Asian Law Centre
The Asian Law Centre (ALC) commenced activities in 1985 and is the first and largest Australian centre devoted to the development of our understanding of Asian law and legal systems.
Forthcoming Events
- Staff
The ALC is made up of a large team, consisting of current Melbourne Law School academics, researchers, postgraduate research students, Associates of the Centre and professional support staff.
View - Associates
ALC Associates are renowned scholars in the fields of Asian legal systems and Asian studies, or are active in teaching and research relating to Asian legal systems. Their work is linked to one or more of our research programs.
View - Advisory Board
The ALC Advisory Board is made up of a diverse Australian membership who are expert in the issues in Asia and their relevance to Australia.
View - Graduate Researchers
Members of the ALC supervise a large number of Graduate Researchers.
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Join the mailing list
Overview of ALC
Read more about the activities, purposes and objectives of the ALC.


Researchers
The ALC has a large team of Research Assistants, each of whom work with one or more of our research programs. Most Research Assistants are current students of Melbourne Law School.
Visitors
The ALC hosts a significant number of Australian and international visitors each year.


Annual Reports
The ALC publishes an Annual Report of its activities each year.
The Asian Law Centre is engaged in a number of innovative and important research projects relating to Asian law and Asian legal studies in Australia and overseas.
- Research Programs
Each member of the Asian Law Centre is responsible for a specific research program related to a country or area of interest.
View - Research Grants
List of research projects currently undertaken by members of the Asian Law Centre.
View - Publications
The Asian Law Centre supports various publications, including the Australian Journal of Asian Law. It also publishes its own series of Briefing Papers.
View - Resources
The Asian Law Centre aims to provide resources about Asian la and Asian legal studies. Its online bibliographic databases include Asian Law Online and Rule of Law Online.
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Asian Law Centre academic staff teach in both the Melbourne JD and Melbourne Law Masters programs, and supervise Graduate Research Students.
Melbourne JD
The Melbourne JD is the only degree offered by Melbourne Law School that leads to admission to the legal profession in all Australian jurisdictions, and can be used as a basis for seeking admission in many law jurisdictions overseas.
Students have the flexibility to pursue particular areas of interest through elective subject selection, such as Asian and Islamic Law subjects. Offering more than 35 electives each year, the JD program continually evolves to reflect current developments in law and legal practice.
For further information on the Melbourne JD, please visit the Melbourne JD website.
Melbourne Law Masters
The Melbourne Law Masters offers masters degrees and graduate diplomas across specialist legal areas to deepen knowledge and understanding in a general or specialised area of law, including in Asian Law and Islamic Law.
For further information, as well as information concerning entry requirements, please visit the Melbourne Law Masters website.
Graduate Research Degree (GRD) Supervision
Members of the ALC supervise a large number or Graduate Research Degree (GRD) students. If you would like to be considered for GRD supervision, please contact the relevant academic member of staff directly.
Current ALC Graduate Research Students
For further information about Graduate Research Degrees, please visit the Graduate Research Degrees website.
The ALC runs numerous research activities throughout the year, many of them open to the public. Please also follow our activities on Facebook and on Twitter.
Occasional Seminars
Occasional Seminars are seminars presented by visitors and members of the Centre.The focus is on current Asian legal issues or research in the area of Asian Law that has been recently completed.
These seminars are also generally attended by members of the government, Victorian Bar, practitioners, and current law research and undergraduate students.
Brown Bag Seminars
Brown Bag Seminars are casual, lunchtime talks. Postgraduate students, academics, practitioners or visitors who are researching and writing on Asian legal topics present papers on work-in-progress or rehearse a conference or article submission. These seminars provide a collegial atmosphere for peer feedback. As the name suggests, attendees are welcome to bring along their lunch.
Asian Legal Dialogues
These are presentations on Asian legal issues conducted in Asian languages, mostly presented by an overseas visitor.
Conferences and Workshops
The Centre endeavours to host regular conferences and workshops on legal studies with an Asian focus.
Forthcoming Events
The ALC runs numerous research activities throughout the year, many of them open to the public.


Past Events
Listing of past events hosted by the ALC, including audio and video recordings, where applicable.
Visitors
The ALC regularly hosts local and international visiting scholars.

Asian Law Online
Asian Law Online is the first and only online bibliographic database of Asian law materials in the world.


Rule of Law Online
Rule of Law Online is an online bibliographic database of materials relating to the rule of law generally and in Asia particularly.

Media Commentary
ALC academic staff regularly publish media articles, both in Australia and overseas.


