The opening words of Justinian’s Digest, the great surviving compilation of Roman law, contains a thought on the relation between the concepts of law and justice. ‘For he who intends to devote himself to law (ius),’ the jurist Ulpian states from his guidebook for students, ‘first it is necessary to know from where the very name of law (ius) derives. It is called such from justice (iustitia). For … the law is the art of goodness and fairness.’ (Digest 1, 1, 1).
On its own the passage isn’t very remarkable. In the place where Justinian enshrines it, it would be easy to take it either as a relatively empty introduction, aimed at lifting esteem in the lawand the study of law in particular.
Or it could be seen as resembling something of a more critical reminder, one which is similar to the way our better teachers,remind us from the start not to neglect in our studies that which always exceeds the law: the singularity of justice.
Should law or justice come first?
Yet, it takes only a small piece of historical context to reveal a different picture. When Ulpian makes ius (law) derive from iustitia (justice), the etymologies of these words, the paths by which one word is derived from another, are actually quite deliberately reversed.
In fact, the opposite of the statement was clearly true, as Aldo Schiavone tells us, that: ‘iustitia derived from ius and not the other way around,’ (Aldo Schiavone, The Invention of Law in the West. Trans. Jeremy Carden and Antony Schugaar, 2012, p. 419) and this would have been well-known to the writer and his audience.
Ulpian was thus not solemnly reminding and urging his audience to remember justice or to put justice first. The fragment must have had a sort of irony to it. It was not a strict and dogmatic observation from the jurist about the absolute nature of law. It was an earnest and at the same time playful piece of wisdom shared between a teacher and his students about the possibility and the occasion of studying it.
What does it mean to be a law student today?
History allows us to glimpse something fascinating here about what it means to be a student of law today because it is precisely the shared context and the independence of the student reader that is indispensable to reinsert into this fragment for it to take on its fullest meaning.
We notice the way that Ulpian, the teacher, the jurist, is not what we first assume. He is not pontificating to mindless devotees on the nature of law. He is constructing instead a rhetorical reversal in order to make this intimate thought that he has on the nature of his craft resonate more vividly for the reader who comes to it for the first time.
If the origins of law and justice are switched around, it is to convey and to emphasise something about the true philosophical life of legal study: a philosophical life that students and teachers must share, regardless of whether they are trained for entering a profession, and shared all the more closely when confined to the technical and pragmatic art of jurisprudence, of which the jurists are, Ulpian says, rightly called the ‘priests’.
Hidden within this fragment, in other words, is a kind of witticism, made for the initiated, poking fun at that which claims to speak in the name of justice but which, next to the study of law, only appears like a false philosophy.
Why these opening words of the Digest should still be of interest to law students today I think is that they remind us of the way in which students are present and indeed play an active, independent and indispensable role in the production of the meaning of law, even toward the depths and origins of the Western tradition.
“Grooming behaviour is not well understood in the community, given persistent stereotypes about child sexual abuse and perpetrators,’’ Professor O’Leary said.
Professor Patrick O’Leary
“Misconceptions include most of the perpetrators being strangers to the victim, the child as a ‘willing’ actor in the abuse, or that most grooming occurs online.
“There may also be a perception that children are safe in institutions and that perpetrators can be easily identified.”
He said the research found parents may have also been groomed and that grooming techniques were sometimes difficult to identify and distinguish from normal caregiving behaviours.
The report identified three main types of perpetrators and how they may affect grooming techniques.
Predatory perpetrators: most likely to have a diagnosis of paedophilia, persistently and exclusively sexually attracted to children. They actively seek and manipulate environments in which to perpetrate sexual abuse. Grooming techniques by perpetrators in this group are likely to be more elaborate, involving ‘special’ treatment of the child, gifts and enticements.
Opportunistic perpetrators: less likely than other types to be fixated on sexually abusing children. Indiscriminate in their sexual and moral behaviour, engaging in criminal behaviour outside the sexual abuse of children. Grooming likely to be prompted by the vulnerability of a child, lack of supervision or cognitive distortion of perceived ‘provocative’ or ‘seductive’ child behaviour.
