The Castan Centre for Human Rights Law and the Human Rights Law Centre present
Dr Angela Ward of The Bar Council, Law Library of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
The Victorian Charter of Fundamental Rights: a case of inappropriate transplants?
18 August 2011
Held at Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Dr Ward addressed whether the Charter is suitable for Australian Constitutional conditions, including whether the declaration of incompatibility is appropriate for Australia, and whether suggestions in the Brennan report recommending a federal human rights act would lead to a smoother implantation of Australia's international human rights obligations. Dr Ward drew on comparative experiences from the United States and the European Union.
Angela Ward practises at the London Bar, specialising in European Union law and human rights law. She has appeared at all levels of the United Kingdom judiciary, from the House of Lords to magistrates courts, and has also petitioned the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. She was the founding editor of the Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies and is a former Fellow of Magdalene College Cambridge, and Deputy Director of the Centre for European Legal Studies in the Cambridge Law Faculty. She holds a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland, and a Bachelor of Laws with honours from the Australian National University. She is a fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, and the author of over 25 books and articles on EU law and human rights law. She was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2007, and has advised and appeared as counsel in Ireland in cases concerning the Irish "European Convention of Human Rights" Act.