Professor Gabriël A. Moens

Dean and Professor of Law

The School is proud of the meaningful opportunities it offers its students. Indeed, Murdoch is a place where students are able to convert their dreams into reality. These opportunities facilitate our students becoming the legal, business and political leaders of tomorrow. The School continues to develop strong and exciting professional relationships with industry. For example, during the last couple of months some of my colleagues and I have taken groups of students to law firms, including Jackson McDonald, Freehills, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, and Minter Ellison to give our students a taste of what the real world has to offer. As a School, we make a determined effort to ensure that the education we offer is educationally innovative and professionally relevant. This year, as a direct response to requests made to us by the legal profession, the School has introduced new units, including Indonesian Law, Construction Law, European Union Law and Conflict of Laws, among others.

In January and February 2008, the School successfully concluded its second Summer Programme in Law which attracted many students from other WA and eastern states law schools. In January 2009, the School will offer its third Summer Programme with units in International Trade Law, Sports Law, European Union Law and Legal Theory.

The School’s new European Summer Programme in Law was launched in June by the Italian Consul in Perth. It will enable our students to study at the University of Macerata, Italy for four weeks in June and July of 2009.

On April 9, the School celebrated the considerable achievements of its students and graduates during the Dean’s Award Ceremony. This was a joyous event which enabled us to showcase the pursuit of excellence by all those who are involved with the educational and professional functions of Murdoch Law School.

The School is constantly striving to maintain a competitive edge and to enhance the relevance of its curriculum and courses. In January 2008, the Law School offered its innovative new Postgraduate Certificate in Chinese Law in Zhengzhou University, in the People’s Republic of China. It was a resounding success, and one which establishes this Law School as a forward-thinking unit which provides cutting-edge knowledge and opportunities to our students. Whilst the programme was a major successful milestone for the Law School, we could not possibly predict the incredibly bad weather in China, with freezing temperatures and lots of snow. But the study of law is a great adventure that enables students to discover new insights into the nature of society and widen their intellectual horizons.

This Newsletter also details the spectacular successes of our international mooting teams. Indeed, the School’s team that participated in the prestigious Willem C Vis competition in Vienna won a prize for Best Memorandum for the Respondent and proceeded to the Finals of the competition. This is a truly amazing achievement in view of the fact that 203 of the best law schools in the world
participated in this event in 2008. In addition, our Philip Jessup Public International Law Moot team won First Prize for their Brief for the Appellant during the regional competition in Canberra. Finally, the School’s Manfred Lachs Aviation team won the Prize for Best Memorials and proceeded to the
Semi-Finals of that competition.

In January, SCALES moved into new offices at Rockingham and was recently awarded the 2008 Richard Fletcher Award at the WA Consumer Protection Awards. The Award is for the Tenants Advice and Court Service offered by SCALES.

Indeed, a determination to build new programmes and to offer new opportunities to students and staff is what makes Murdoch into a leading Australian law school.