Visit by Supreme Court of Japan's General Secretariat Family Bureau

The ALC hosted two prominent visitors from the Supreme Court of Japan's General Secretariat Family Bureau at the beginning of February.

While in Melbourne, Judge Kentaro Oono and Mr Koji Tobisawa of the General Secretariat, Supreme Court of Japan met with more than 20 members of the Melbourne legal fraternity, including many Melbourne Law School alumni practising in the area of family law.

The visit demonstrates the strong international ties that Melbourne Law School has with institutions such as the Supreme Court of Japan. Interest in the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction has increased in Japan since it became effective there last year. Our Japanese visitors wanted to learn more about Australia's experience with the Convention and they were not disappointed.

Stacey Steele, Associate Director (Japan) at the ALC said that the visit highlights the co-operation between Melbourne Law School, the Supreme Court of Japan and the Family Court of Australia.

"We are extremely grateful to Chief Justice Diana Bryant and The Hon Justice Victoria Bennett, both Hague Network Judges, for their support of this visit", said Ms Steele.
A highlight of the visit was a farewell event hosted by the Chief Justice at the Family Court. Justice Bennett noted that the visit "provided a wonderful opportunity to bring together practitioners working on Hague Convention matters in Melbourne for the first time".

We are hopeful that the visit will be reciprocated with members of the Melbourne network travelling to Japan in June 2015 on a multi-disciplinary study tour, including lawyers and social scientists, with support from the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department.