Malcolm DH Smith Memorial Scholarship
The Malcolm DH Smith Memorial Scholarship assists a first-year Melbourne JD student who has completed an undergraduate law degree or a degree majoring in Asian studies at a tertiary institution in Australia or Asia.

Events
News
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Indian Equality Law Visiting Fellowships
Applications are invited for 2-3 visiting fellows to spend 4-5 weeks at Melbourne Law School in 2019, as part of the Indian Equality Law Programme.The Indian Equality Law Visiting Fellowships are designed for advanced-stage doctoral students or early-career academic scholars (with no more than 5 years of post-doctoral, university teaching or litigation experience) with an interest in Indian equality / anti-discrimination law and/or comparative law. Funding for the fellowships is provided by the Letten Prize awarded to Associate Professor Tarunabh Khaitan in 2018. Fellows will be based at MLS and will benefit from a research-intensive environment.If you are interested in applying, click here for further details.Applications close on 1 February, 2019.
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Purely Dicta recently conducted an interview with Associate Professor Stacey Steele. She discusses her experiences working in the legal sector in Japan and Australia.
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This workshop aims to bring together postgraduate students from Australia and New Zealand who are researching topics relating to Vietnamese legal studies.
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A/Professor Stacey Steele recently caught up with Melbourne Law School LLM graduate 2017, Shawn Guoqing Xu now based in Guangdong, China
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This workshop aims to lay the foundation for further research on Indian administrative law and promote work in this vital field, especially amongst early career researchers.
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Associate Director (India) of the Asian Law Centre and JD Lecturer on 'Law and Legal Practice in Asia' (2017) at Melbourne Law School, Associate Professor Farrah Ahmed, is part of a global team of exceptional scholars to edit the newly launched Indian Law Review in 2017.
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This conference aims to bring together postgraduate students, from around Australia and overseas, who are researching topics relating to Islam.
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This workshop aims to bring together postgraduate students from Australia and New Zealand who are researching topics relating to Vietnamese legal studies.
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Drugs Law and Legal Practice in Southeast Asia co-authored by Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society Director, Professor Tim Lindsey and Asian Law Centre Director, Professor Pip Nicholson, investigates criminal law and practice relevant to drugs regulation in three Southeast Asian jurisdictions: Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
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A decade of collaboration
Melbourne Law School's Asian Law Centre last week welcomed more than a dozen Chuo Law School students, marking the 10th anniversary of the cross-cultural legal education partnership.
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Stacey Steele and Aya Haruyama on lowering Japanese voting age
The lowering of Japan's voting age, coupled with Shinzo Abe's controversial reform agenda, may see a stirring among Japanese students, write Stacey Steele (Associate Director, Japan) and Aya Haruyama (Research Assistant) in Asian Currents.
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Muslim nations need light and leadership to abolish death penalty
Indonesia could become a pioneer in the abolition of capital punishment and an example for other Muslim countries to follow, according to former Indonesian judge Professor Jimly Asshiddiqie.
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Indonesia at Melbourne launches
The University of Melbourne has recently launched the Indonesia at Melbourne blog, a new platform for analysis, research and commentary on contemporary Indonesia by academics, experts and students affiliated with the university.
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Report on Oxford/NUS/MLS China Common Law Program
In March 2015, the Law Faculties of the University of Melbourne, the National University of Singapore, and the University of Oxford offered a program delivering lectures on the common law to four universities in China: Shanghai Jiaotong (Shanghai), Fudan (Shanghai), Tsinghua University (Beijing) and Peking University (Beijing).
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Report on 'Contemporary Issues in Indian Public Law' Workshop and Conference
The Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne and National Law University, Delhi hosted a workshop and conference on 10-12 April, 2015 at National Law University, Delhi, India. The very generous support of Mr Allan Myers AO QC and Mrs Maria Myers AO made these events possible. The co-convenors were Associate Professor Tarunabh Khaitan (Oxford), Dr Farrah Ahmed (Melbourne) and Dr Anup Surendranath (National Law University, Delhi).
News
Past Events
Past events hosted by the Asian Law Centre.
Past Event Recordings
If you missed one of the thought-provoking speakers at Melbourne Law School, you may still catch their presentation online.
- Address
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Asian Law Centre
Room 0726, Level 7
Melbourne Law School
185 Pelham Street
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
AUSTRALIA - Telephone
- +61 3 8344 6847
- law-alc@unimelb.edu.au
- Social Media
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Director: Professor Sarah Biddulph
Manager: Ms Kathryn Taylor
Centre Administrator: Ms Debbie Yu
A location map of the Law School Building is available here.
An Information Guide for visitors to the Law School is available here.