• the introduction of the Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law and Practice, which will be offered for the first time in second semester 200
• the continued success of the SCALES Clinic in providing valuable hands-on legal experience for Murdoch students;
• the establishment of the Moot Court Bench; and
• the seventh annual International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot was hosted by the Murdoch Law School between 23rd and 27th June 2006. Fifteen teams from eight different countries competed in the event.

Murdoch Law School offers its students an outstanding domestic legal education and provides opportunities for them to engage in the international practice of law. In particular, Murdoch students participate in a number of international mooting competitions. These competitions help students acquire advanced writing, research and advocacy skills. These competitions include: The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot; The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot; and The Manfred Lachs International Space Law Moot.

The establishment of the Murdoch Moot Court Bench is also an important innovation. The Bench is a student body that promotes excellence in students’ written and oral advocacy skills. Under academic supervision, the Moot Court Bench pursues this objective by performing advocacy-related administrative, adjudicative, coaching, research and editing tasks. The Bench continues the well-established tradition within leading American law schools of a student-run Moot Court. The inaugural Moot Court Bench is working diligently under the leadership of its first Chief Justice, Ms Sarah Mateljan. The Bench is one of several ways in which the Law School communicates with the legal profession and its student body.

On 26 April 2006, Murdoch University and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) entered into an Agreement appointing WAIDM as the WA Registry of ACICA. WAIDM will be officially launched by its Patron, the Honourable Justice Wayne Martin, Chief Justice of Western Australia on 28 September in the Law School Lobby. The launch will be preceded by a Seminar on International Commercial Arbitration and the new ACICA Rules. In the first week of December 2006, WAIDM will conduct a series of lectures which will make participants eligible for Associate Membership of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (ACIArb). You are invited
to register your interest in this program. The Law School’s first Summer Programme will be held over January and February of 2007. The Summer Programme is a suite of four Special Topic elective units which will be taught in intensive mode. The subjects on offer are International Environmental Law, E-Business Law, History of Law and Conflict of Laws.

The Law School maintains an excellent website which is updated almost daily. I encourage you to visit the site regularly to learn more about the activities of the School. The webpage (www.law. murdoch.edu.au) offers information on seminars, study programs, student achievements, and much more.