Just Cause

As the climate crisis continues to damage our world, how has environmental litigation evolved to address it? How do courts engage with the United Nations Framework on Climate Change? Can judicial review be an effective means of enforcing compliance with environmental law? In this episode, Sydney Law School PhD candidate Libby Newton speaks with Dr Orla Kelleher, Assistant Professor at Maynooth Uni...

How can the damage inflicted by Israel on Palestine’s natural environment be framed as a violation of international law? When responding to conflict, how can nature be properly valued in the delivery of transitional justice? What, then, could "green transitional justice” mean for Palestine and its natural environment? In this final episode of Just Cause’s third season, LLB student Eamonn Murphy sp...

Governments spend billions each year fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, but do these regimes actually make the world fairer or simply more complicated? In this episode, LLB Student Joshua Mortensen speaks with Professor Colin King, a financial crime expert at Sydney Law School, about whether anti money laundering and counter terrorism financing regulations truly serve justice. Coli...

How can we hold corporations to their human rights obligations? When it comes to multinational asbestos-mining corporations such as Cape and James Hardie, do arguments of forum non conveniens and separate legal personality hold up? Could a simple claim in negligence be the best way to redress human rights violations? In this episode, Just Cause co-director and LLB V student Eamonn Murphy speaks wi...

As governments like Australia and the US scale back their commitments to international assistance, what power structures are left in place when billionaires and foundations step in? How do tax laws shape how cross-border philanthropy flows? How can charities best operate on an international level? In this episode, LLB students Sphe Shembe and Joshua Mortensen speak with Associate Professor Natalie...

In July, the International Court of Justice delivered its landmark Advisory Opinion on Climate Change. What, though, did the Court actually say? How are states legally obliged to address the urgent existential threat that climate change poses, and what are the consequences for states that fail to meet these obligations? In this episode, LLB V student and Just Cause co-director Eamonn Murphy speaks...

What is climate justice? How do we compensate those affected by climate disasters, particularly in the developing world? How are states failing to properly respond to the climate crisis, and how can we change this? In this episode of Just Cause, JD student Debadrita Guha and LLB student Amelia (Mae) Milne speak with Professor Rosemary Lyster about what justice means in the context of the climate c...

Why has Australia placed so few sanctions on Israel? Why are we still exporting fighter jet parts to a state that, over the past two years, has systematically attacked civilians in Palestine and deliberately denied them humanitarian relief? Can sanctions be an effective means of changing Israel’s behaviour? In this episode, LLB students Joshua Mortensen and Sphe Shembe speak with Professor Ben Sau...

What implications do videolink technologies bear for the criminal process? What threat do remote proceedings pose for access to justice? How might emerging technologies be adopted by criminal courts and prisons? In this episode, Associate Professor Carolyn McKay joins co-hosts Victor Lin and Natalie Yeoman to discuss digital criminology and the intersection of emerging technologies with the crimin...

What does justice look like for victims of atrocity crimes? How can they participate in the criminal process? Are international criminal tribunals even the best means of addressing violations? How else might we support victims? In this episode, LLB V student and Just Cause co-director Eamonn Murphy speaks with Senior Lecturer and Just Cause co-director Dr Rachel Killean, unpacking the mechanics of...

Did you know there are currently over 18,000 pieces of legislation in Australia? Do you think you could easily explain what they all say? How did legislation become so voluminous and complex, and what does this mean for the rule of law and the rights of the individual? In this episode, LLB students Grace Lagan and Jamey Wang chat to Professor Lisa Burton Crawford about these issues and more, as ex...

As the dire humanitarian crisis in Palestine continues to intensify, international law as a field has seemed powerless against the mounting civilian casualties and widespread famine caused by Israel's military campaign. How can the legal community step in and stop this onslaught, and what protections truly exist for those caught in war zones? In this episode, JD I student Fatima Nadeem talks with...

Just Cause is back for Season 3! Get ready for a wide-reaching dissection of social justice and its intersection with the law, with Sydney Law School students and professors broaching topics such as videolink technologies in the criminal justice system, tax policy and global inequality, and the inaccessibility of Australia's 18,000 pieces of legislation. To find out more, stay tuned to all our epi...

