David Hicks’ defence lawyer special guest speaker

Dec 11, 2006

Three public forums on the theme of ‘The Protection of the Law’– including a presentation by detainee David Hicks’ defence lawyer Major Michael Mori – will be a special feature of the Australasian Law and Society Conference to be held at the University of Wollongong from 13 to 15 December.

The conference will be hosted by UOW’s Legal Intersections Research Centre and the Faculty of Law.

The first public forum will be conducted from 3.30pm to 5.30pm on Wednesday 13 December and is entitled “Who Are We?: How Law Constructs Identity [Venue is Room 104, of Bldg 67 (McKinnon Bldg)]. It will examine such questions as: Who is Australian and who decides? How does the law affect who is part of the Australian community and who is excluded from that group?

Among those participating in the first forum will be Saeb Ali from the Illawarra Lebanese Muslim community, Barbara Nicholson a Wadi Wadi elder and Senior Honorary Fellow in the Faculty of Law; Mark Nolan from the Australian National University (ANU) College of Law and Kim Rubenstein who is Director of the Centre for International and Public Law at ANU. For further information about forum number one contact Elisa Arcioni on (02) 4221 4426.

The second public forum will be conducted from 4pm to 6pm on Thursday 14 December and is entitled “Protection from Law”. [Venue is Room 104, of Bldg 67 (McKinnon Bldg)]. It will pose questions such as: Do we need protection from law when unionists in Western Australia are being sued and may lose their homes; when Australians involved in political campaigns may be put under surveillance or held in secret custody without charge; when powerful interests and multinational corporations sue activists to frighten them into silence; and when Indigenous Australians continue to die in custody without any redress.

Among those participating in the second forum will be Indigenous rights activist, Ray Jackson; public interest lawyer, Greg Ogle; South Coast Labour Council Secretary, Arthur Rorris; community lawyer, Marika Dias; veteran campaigner for prisoners’ rights, Wendy Bacon; Associate Professor Brian Martin from UOW will lead a discussion on practical action to support people intimidated by unjust laws and powerful interests. For further information about forum number two contact Dr Rick Mohr on (02) 4267 1694 (h) or (02) 4221 4632 (w).

The third public forum will be conducted from 3.30pm to 5pm on Friday 15 December and is entitled “Legal Protection in the ‘War on Terror’ – Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions and David Hicks”. [Venue is Room 107, of Bldg 67 (McKinnon Bldg)]. Major Michael Mori from the United States Marine Corps who is David Hicks’ defence lawyer will make the presentation. David Hicks’ detention in Guantanamo Bay since December 2001 has raised broad concerns about the balance between national security and legal protection in the context of the “war on terror”. Major Mori will reflect on the law’s capacity to protect due process and principles of fairness in a national and international political environment where the appropriate balance between ‘rights’ and ‘security’ is deeply contested. The lecture will be followed by a question and answer session. For further information contact Associate Professor Luke McNamara on 0404 795690 (m).

They are all free public forums. Further information on the overall conference is available at the following website: http://www.uow.edu.au/law/LIRC/law&socconference2006.html

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128