Session details

IBA Annual Conference Sydney 2017

8 Oct - 13 Oct 2017

Room C2.4, Convention Centre, Level 2

Session information

Are bills of rights worthwhile?

Thursday 12 October (0930 - 1230)

Room C2.4, Convention Centre, Level 2

Committee(s)

IBA's Human Rights Institute (Lead)

Description

Australia is the only country in the Commonwealth of Nations, and one of the few countries in the world, without a Bill of Rights. A former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Sir Harry Gibbs, once declared: 'If society is tolerant and rational, it does not need a Bill of Rights; if it is not, no Bill of Rights will preserve it'. Is this the case in present-day Australia? What is the experience in other countries? Join a debate on this issue with a distinguished panel.

Session / Workshop Chair(s)

Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG	Former Justice of the High Court of Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Vice Chair, IBA's Human Rights Institute

Speakers

Hon Justice Edwin Cameron	Constitutional Court of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Kevin Cocks AM AM	Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Michael Sexton KC	Solicitor General's Office, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Professor Gillian D Triggs	University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Professor George Williams	University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia