In a year that shaped us all, there were many positive stories that brought the ANU College of Law community together.
The year 2020 will be remembered for many (not so good) reasons globally. However, it was a momentous year for us at The Australian National University (ANU) College of Law - and not just because of our 60th anniversary.
As this whirlwind of a year comes to an end, we’d like to take a look back at 10 of the stories about our scholars and students that united our community.
Dr Dilan Thampapillai, a senior lecturer and National Administrator of the DLA Piper Australian National Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, writes about the successful delivery of the moot and special ‘Friend of Jessup’ award for Services Manager Jayne Hardy.
We were proud to celebrate the achievement of final-year Bachelor of Laws (Hons)/Politics, Philosophy and Economics student, Harriet Wilson, who was named a Top100 Future Leader of Australia and one of the 10 national finalists for the Ashurst Law Award.
Sophia Collins, a Bachelor of Languages/Law (Hons) student, was awarded the 2019 Brennan Prize in Public International Law and was also the inaugural International Bar Association legal intern based in London.
2020 ANU Student Volunteer of the Year and Bachelor of International Relations/Laws (Hons) student, Yasmin Poole, reflects on how her professional aspirations were enriched by a transformative internship with Austrade in Mexico City.
Dr Bal Kama was named the 2020 winner of the Hank Nelson Memorial Award by the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific in recognition of his commitment to Papua New Guinea (PNG), and for submitting the best PhD thesis internationally on PNG.
The ANU Gender Identity + Sexuality Law Moot was an initiative of Law Reform and Social Justice (LRSJ), an ANU student-led research and policy group. The landmark competition included former High Court of Australia judge, The Hon Michael Kirby AC, CMG (HonLLD '04). The moot explored transgender identity, children’s rights to choose their identities and the rights to transitioning.
Associate Professor Heather Roberts SFHEA was the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning Award for her design and delivery of an innovative interdisciplinary law elective.
Three ANU College of Law researchers - Associate Professor Rebecca Monson, Dr Moeen Cheema and Dr Eve Lester - were awarded almost $1.3 million in Federal Government funding for their interdisciplinary, socio-legal projects under the Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRA) scheme. ANU became the first Australian university to secure three DECRA grants in the Law and Legal Studies field of research in a single year.
In November 2020, ANU Law achieved another hat-trick in legal research awards. Three of our scholars - Emeritus Professor Stephen Bottomley FAAL, Dr Brad Jessup and Professor Desmond Manderson FAAL, FASSA, FRSC - won in their respective fields at the Australian Legal Research Awards.
We were delighted to host an in-person and online event to close out 2020: the book launch of Belonging - A Novel by Associate Professor Anthony Hopkins. Read our in-depth Q&A with the author and hear him read an excerpt from his semibiographical book.