Media contact

Susi Hamilton
UNSW Media Office
0422 934 024
susi.hamilton@unsw.edu.au

Distinguished barrister and human rights advocate Julian Burnside AO QC will deliver the 2015 Hal Wootten Lecture at UNSW Law on Monday 30 March.

Julian Burnside will speak on “The bludgeonings of chance” at UNSW Law’s premier annual lecture, in which a pre-eminent lawyer reflects on his or her life in the law and on law’s potential as a force for good.

The lecture series was established in 2006 in honour of UNSW Law’s founding dean, Emeritus Professor Hal Wootten AC QC. Previous speakers include: Nobel Prize winner Dr Jose Ramos-Horta, who was then the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste; Pakistani human rights lawyer Hina Jilani; former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Albie Sachs; former justice of the High Court of Australia Michael McHugh AC QC, and Hal Wootten himself.

Julian Burnside was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize last year for his brave and principled advocacy for human rights and for those wronged by government, for insisting that we respect our international legal obligations toward those seeking asylum, and for his unflinching defence of the rule of law as a means to achieve a more peaceful and just society.

The lecture will be introduced by UNSW Law Dean David Dixon. The vote of thanks will be offered by Professor Hal Wootten.

Annual Hal Wootten Lecture – Julian BurnsideTime: Doors open from 6.30pm for 7pm start

Date: Monday 30 March 2015

Venue: Law Theatre, G04 Law Building, UNSW

For more on the event, go to the UNSW Law website

Media are invited to attend, but please RSVP to the Media Office.