buck@mq.edu.au or visit the Department of Law website: www.law.mq.edu.au/