The creation of a new research base at the ANU College of Law will strengthen the University’s tradition of legal scholarship, the centre’s founding director said.

The John Fleming Centre for Advancement of Legal Research was launched by the Vice-Chancellor in April.

Professor Peter Cane said that the move of the small legal research program from the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS) to the ANU College of Law was a logical one. He heads the group which also includes Professor Jane Stapleton, Emeritus Professor Leslie Zines, Ernst Willheim and seven PhD students.

International conferences, workshops for early and mid-career scholars, and public and undergraduate lectures by distinguished visitors were already being planned for the new centre.

The name of the centre reflects the aim of integrating the long tradition of legal research in RSSS into the vibrant scholarly culture of the college, Professor Cane said.

“We were keen to ensure a distinct identity for the centre within the college, but also to acknowledge the breadth and depth of existing research, hence ‘Advancement of Legal Research’.

“The centre’s name also honours Professor John Fleming, the first Dean of the Faculty of Law and first Robert Garran Professor of Law at ANU.

“John came to Australia from Germany via England in the 1950s, and was instrumental in establishing this Law School and ANU between 1955 and 1960. He then went to UC Berkeley, where he spent most of his career, but he visited Australia regularly, and there are increasing links between the two institutions through the International Alliance of Research Universities.”

During his time at ANU, Professor Fleming wrote what is still regarded as the most authoritative Australian text on tort law. He died in 1997.

More information: http://law.anu.edu.au/

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