Sydney Law School

Infobox_University


name = Sydney Law School
established = 1855
type = Public
dean = Professor Gillian Triggs
city = Sydney
state = New South Wales
country = Australia
affiliations = University of Sydney
students = 3,200
staff = 172
campus = Urban
website = [http://www.law.usyd.edu.au/ www.law.usyd.edu.au]

Sydney Law School comprises the University of Sydney's Faculty of Law. It is housed in the Phillip Street Campus of the University, also known as University Chambers (although not affiliated with the barristers' chambers of the same name). It was the first Law School to be established in Australia, [ The University of Sydney, [http://www.law.usyd.edu.au/about/history.shtml "History - Sydney Law School"] , Retrieved on 2007-11-18 ] and is one of the most prestigious Australian law schools, as evidenced by the achievements of its alumni and the consistently high demand for the Sydney LLB from prospective applicants each year. [ The Sydney Morning Herald, [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rule-of-law-leaves-a-high-mark/2005/01/19/1106110816760.html "Rule of law leaves a high mark"] .] The law school places special emphasis on international and comparative law, maintains a strong profile in taxation, corporate and criminal law, and delivers programs in specialist areas such as environmental and health law.

Campus

The Law School is bounded by Elizabeth Street, King Street, and Phillip Street. It is in the heart of Sydney's legal and business districts. It faces the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The building consists of 13 dedicated levels, three of which are underground. Levels one and two house "Harvard-style" lecture theatres. Level three houses a staff car park and other amenities. Level four is the ground entrance level, and houses the assembly hall, a foyer, and some offices. Level five houses University of Sydney Union premises, including the office of the Sydney University Law Society (SULS). Levels seven to ten house the Sydney University Law Library. Level 12 is the Law School's Information Desk. The building was constructed in 1969 in the brutalist architectural style. Busts of classical orators and jurists adorn the Phillip Street entrance, while the University of Sydney crest is found on the Elizabeth Street and Phillip Street entrance. The Law School is located near St James railway station and is serviced by a bus stop outside its entrance on Elizabeth Street.

Move to main campus

The Sydney Law School has changed locations several times in the past, but has always remained in the centre of the city because of the tradition of teaching by practitioners, and for easy access to the courts and members of the profession. However, the University of Sydney asserts that with changes in the mode of teaching, the advantages of being integrated into the University's main campus has been deemed by them to outweigh the convenience of a central location. Fact|date=February 2007 As a result, a new law school is under construction at the main Camperdown campus, adjacent to Fisher Library and on the site of the former Edgeworth David building. The projected completion date of the new building is the end of 2008 with classes beginning in Semester 1, 2009. Initial plans to sell the Law School were not realised, when it was discovered that a New South Wales law ( [http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/summarize/inforce/s/1/?TITLE=%22University%20of%20Sydney%20(Law%20School%20Site)%20Act%201967%20No%2026%22&nohits=y University of Sydney (Law School Site) Act 1967] ) reserved the site for the teaching of law.

Law links

Internally, Sydney Law School encompasses many of the state's legal fraternitiesFact|date=September 2007, centres, and legal research institutes, and jointly hosts the Australian Centre for Environmental Law (ACEL), the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law in the University of Sydney (CAPLUS), the Centre for Health Governance, Law and Ethics, the Institute of Criminology (University of Sydney), the Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, the Ross Parsons Centre of Commercial, Corporate and Taxation Law, and the Sydney Centre for International and Global Law (SCIGL) as well as the Australian Network for Japanese Law (ANJeL).