Situational perpetrators: do not have a sexual preference towards children but could, for example, sexually abuse a child in the absence of adult relationships. Perpetrators may see a child’s playfulness, openness, shyness or physicality, as a prompt or opportunity to abuse. These individuals are otherwise law-abiding and will generally have no other criminal involvement. Abuse may occur with or without prior grooming.
The research found grooming to be an incremental process that can involve three main stages — from gaining access to the victim, initiating and maintaining the abuse and concealing the abuse.
“But grooming does not inevitably lead to sexual abuse, and child sexual abuse can also commence in the absence of grooming,” Professor O’Leary said.
He said the best way to identify and prevent grooming and child sexual abuse was the development and implementation of policies and procedures and codes of conduct, as well as developing an organisation culture that prioritises child safety.
The report will assist the Royal Commission’s understanding of how grooming in relation to child sexual abuse may be better identified and addressed.
Standing apart as one of Australia’sfinest music schools with a glittering roll call of alumni, theQueensland Conservatoriumisturning sixty.
With players in leading positions in every Australian state orchestra, and a host of Grammy and ARIA award winners among its alumni, the Queensland Conservatorium is celebratinga remarkable six decades of peerless music education.
Dream destination
The Conservatorium opened its doors on 18 February 1957 at the South Brisbane Town Hall with just 13 full-time students.
It was based at Gardens Point through the 1970s and 80s, before moving to a new home in the heart of South Bank’s cultural precinct in 1996.
Queensland Conservatorium Director Professor Scott Harrison is himself a graduate of the ‘Con’. He said the Queensland Conservatorium had carved out a place as one of the state’s major cultural institutions.
“Thousands of talented students have graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium which remains the dream destination for aspiring young musicians,” he said.
“This institution has made an enormous contribution to Australia’s musical landscape across a variety of genres, from classical and jazz to musical theatre and popular music.
A blockbuster season
Professor Harrison said the Queensland Conservatorium was planning to mark its 60th yearwith a blockbuster season of events.
“We invite everyone to help us celebrate – you can see the next generation of musicians at our free lunchtime concerts, or come along to one of the hundreds of events held throughout the year, featuring students, faculty and alumni,” he said.
Highlights of the 2017 season include the main stage musical, West Side Story, which itself debuted on Broadway 60 years ago.
The blockbuster production will feature a triple cast, comprising the entiremusical theatre school, accompanied by the Queensland Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra.
“This production will give the students a chance to tackle one of the biggest shows in the musical theatre canon,” he said.
“It will be an extraordinary challenge, but if you want to test yourself as an artist and hone your skills, you have to shoot for the stars.”
There will also be a special 60th Anniversary Gala next month, featuring students, faculty and alumni, including Katie Noonan, who will front an all-star Big Band.
Rounding out the program for 2017 is the Griffith Opera on the Beach — a spectacular new production of Aida with Opera Australia at Coolangatta.
Budding young scientists will get to collaborate with renowned researchers at this year’s World Science Festival.
Provided as achance for Queensland Secondary Schools to jumpstart their 2017 science programs, theWorld Science Festival Apprentice Programs, coordinated by Griffith University, may even provide the impetus and inspiration towards some award winning student projects.
Held on March 22 and 24 at Nathan campus, the two-hour workshops will see Queensland secondary school students get valuable hands-on experience and take part in unique, interactive experiences, either in the field or within a laboratory setting.
The World Science Festival Apprentice Programs are small, hands-on workshops where renowned scientists, technologists and innovators educate curious minds on the workings and wonders of their chosen fields.
In small groups, participants become the scientist’s apprentice, investigating or experimenting in the field or the lab.
Students will learn to identify and understand the toxic risks to the natural environment caused by various human activities as an Ecotoxicologist’s apprentice. There are two workshops available and you can find out more here.
