Institute of Advanced Studies

The Prospects for International Criminal Justice

The Faculty of Law at The University of Western Australia in partnership with the Institute of Advanced Studies presents the 2009 John Toohey Oration to be given by Justice Richard Goldstone.    

In 1993 the Security Council of the United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and in so doing gave birth to a new system of international justice. It was followed by the Rwanda Tribunal, mixed tribunals for East Timor, Sierra Leone and Lebanon and, most important of all, the permanent International Criminal Court. The treaty establishing the Court now has the support of 108 nations, but there remain serious hurdles to be crossed. What are the prospects for the future?

About the John Toohey Oration

This public lecture honours the career and contribution to public life of a very distinguished graduate of UWA, Dr John Leslie Toohey who, after graduating in Arts and Law, went on to become one of the State’s outstanding legal practitioners and subsequently one of the country’s eminent jurists.

It is fitting that this year’s speaker is a committed advocate of Human Rights. A prominent feature of John Toohey’s career was his long-standing concern for indigenous people, as manifested in his work for the Aboriginal Legal Service, as Aboriginal Lands Commissioner in the Northern Territory, and as a High Court Judge who played a prominent part in the Mabo decision.

12 March 2009