Externally, Sydney Law School has partner programs with many of the world's leading law schools, and is the only law school in Australia [Harvard Law School. [http://www.law.harvard.edu/ils/curriculum/study_abroad/semester_abroad.php#study_abroad_locations Semester Abroad - Study Abroad Locations] ] , to have a law exchange programme with Harvard Law School, as well as several other notable Ivy League and Russell Group law schools including: Cornell Law School, the University of Glasgow and the University of Bristol. Sydney Law School are also the 2007 winners of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

Alumni

Over its 150 year history, Sydney Law School has produced a diverse and prominent group of alumni. It has produced four prime ministers and 23 out of 41 justices of the High Court. Almost all justices of the Supreme Court of New South Wales are alumni of Sydney Law School.Fact|date=September 2008 The following is a list of prominent alumni:

High Court of Australia

* Chief Justices of the High Court of Australia (in chronological order):
** Sir Garfield Barwick
** Sir Anthony Mason
** Murray Gleeson
* Other Justices of the High Court (in chronological order):
** Sir Edmund Barton
** Richard O'Connor
** Albert Piddington
** Sir George Rich
** Dr H. V. Evatt
** Sir Edward McTiernan
** Sir Dudley Williams
** Sir Frank Kitto
** Sir Alan Taylor
** Sir Victor Windeyer
** Sir Cyril Walsh
** Sir Kenneth Jacobs
** Lionel Murphy
** Sir William Deane
** Mary Gaudron
** Michael Kirby
** William Gummow
** Dyson Heydon
** Susan Crennan

Other legal professions

* Marie Beuzeville Byles - First woman to practise as a lawyer in NSW.
* Ada Emily Evans - First woman in Australia to graduate with an LLB (but not permitted to practise).
* Geoffrey Robertson - Human rights lawyer and author.
* Kim Santow - Justice of Appeal in the New South Wales Supreme Court; former Chancellor of the University of Sydney (2001-2007)
* Jim Spigelman - Present Chief Justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court.
* Sir Kenneth Whistler Street - Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court (1950-1960)
* Sir Laurence Whistler Street - Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court (1974-1988)
* Lucy Turnbull - lawyer; former Lord Mayor of Sydney.

Politics

* President of the United Nations General Assembly (1948-1949), Dr H.V. Evatt
* Governors-General of Australia - Sir John Kerr, Sir William Deane
* Prime Ministers of Australia (in chronological order):
**Sir Edmund Barton
**Sir William McMahon
**Gough Whitlam
**John Howard
* Premier of New South Wales:
**Thomas Bavin
**Neville Wran
* During the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975, the leaders of all branches of the Australian government were Sydney Law School alumni:
** Sir John Kerr, Governor General (1974-1977)
** Sir Garfield Barwick, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia (1964-1981)
** Gough Whitlam Prime Minister (1972-1975)
* In 1998 to 2001, again the leaders of all branches of the Australian government were Sydney Law School alumni:
** Sir William Deane, Governor General (1996-2001)
** Murray Gleeson, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia (1998-present)
** John Howard, Prime Minister (1996-2007)

Academic

* Rhodes scholars (in chronological order):
** Vincent John Flynn 1927
** David Hargraves Hodgson 1962
** Geoffrey Robertson 1970
** Malcolm Turnbull 1978
** Tony Abbott 1981
** Gordon Edward Christopher Fell 1987
** Jenifer Gae Klugman 1988
** Andrew Scott Bell 1990
** Angus James Taylor 1991
** Scott Michael Nixon 1992
** Peter Raymond Barnett 1995
** Evan Denis Fountain 1996
** Michael Anthony Izzo 2000
** Gregory Owen-Joseph O'Mahoney 2002
** Alexander Cameron 2004
** Jonathan Bonnitcha 2005
** Kate Brennan 2006
** Angela Cummine 2006
** Eric Knight 2006

Business

** Malcolm Turnbull
** James Wolfensohn
** Rene Rivkin

Arts, media and entertainment

** Janet Albrechtsen
** Chas Licciardello
** David Marr
** Julian Morrow
** Andrew O'Keefe
** Craig Reucassel
** Peter Weir

References

ee also

*University of Sydney
*List of University of Sydney people

External links

* [http://www.law.usyd.edu.au/ Sydney Law School]