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Australia in the International Legal System

From Empire to the Contemporary World

Australia in the International Legal System cover

Description

What impact has Australia had on international law and what is its significance in terms of its participation in the transnational legal system? This collection of essays delves into the history of Australia's interactions with international law and considers how its people have shaped international law. It explores key issues such as the country's imperial and settler past. It assesses how Australians have contributed to key institutions such as the ICJ, the UN and the British Commonwealth. It gives a fascinating insight into international law's impact on a domestic legal system and the complex and multifaceted nature of that relationship. Scholars from across the international spectrum, whether in the field of law, politics or history, will welcome this erudite and engaging work.

Table of Contents

1. Is There an Australian International Law? Alison Duxbury (University of Melbourne, Australia) and Madelaine Chiam (La Trobe Law School, Australia)

Part I: Australia as Empire
2. Participation in the 'Gilded Ball' : Australia and the Council of the League of Nations, Alison Duxbury (University of Melbourne, Australia)
3. The Rise and Fall of 'a Hyphenated Condition': Australia, the British Empire and the Commonwealth, Frank Bongiorno (Australian National University)
4. 'Treat-Them-Gently-at-All-Costs-and-Please-the United Nations': The UN Trusteeship Council and Capital Punishment and Clemency in Papua and New Guinea, 1954–65, Murray Chisholm (Australian Capital Territory Board of Senior Secondary Studies)
5. Australia, Timor-Leste and International Law, Clinton Fernandes (University of New South Wales, Australia)

Part II: Australia and Institutions
6. Australia and the United Nations, Alison Pert (University of Sydney, Australia)
7. The Increasing Results of Indigenous Peoples' Engagement in International Law and Geopolitics, Les Malezer (National Congress of Australia's First Peoples)
8. Australia and the International Court of Justice, Margaret A Young (University of Melbourne, Australia)
9. International Law in the Attorney-General's Department: 1901–2000, Henry Burmester
10. Australian Government Practice of International Law in the Twenty-First Century, Bill Campbell (Australian National University)
11. Ad Hoc and Arbitrary: International Criminal Law in Australian Courts, Monique Cormier (Monash University, Australia)

Part III: Australians and International Law
12. Child Refugees, Child Rights: Sidestepping International Law in Australian Policy-Making, Jordana Silverstein (University of Melbourne, Australia)
13. 'This is Our Conference': Elizabeth Reid, Second Wave Feminism and Australia's Performance of International Law in the 1970s, Jon Piccini (Australian Catholic University)
14. The First Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law, 1933–38, Madelaine Chiam (La Trobe Law School, Australia)

Product details

Published 21 Aug 2025
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 336
ISBN 9781509941650
Imprint Hart Publishing
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Madelaine Chiam

Madelaine Chiam is Senior Lecturer in the La Trobe…

Anthology Editor

Alison Duxbury

Alison Duxbury is Professor of Law at the Universi…

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Bloomsbury Collections

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Related Titles

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