In this episode of Just Cause, LLB II student, Reeyaa Agrawal, and final year LLB V student, Sarah Oh, are joined by Professor Fleur Johns, the incoming Dean of Sydney Law School, to explore the intersections of law and social justice. Fleur shares her journey from corporate law to academia, discussing the role of pro-bono work in corporate practice and how social justice can be integrated into le...

How can community legal centres best support those in need? How can their activist role lead to progressive law reform, improving the criminal legal system so that it works more effectively? How can we elevate the voices of victim survivors? In this episode, Sydney Law School’s Social Justice Advisory Board co-chairs, Rachel Killean and Ben Mostyn, speak with our current practitioner-in-residence,...

Discussions about poverty are often marred by pervasive myths that lead us to blame impoverished individuals for their own circumstances. In this episode Juliette Marchant talks to Jeanette Kennett and Allan McCay about the corrosive effects of these poverty myths upon social policy, political discourse and the criminal justice system. Is there potential for reform in a political and legal system...

How can the law best address sexual offences in an appropriately sensitive way? How can complainants be properly supported despite the adversarial nature of our legal system? In this episode, Just Cause co-director Rachel Killean talks to Julia McLean about courtroom questioning in sexual offence proceedings, about Ground Rules hearings and recognising witnesses as diverse human beings, and about...

Have you ever wondered why Australia is the only Western democracy without a justiciable Human Rights Act? What are the current challenges in the legal education system, and how can it be improved? In this episode, JD students Charles Hao and Mahati Garimella delve into these pressing questions with Professor Emeritus Simon Rice. Join us as we explore the complexities of Australia’s human rights f...

Self-defence has a complicated role in the prosecution of victim-survivors of domestic violence who use force against their abusers. In this episode, LLB student, Indigo Crosweller, chats with Professor Arlie Loughnan about how defence practitioners might approach a victim-survivor client and the accessibility of the defence of self-defence. The full report, upon which this episode is based, can b...

Do we have a moral obligation to obey the law? How do we navigate the tensions between authority and personal morality? When – if ever – is breaking the law justified? In this episode, Just Cause co-director Juliette Marchant chats to Associate Professor Kevin Walton about the philosophical and ethical dimensions of legal obedience. Kevin Walton is an Associate Professor in the Sydney Law School,...

Many argue that AI provides significant opportunities to boost productivity and improve services. Yet, its rapid development has made it difficult to grapple with the potential risks and challenges that it poses to human rights and social justice. In this episode, LLB V students Sarah Koegel and Oliver McCue talk to Professor Kimberlee Weatherall about some of the knotty issues concerning the inte...

Following the failed 2023 referendum, many questions have arisen as to the best way forward to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. In this episode, law students Charles Hao and Mahati Garimella talk to Associate Professor Elisa Arcioni about her work on inclusion and exclusion within the Australian Constitution, led by the overwhelming question – what comes ne...

What are the legal challenges that confront us in the Anthropocene? In this episode, JD student Alexis Zhang and Just Cause co-director Juliette Marchant chat to Professor Tim Stephens about the Antarctic Treaty System protects one of the world’s most precious ecosystems and how international law travails the fine line between conservation and exploitation in governing whaling. Join us as we unrav...

There have been major changes to the Australian mandatory immigration detention policy in the last year. But what caused this change? In this episode, LLB students Raven Yang and Jamey Wang talk to Professor Mary Crock about the history of Australia’s mandatory detention policy, unpacking the complexity of migration law – practically and politically. Professor Mary Crock is Professor of Public Law...

With pandemic lockdowns a thing of the past, what role should free speech have in future crises? Final year LLB V student, Sarah Oh, and LLBII student, Reeyaa Agrawal, chat with free speech expert Dr Jeff Gordon about his award-winning article ‘Protest Before and During a Pandemic’ and his experience as an academic and student at Sydney Law School and Columbia Law School. Tune in to hear a rich di...