Dean's Welcome

May I welcome you most warmly to the ANU College of Law website.

I am delighted to say that, in late 2007, I was reappointed for my third five-year term as Dean. This is an unusually long time to serve in such a demanding position, that is often seen to divert outstanding scholars and teachers from their true calling. Yet I am enjoying it more than ever. Why? Because I derive enormous satisfaction from leading a law school that conducts important and socially useful research; imparts the results of that research to some of the best and brightest students in Australia; and engages with the community in a wide range of what we call 'outreach' activities: advising government, sitting on tribunals, giving pro bono legal advice, running conferences, talking to high school students, commenting in the media on the issues of the day, and having countless other community interactions.

In all of these ways, my colleagues add value to our society through their work. And that is what we wish for our graduates throughout their careers as lawyers. This can happen in two ways.

First, lawyers are important in ensuring certainty, transparency, and fairness in the day-to-day application of the system of rules that govern our lives. The rule of law is vital to the efficacy of business and personal transactions, and to keeping the acts and decisions of officials within lawful bounds. Without a class of experts knowledgeable in and faithful to the fundamental values of the law, society could descend into chaos, and turn not on due process and equality but on privilege and raw power.

Yet, important as this is, it is not enough. Legislators and judges can make bad laws. Society changes and the law lags behind. So lawyers must be concerned not just with what the law is, but, secondly, with what it might or should become. Even the lawyer who is asked simply to advise on what the law is fails in that duty if he or she fails to anticipate what the law—often in a state of flux—is likely to become. But, more importantly, those who understand the law are best placed to advise on how it might be improved and on how the legal system might better serve the ends of justice.

Consequently, concern about law reform and social justice is a strong component of the ethos of the ANU College of Law. The highest standards of teaching and research, and the production of lawyers of the highest competence, are important goals in their own right, but are also necessary preconditions to the effectiveness of agitation for law reform and social justice. They are a platform for adding value to society through vindication of the fundamental values of the law and through the relentless pursuit of improvement in the law and the operation of the legal system.

We endeavour at the ANU College of Law to implement this ethic in our work and to instil it in our students. This is a large part of the reason why I find being Dean so satisfying—and this despite the occasional stereotype one encounters of lawyers as obstructors of progress or merely self-interested seekers of material wealth. We strive at the ANU College of Law to counter those stereotypes and to foster awareness of their inaptness.

Many people browse this website. If you are an academic lawyer or scholar from another university in Australia or overseas, and, having heard, perhaps, about the exceptional collegiality of our law school community, are thinking about visiting or seeking a position at ANU, you will be particularly interested to look at the extraordinary breadth and depth of the research that is conducted here. I invite you to do so.

If you are a prospective student, you will no doubt want to survey our range of offerings, though you may be somewhat unsure of what law is all about. In particular, you may be unsure of whether the study of law is about training for professional practice, or is about understanding law and its role in society as a purely intellectual discipline, or is about acquiring skills: research skills, skills of analysis, capacity for legal reasoning and logical argument, communication skills, negotiation skills, advocacy skills, and problem-solving skills—to some extent, all generic skills that will equip you for many different vocations. The truth is that the study of law is about all of these things. That is what makes it so challenging, so exciting, and so rewarding—and so potentially useful in the service of society.

In any case, I invite you all to learn more about the ANU College of Law, its mission, its capacity, and its record. Don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance.

Professor Michael Coper
Robert Garran Professor and Dean of Law
ANU College of Law

March 2009