Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society

21 – 23 June 2023
University of Augsburg, Germany

Call for Papers

The Organising Committee and the Executive Council of the European Society for Comparative Legal History are pleased to call for papers for the upcoming Society’s Seventh Biennial Conference to be held from 21 to 23 June 2023 at the University of Augsburg, Germany.

A conference in 2023 will be a change to our normal timing. We began in Valencia (2010), followed by Amsterdam (2012), Macerata (2014), Gdańsk (2016), Paris (2018), and most recently, after a delay caused by Covid, we enjoyed the event in Lisboa (2022). However, not only does that mean we did not have a conference for four years. Covid has also moved some other large international conferences now to even-numbered years. To avoid collision with these other conferences, the ESCHL conferences would after 2023 continue at two-year intervals moving them to uneven-numbered years. The offer from Augsburg was made some years ago, but kindly deferred and the Executive Council is delighted to be able to take it up now.

For the Augsburg event in 2023, there is no general conference theme. Rather, the organisers hope that the sessions will reflect – in terms of covered topics, time periods, and regions – the full breadth of international research in comparative legal history. The Organising Committee does so in the believe that the Society’s Biennial Conference should foremost be a platform for researchers to present their most recent research in comparative legal. Papers should address and explore doctrinal, theoretical, cultural, or methodological aspects of comparative legal history. Papers should also be comparative, covering at least two legal systems, as well as historical.

To offer a paper, please send an abstract of up to 400 words by 15 November 2022. Papers, and abstracts, should be in English. The abstract should give the title of your paper and your personal data (full name, email address, work affiliation). Please also send a short CV (no more than 4 pages). Everyone, at whatever stage in their research career can offer a paper. The application should be sent to: phillip.hellwege@jura.uni-augsburg.de.

Abstracts will be assessed against: (1) the aim to have a diverse conference; (2) the novelty of the work; (3) the evidence of scholarly rigour and promise of a fully researched and referenced paper; (4) in order to allow as many people as possible to speak at the conference, a person may normally offer only one paper.

It is also possible to submit a proposal for a complete panel. Panels normally consist of three papers. A panel proposal should – in addition to the abstracts and CVs of those who wish to present a paper in that panel – include an abstract for the entire panel as well as a CV of the panel organizer.

Applicants will be informed by 15 December 2022 whether their paper has been accepted. The conference programme will be published on 31 December 2022 on the conference website: https://www.uni-augsburg.de/de/fakultaet/jura/lehrende/hellwege/seventh_esclh_conference_2023/

The conference website will also contain information on the attendance fee for those who are not members of the ESCLH, on transport to and from Augsburg, on accommodation in Augsburg. The conference website will allow, starting 15 December 2022, registration for the conference.

Finally, the conference will be preceded by an additional PhD-workshop on 21 June 2023. Further information about the workshop will also be published on 15 December 2022.

The call for abstracts for this year’s ANZLHS conference (1-3 December, University of Technology Sydney) has been extended to 2 September. You can find more conference details here.

Applications for the Kercher scholarships to provide support for postgraduate students to attend the conference are also open. Applications must be received by 2 September. You can find scholarship details here.

The organising committee of the ANZLHS are delighted to announce the keynotes for this year’s conference:

Constance Backhouse, Distinguished University Professor, University of Ottawa

Reckoning with Racism: Disturbing Evidence of Police and Judicial Racism in Canada’s RDS Case  

Post-World War II Canadians have prided ourselves on a reputation for racial tolerance and multi-culturalism.  The 1997 RDS case, which began with the violent arrest of a Black male teen by a white police officer, and turned into the unprecedented scrutiny of a Black female judge’s “racial bias”, provides a searing illustration of the level of Black racism that has framed the Canadian legal system.  A micro-history of the case offers an opportunity to consider the intersectionality of race, gender, and class, and the layers of tradition and privilege that insulate us as academic scholars and justice professionals from a full analysis of race. The conference framework, “How Legal Historians Create Knowledge” permits an exploration of how a single case can branch out into multi-directional research and resonate with current anti-racism activism.

Katherine Biber, Distinguished Professor, University of Technology Sydney

Touching the death of Joe Governor: Coronial violence and the scientific body trade

In October 1900, the proclaimed outlaw, Joe Governor, was shot dead by civilians. A Wiradjuri and Wonnarua man, Joe Governor had, with his brother Jimmy, committed murders of white settlers on the colonial frontier of NSW. A coronial inquest was held in a Singleton pub, with Joe Governor laid out on the billiard table. Twelve jurors rapidly justified his death and celebrated the bravery of his killers. This paper investigates a sinister transaction that occurred behind the scenes, when the local Government Medical Officer removed a part of Joe’s body and send it to the University of Sydney for scientific examination. It unleashed a media frenzy, a parliamentary investigation and a scientific scandal. This paper follows my journey from the Hunter Valley to the university pathology museum, characterised by local rumours, gossip, silences and missing records. I met with people connected to this history and heard their family stories. This presentation reveals the implication of scholarly ambition and scientific networks in the trade in First Nations ancestral remains and the ongoing work of activists demanding their repatriation.

Vale Dr JM Bennett, AO, who died on 17 July 2022.

Dr Bennett’s work on legal history and biography laid strong foundations for further legal history research on Australia. He taught law at the University of Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney and was a Senior Research Fellow in the ANU Research School of Social Sciences.

Along the way he wrote two major publications about the legal history of NSW – A History of the Supreme Court of NSW (1974) and A History of Solicitors in NSW (1984). These two books remain foundational books for anyone interested in the legal history of NSW.

