The John Fleming Centre for Advancement of Legal Research within the ANU College of Law was established in 2007 with generous financial support from the Vice-Chancellor and the Dean and Convenor of the ANU College of Law.

The staff and members of the John Fleming Centre formerly constituted the Law component of the Law and Philosophy Program within the Research School of Social Sciences. Stated succinctly, the Centre’s raison d’etre is to deploy its resources and the capacities of its various members to enrich the intellectual, research and academic life of the ANU College of Law, of the ANU more generally and of the wider Australian legal academy.

More specific aims of the Centre include:

• Greater integration of diffuse research activities in Law at the ANU
• Exploration of new opportunities for research outreach by the ANU College of Law within the Australian university system and overseas
• Nurturing a vigorous research culture by involving students in the research life of the College
• Bringing leading legal scholars from around the world to the ANU to teach and participate in conferences and workshops

The Centre is named after Professor John Fleming. John came to the Canberra University College as a senior lecturer in 1949. He was Robert Garran Professor of Law from 1955 to 1960. He played an important role in events that led, in 1960, to the amalgamation of the College and the ANU to create the University as we know it today. John’s magnum opus, The Law of Torts, which went into nine editions, is arguably the greatest and certainly the most influential Australian law book yet written. John spent the last 30 years of his career at the University of California at Berkeley, which is now one of ANU’s partners in the International Alliance of Research Universities.