Program Convenors

Program Convener (Research): Associate Professor Leon Wolff

Leon Wolff is an Endeavour Research Fellow at the International Centre for Comparative Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo and adjunct associate professor law at Bond University. Admitted to practice in New South Wales, Leon has honours degrees and university medals in both law and Japanese studies (University of Queensland) as well as masters qualifications in Japanese interpreting and translation (University of Queensland), Asian and comparative law (University of Washington) and higher education (University of Sydney). He is currently completing his doctoral thesis on Japanese employment law and corporate governance (Australian National University). Leon has held Australian Research Council grants in Japanese law (2001-2003, 2004-2007) as well as three back-to-back fellowships in Japanese studies from the National Library of Australia, the Japan Foundation and the Australian Government (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations) (2008-2009). He is published in a wide range of areas in Japanese law, including corporate governance, employment relations, gender equity and public administration, and served as co-director of ANJeL since its inception until mid-2009. He joins Bond University as a full associate professor of law in 2010. E-mail Leon Wolff.

Program Convener (Judges-in-Residence): Ms Stacey Steele

Stacey Steele is Associate Director (Japan) of the Asian Law Centre (ALC) , ANJeL's inaugural affiliate. She was appointed Program Convener to organise the ANJeL-ALC Judges-in-Residence program.

Stacey joined the Asian Law Centre at the Law School, University of Melbourne in 1997 as a research associate and was appointed Associate Director (Japan) in January 2002. Born in Brisbane, Stacey holds degrees from the University of Queensland (BA (Jap)), Monash University (MA (Jap)) and the University of Melbourne (LLB (Hons) and LLM (by thesis)). Stacey commenced articles in March 2000 at a leading Australian commercial law firm and worked as a junior senior associate in its financial services group, focusing on project/infrastructure and corporate finance. In October 2007, Stacey joined Standard and Poor's Melbourne office as Associate General Counsel with responsibilities for the Asia-Pacific. Stacey has taught Insolvency Law and Corporate Banking and Finance Law, as well as Issues in Japanese Law and in graduate subjects offered by the Centre. She is currently co-editing a monograph on legal education in Asia. Her research interests are in the areas of Japanese insolvency law, law reform, the Japanese legal system and banking law. Stacey practices Chanoyu (The Way of Tea) and is a member of the Urasenke Melbourne Chapter. Stacey is fluent in Japanese.

Program Convenor (ANJeL-in-Japan: Kanto): Professor Souichiro Kozuka

Souichiro Kozuka is Professor of Law (Commercial Law) at Sophia University Law School, Tokyo. He was appointed Program Convener to coordinate ANJeL activities in Tokyo and Kanto area of Japan. Professor Kozuka specialises in commercial law, with special interest in distribution agreements; transport law, including maritime and aerial law; competition/ intellectual property interface; and regulation of financial institutions. He taught formerly at Chiba University (1995-98) and has been acting as Correspondent of Unidroit (the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law) since 2001 and as a member of IBA (International Bar Association), business law section, since 2002. He was ANJeL research visitor in February 2005. E-mail Professor Kozuka.

Program Convenor (ANJeL-in-Japan): Professor Makoto Ibusuki

Makoto Ibusuki is Professor of Law at Seijo University, Tokyo. He was appointed Program Convener to coordinate ANJeL activities in Kyoto and Kansai area of Japan. Dr Makoto Ibusuki was professor of criminal procedure at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, when he was an ANJeL Research Visitor in 2003. He is also a pioneer in cyberlaw research and teaching both in and outside of Japan, a founding director of the Hojohogakkai (Association for Legal Informatics) and a key member of a study group promoting IT issues in Japan's current wave of reforms to criminal and civil justice. Professor Ibusuki formerly taught in the Faculty of Law and Policy, Kagoshima University in Kyushu (1990-2002) and at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto (2002-2008). He holds a Ph.D. in law from Hokkaido University (1990), a LL.M. from Kanazawa University (1984); and a LL.B. from Shimane University (1982). His major area of research and writing is cyberspace law and criminal procedure. He was ANJeL research visitor in 2003 and a visiting scholar at the John Marshall Law School, Chicago from September 1997-July 1998. E-mail Professor Ibusuki.

Program Convenor (ANJeL-in-Japan: Kansai): Associate Professor Stephen Green

Stephen Green is Associate Professor at Ritsumeikan University College of Law. He was appointed Program Convener to coordinate ANJeL activities in Kyoto and the Kansai area of Japan. Stephen teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on: Anglo-American Law; Law and Politics; Legal English; Comparative Law; and Japan-Australia Relations. He holds a LL.M. (International Economic and Business Law) from Kyushu University; a LL.B. (Hons) from the Australian National University, and a B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of Western Australia. Stephen has mainly worked in government legal practice, and his current research is on the provision of legal services to different levels of government in Japan.

ANJeL-in-ASEAN Convenor: Dr. Dan W. Puchniak

Dr. Dan W. Puchniak, BA (Manitoba), LLB (Victoria), LLM & LLD (Kyushu), Barrister & Solicitor (Ontario) is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore where he teaches Japanese Business Law, Singaporean Company Law and Comparative Corporate Law. Dan won a Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship to complete an LLM in International Economic and Business Law and an LLD at Kyushu University. His doctoral thesis was on Japanese and comparative corporate governance. Prior to commencing his LLD, Dan worked for several years as a corporate commercial litigation associate at Torys LLP in Toronto. Dan has been published in a number of internationally recognized law journals and has been invited to lecture at leading law schools in Japan, South Korea, Australia, the US and Canada. E-mail Professor Puchniak

Program Convenor (Competitions): Mr Trevor Ryan

Trevor Ryan is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University College of Law. He is researching the interaction between law and population ageing in Japan, using childcare regulation, adult guardianship, and the pension system as case studies. He has published several papers and translations on topics such as Japan’s pension system, insolvency, juvenile crime, family law and policy, succession, and private international law. He was the winner of the 2004 ANJeL/Blake Dawson essay prize in Japanese law. He has also published a novel about Japanese law, Dear Judge Ichiro. In 2005 and 2006, Trevor tutored in Japanese law courses at the ANU. He has been a visiting scholar at Chuo University since October 2006.