He also wrote many judicial biographies of colonial judges in Australia including Sir James Martin: Premier 1863-1865, 1866-1868, 1870-1872 and Fourth Chief Justice 1883-1876 of New South Wales (2005); George Higinbotham: Third Chief Justice of Victoria 1886-1892 (2006); Sir Alfred Stephen: Third Chief Justice of New South Wales 1844-1873 (2009); Sir Queensland (2014); and (with RC Solomon), Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith: Premier 1857-1860, Supreme Court Judge 1860-1870, Chief Justice 1870-1885 of Tasmania  (2019).

Many members of the Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society will remember and continue to use his work for a long time to come. 

Professor Prue Vines,

President, ANZLHS

Want to be part of something exceptional? 

Applications are now open for State Library of Queensland’s research fellowships totaling $80,000 as part of the Queensland Memory Awards. 

The opportunity 

Fellowships offer a unique opportunity for researchers and creatives of all kinds to immerse themselves in State Library of Queensland’s vast collections, gain access to expert staff and bring to life new stories to advance the understanding of Queensland’s cultural heritage. 

This year there are six fellowships available – 

• John Oxley Library Fellowship ($20,000) – uncover Queensland’s limitless history. 
• Monica Clare Research Fellowship ($15,000) – help share Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander culture. 
• Mittelheuser Scholar in Residence ($15,000) – create new tools and thinking for galleries libraries, archives and museums. 
• Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame Fellowship ($15,000) – investigate Queensland’s diverse business and economic history. 
• Inaugural Christina Boughen OAM Fellowship ($10,000) – research the legacy of this influential musician. 
• Letty Katts Fellowship ($5,000) – explore Queensland’s music history. 

About State Library of Queensland 

Founded in 1896, State Library of Queensland is the leading reference and research library in Queensland. State Library is responsible for collecting and preserving a comprehensive collection of Queensland’s cultural and documentary heritage, providing free access to information for all Queenslanders and for the advancement of public libraries across the State. 

State Library plays a lead role in serving all Queenslanders, through state-wide library services and partnerships with more than 320 vibrant public libraries and Indigenous Knowledge Centres in Queensland. 

Interested? If you’re interested in applying for a State Library of Queensland research fellowship, refer to the fellowships guidelines and read the FAQs page. 

Applications close 5pm AEST, Friday 15 July. Start your research endeavour at slq.qld.gov.au/qma 

For more information contact fellowships@slq.qld.gov.au 

The Queensland Memory Awards are made possible by the support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation. 

The Legal Histories of Empires conference is 29 June-2 July 2022. For those who would like to participate, online registration is only 20 Euros. Join us!! See lhbe.org

We are pleased to announce the above title by Alexander Gillespie and Claire Breen is available at a discounted price if you use the order code below.

This book offers a unique insight into the key legal and social issues at play in New Zealand today. Tackling the most pressing issues, it tracks the evolution of these societal problems from 1840 to the present day.

Issues explored include: racism; the position of women; the position of Maori, free speech, and censorship. Through these issues, the authors track New Zealand’s evolution to one of the most famously liberal and tolerant societies in the world.

Alexander Gillespie is Professor of Law and Claire Breen is Professor of Law, both at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

May 2022   |   9781509931613   |   640pp   |   Hbk   |    RRP: £140 / $190

Discount Price: £112 / $152

Order online at www.bloomsbury.com  – use the code GLR A6AUK for UK orders and GLR A6AUS for US orders to get 20% off!

The Francis Forbes Society is inviting applications for support from the Society for research projects in the field of legal history. Applications must be in before 10 June. If you are interested please email the secretary of the Francis Forbes Society, Simon Chapple on schapple@stjames.net.au for further details.

The 2022 ANZLHS conference organising committee is pleased to announce that it is now calling for papers.

The conference will be held 1-3 December 2022 at the University of Technology, Sydney. The theme of the conference is – Tenuous Histories and Provable Pasts: How Legal Historians Create Knowledge.

Abstracts are due 15 August 2022 and should be emailed to – ANZLHS2022@uts.edu.au

The full CFP can be downloaded below –

cfp-anzlhs-2022

ANZLHS member Caroline Ingram has received a recent honour from the Western Australia History Council. Her 2019 article for Law & History received the Council’s award that recognises ‘An innovative contribution to understandings of Western Australian history, or its advocacy, by a student or students‘. The citation accompanying the award read as follows:

Caroline Ingram is a PhD student at the University of Western Australia who, in 2019, published the article “Constructing Gender in the Press: The Case of Audrey Jacob,” (Law & History, 6, no.1 (2019): 58–84). The paper argued that, contrary to claims within existing scholarship, honour killings had occurred in Australia and had—at least in the case of Audrey Campbell Jacob—won full acquittal.  Secondly,  the paper demonstrated that his lawyer, Arthur Haynes, successfully manipulated media reports to present Jacob as a victim.  Ingram has since demonstrated innovative approaches to the dissemination and continued use of her findings, which have been used by others in radio interviews, online news reports, university teaching and, most recently, in the production of a Screenwest documentary.

Caroline also received another accolade for this article. The University of Western Australia awarded her the Dr Paul Laffey Memorial prize, which recognises ‘the postgraduate student in history who, in the opinion of the selection committee, produces the best refereed article or book chapter arising from work done for their course and accepted for publication during the previous calendar year’.

Congratulations Caroline!