A Letter from The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG
We have received the following letter from The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG in response to the September issue of the Australian Law Journal.
Environmental and Planning Law Journal update: Vol 36 Pt 3
This Part of the Environmental and Planning Law Journal includes the following articles: “Environmental and Planning Law in the Age of Human Rights and Climate Change” – The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG; “Restorative Justice Intervention in an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Protection Context: Chief Executive, Office of Environment and Heritage v Clarence Valley Council” – Mark Hamilton; “Critical Human Water Needs: Failing to Comply with the Objects of the Water Act and Human Rights Obligations” – Caitlin McConnel; “Corporate Disclosure on Climate Change: Evaluating the Australian Domestic Legal Framework’s Ability to Oversee and Enforce Disclosures Made by Corporate Entities Participating in Voluntary International Disclosure Regimes” – Maria Nicolae; “Can the Market Decide? A Law and Economics Analysis of Models of Legislation Banning Plastic Bags” – Dai Moore and Murray Raff; “Waste to Energy or Waste of Energy: Social and Regulatory Barriers for Waste-to- Energy in Australia” – Monique Vella; and “Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) in Australia” – Leslie Yong.

What Every Lawyer Should Know
The Future of Australian Legal Education conference was successfully co-hosted by The Australian Law Journal and the Australian Academy of Law, on 11-13 August at the Federal Court of Australia, Sydney. Professor Martha C. Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago Law School, presented the keynote speech to open a weekend of lively discussion and debate on themes influencing the future of lawyers and law schools in Australia, including: “What every lawyer should know”; “Digital technology and its impact on teaching, learning and legal practice”; “New skills and essential knowledge for lawyers”; and “Making connections: law interacting across disciplines and international borders”.

The Australian Law Journal celebrates historic 90th Anniversary
The Australian Law Journal (ALJ) first rolled off the presses 90 years ago in May 1927. To mark this milestone, Thomson Reuters hosted a special 90th Anniversary celebration in the Banco Court of NSW, joined by luminaries such as Hon Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE GBS, the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG and former ALJ General Editor the Hon Peter Young AO, with a timely ALJ 90th special edition focusing on the theme of Indigenous Australians and the Law, curated by Guest Editor Professor Megan Davis, UNSW’s first Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous.
Criminal Law Journal update: June 2015
The latest Part of the Criminal Law Journal includes the following articles: “Please mind the gap: An assessment of fatal “one punch” provisions in Australia” – Dr Andrew Hemming; and “A comparative study on the offence of “maintaining a sexual relationship with a child” in the Northern Territory and Queensland” – Alannah Brown. Also in this Part is an editorial about the capital punishment debate; a Phillips’ Brief section about criminal responsibility of a “failed cadet soldier”; a book review of “Crime and Justice in America 1975–2025” edited by Michael Tonry; a digest of criminal law cases; and an obituary for Fiori Rinaldi AM.