Law Seminar Series

UWS School of Law Seminar Series

Current Legal Issues

The School of Law Seminar Series operates during teaching semesters at the University of Western Sydney.

Seminars are held every second Wednesday between 11.30am and 12.30pm in the Moot Court, Building EO, Parramatta Campus (map), unless otherwise indicated. Light refreshments will be served.

If you would like to attend the UWS School of Law Seminars or be added to circulation lists, please email m.nehme@uws.edu.au

Upcoming Seminar            Schedule for 2013 Seminars

Upcoming Speaker

Bio:

John joined the faculty of the University of Western Sydney, School of Law in 2006 where he is the Director Academic Program for the LLB and Unit Coordinator for Remedies and Moot Court. John's current area of research concerns the legal framework for representative democracy and the implications of population change for institutional practices regarding electoral redistribution. Prior to joining UWS, John was a Senior Lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers where he engaged in the practice areas of Commercial Litigation and White Collar Crime (2005-2006). Between 2001 and 2005, John was a Solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jaques where he practiced in the areas of Dispute Resolution and Mergers & Acquisitions. In 2003, John was seconded to MLC Limited in the capacity of general legal counsel. From 2005 to 2006, John was a Committee Member of the Litigation, Law & Practice Committee of the Law Society of New South Wales. In 2001, John was an intern at the Australian Law Reform Commission where he was engaged in the drafting of Report 92 (The Judicial Power of the Commonwealth: A Review of the Judiciary Act 1903 and Related Legislation).

Abstract:

An examination of the evolution of the law of electoral redistribution in Australia from federation to the present demonstrates that it is the legislature that has driven the majority of the reforms and that the judiciary, in determining electoral issues, has avoided dealing with issues of electoral redistribution as well as electoral and political equality. The High Court of Australia has eschewed a role for itself in setting qualitative limits beyond the requirements of direct, popular elections and has indicated that the federal legislature possesses considerable latitude to amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) to further depart from the concept of ‘one vote one value’. In doing so, it has left to the legislature such issues as whether a diminishing popular tolerance of electoral inequality and the redistribution provisions in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) were consistent with the notion of representative democracy.