From the importance of animal law to a bill of rights for Australia, Bond University's new Twilight Seminar Series is set to bring together leading legal minds from across Australia and the world to shine a spotlight on cutting-edge legal research and issues facing the legal profession.
Kicking off the 2016 line-up will be US environmental law academic Professor Randall Abate and leading Australian constitutional lawyer and public commentator George Williams AO, with both lectures open to the general public free of charge.
The inaugural seminar of the 2016 series will be delivered on February 5 by Professor Abate of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University's (FAMU) College of Law, who will lead a panel discussion about the lessons animal law can learn from environmental law.
Joining him on the panel will be Bond University's Professor Jackson Walkden-Brown, Dr Justine Bell from the University of Queensland and Dr Michelle Maloney from the Australian Earth Laws Alliance.
Following this will be Professor Williams' lecture on February 17, titled 'Does Australia have a Human Rights Problem?'. It will examine the issue of human rights and the importance of a bill of rights for Australia.
Professor Williams was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2011 for distinguished service to law in the fields of anti-terrorism, human rights and constitutional law, and he is currently the Anthony Mason Professor and foundation director of the Gilbert and Tobin Centre of Public Law at the University of New South Wales.
Professor Nick James, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bond University, said the calibre of scholars presenting at this year's series was exceptional.
"The Twilight Seminar Series is an opportunity to profile emerging legal research and draw attention to important issues facing the field of law," said Professor James.
"Both Professor Abate and Professor Williams are held in very high esteem and regarded as influential academics within their respective areas of expertise, so to be able to host them both at Bond University is a real coup.
"Professor Abate's seminar will examine how lessons from the evolution of environmental law can be applied to the field of animal law in order to raise the profile and public awareness of animal protection issues.
"Professor Abate has extensive experience within the field of environmental law, recently publishing a book examining how environmental law’s successes and shortcomings can inform animal law and how the two fields can both benefit by working together in future.
"Professor Williams is one of Australia’s most respected constitutional lawyers and legal commentators, having worked for many years as an academic, barrister and author, as well as serving on a number public enquiries into issues such as freedom of speech and racial discrimination.
"His presentation will focus on human rights issues in Australia, particularly our position as the only Western democratic country with neither a constitutional nor a federal legislative bill of rights to protect its citizens.
"We are excited to present these two thought leaders as part of the Twilight Seminar Series, and encourage anyone with a keen interest in law to come along to draw insight from two influential and informative legal scholars."
The Twilight Seminar Series is co-hosted by Bond University's Faculty of Law and the Transnational, International, and Comparative Law and Policy (TICLP) Research Network, an interdisciplinary network of academics, policy-makers and professionals engaged in legal, international relations and public policy research examining Australia in a globalised world.
Professor Abate's presentation on animal law will be held on Friday, February 5 at Bond University's Faculty of Law, with vegan nibbles provided from 6.00pm for at 6.30pm start to the seminar.
Professor Williams' lecture on human rights in Australia, will be held on Wednesday, February 17 from 5.30pm in the Gregor Heiner Foyer at Bond University.
Both seminars were open to the general public to attend free of charge.