MASTER OF LAW SEMINAR SERIES - 2010-2011

Title:

Aggression and International Humanitarian Law

Speakers:

Professor Roderick O’ Brien

Australian Red Cross Society
Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of South and Western Australia;

Former Chairman, International Humanitarian Law Committee

Biography:

Australian Red Cross Society,

SA Division:

International Humanitarian Law Committee:

Chairman 2001 – 2003;

Deputy Chairman 1994 – 1995

Member 1984 - 1995; 2000 – 2003

Dissemination Activities (including):

Speaker on IHL at South Australian Red Cross Seminar Weapons of Mass Destruction and Law 3 July 2003

Speaker on IHL and the International Criminal Court at State Conference of the Law Society of South Australia, 25 July 2002

Speaker on IHL and International Criminal Law at the Criminal Law Convention of the Law Society of South Australia, 3 May 2002

Dissemination delegate for ARC, Exercise Kangaroo 92, northern Australia 1992

International Conferences and Seminars:

2006Speaker on Amnesties at The Emergence of Customary International Humanitarian Law Conference, FlindersUniversity and Australian Red Cross, 4 November 2006

2004Speaker on IHL and the Control of Weapons at International Humanitarian Law Roundtable,University of Macau, 28 May 2004

2000Guest Speaker on Dissemination of IHL at the Hong Kong Red Cross 50thAnniversary International Seminars, 17-20 July 2000

1994Delegate to Second Regional International Humanitarian Law Conference, Canberra, 12-14 December 1994

Academic teaching:

Invited lecturer at LLM course FlindersUniversity June 2009

Regional Moot Competition:

The Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot, Hong Kong, (Regional Moot for East and Southeast Asia): 2nd Moot, February 2004; 3rd Moot, March 2005; and 4th Moot, March 2006: Memorials Judge and General Round Judge; 5th Moot, March 2007: Memorials Judge, General Round Judge, and Semi-final Round Judge; 6th Moot March 2008, Memorials Judge; Member of Moot Advisory Panel; 7th Moot March 2009, Co-ordinating Memorials Judge; 9th Moot March 2011: Memorials Judge.

National Moot Competitions:

The Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Moot, Beijing, China 1st Moot, November 2007; General Round and Final Round Judge; Advisor; 2nd Moot, November 2008; General Round and Final RoundJudge; 3rd Moot, November 2009; General Round and Second Round Judge.

Australian Law Students Association and Australian Red Cross, IHL Moot Championship, Adelaide 2010;

First Round and Semi-Final Round Judge.

Author of:

  • “The Geneva Conventions 1949-2009 – A Sixty Year Tribute” Bulletin of the Law Society of South Australia, 2009,
  • “Amnesties and International Law” Nordic Journal of International Law, 2005,
  • “Justice, Law, and the Proposed Tribunal for the Khmer Rouge” Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2003,
  • “Dissemination of International Humanitarian Law in the People’s Republic of China” China: An International Journal March 2005,
  • “Implementing Ethical Control of Weapons” Australian Journal of Professional and Applied Ethics 2003
  • “What is a Fair Trial? A Comparison of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1998 Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court” Hebei Law Science 2000 (in Chinese)
  • A Manual of International Humanitarian Law for Religious Personnel 1995, Australian Red Cross Society, Melbourne
  • Short articles about IHL in Hong Kong Lawyer 2000, 2001, 2005
  • Short articles about IHL in Law Society Bulletin (Adelaide) 1993, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007

Training Courses:

2001 participant in “Management of Civil Defence Operations” Australian Emergency Management Institute (September)

1992participant in “Civil Defence Workshop on the Geneva Protocols” AustralianCounterDisasterCollege (August)

Other information:

  • Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of South and Western Australia.
  • Bachelor of Laws (AdelaideUniversity),
  • Master of Arts in Comparative Asian Studies (University of Hong Kong),
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Ethics and Governance (GriffithUniversity)