Join Griffith University’s freshwater scientists during fact-finding field studies, as a Freshwater Ecologist’s apprentice. Witness how cutting-edge science and natural ecosystems work together to clean and purify water without chemicals. You get to choose from three workshop options and can find out more here
Or develop essential skills that assist in solving crimes and identify missing persons or victims of disasters, as a Forensic Scientist’s apprentice. There are two workshops available and you can find out more here
Places are strictly limited to 25 participants per workshop so students should register NOW!
From tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges to acknowledging the unsung women in science and getting kids to become eco-warriors, Griffith University is sharing its expertise across all areas at this year’s World Science Festival Brisbane.
Held fromMarch 22-26, the festival brings together great minds from around the world inan annual week-long celebration and exploration of science.
Griffith is featured in several events in this year’s exciting program and will showcase its reputation for water knowledge on a global scale.
Professor Bunn, director of the Australian Rivers Institute, says it is important to acknowledge water is a basic human right, while not destroying biodiversity in the process.
“It’s about how we do a better job, and we’ve got this double challenge of addressing sustainable development goals for water and meeting those basic human needs but at the same time not destroying the services which we depend on,” he says.
Griffith is also hosting a two-day workshop as experts discuss the need and vision forglobal water assessment, as well featuring in the ‘Water Talks‘ conversation series.
To celebrate World Water Day, the festival will deliver a daily dose of water wisdom in a series that examine some inspirational successes as well as the current impediments to the United Nation’s Global Sustainability Goal #6 for clean, accessible and sustainably managed water for all by 2030.
With a child dying from a water-related disease every 90 seconds, Associate ProfessorAnne Roikowill join a panel to discuss whatgovernments and corporations are doing locally and abroad to provide safe sanitation systems to every person on earth in another of the Water Talks titled ‘Dirt on water and disease‘.
Delving into the solution side of water as part of theseries,Dr Fernanda Adamewill look at how ‘green engineering’ could influence modern water management and whether the concept of ‘used’ water is too difficult to swallow. Discounts are available for guests who want to attend the entire Water Talks series.
The QueenslandConservatorium will host 100 Ways to Listen, a series of free events from March 24-26 thatexplore the art and science of sound, documenting a decade of innovative music making. Read more about music meets science.
The project includes performances, installations, sound walks, interviews and essays from national and international artists and scientists. These sonic experiments willculminate in a publication launching on World Listening Day 2017.
Griffith’s Science on the Go! team will also bring its ever exciting, dynamic and engaging demonstrations to Street Science held across the weekend of the festival.
To find out more about taking part in any of Griffith’s apprentice programs, visit hereor here.
Assembling a collection for Paris Fashion Weekis the culmination of a life’s work for mostdesigners.
But justmonths after graduation, Queensland College of Artjewellery designer Jess McMaster is in the city of light to show her latest accessories collection to international buyers and trendsetters.
“I got the invitation a couple of days before my final assignment was due, so it was a powerful incentive,” she says with a laugh.
“The showroom found me on Instagram— they have scouts that are constantly scouring the site for new talent.
“I produced a whole new collection and made a lot of new work — I haven’t stopped since the end of December!”
Showing her designs at Paris Fashion Week has always been on her bucket list, according to theGriffith Fine Arts graduate.
“It’s a big learning curve, but I’m grateful to have the opportunity early on in my career.”
While runway shows are reserved for the big design houses, the showrooms that pop up in Paris during Fashion Week are an ideal way for young designers to connect with buyers.
The CUBE Showroom, in the hip Marais district, is a mecca for fashion followers, providing invaluable exposure for the young designer.
“It’s a great opportunity to get some stockists overseas,” she says.
“It’s so cool to be part of it all — it’s a great chance to network, get some exposure for my work and learn from other designers.
“I have always had an interest in fashion. I originally enrolled at the QCA to study sculpture, but jewellery design just made complete sense. I spent every paycheck on clothes and jewellery, and I started out making pieces that I wanted to wear.”
Jess works from her home studio, and creates one-off pieces under the label, All or Nothing Objects. The moniker sums up her approach to her artistic practice.
“I didn’t start at uni until I was in my late 20s, so I think at this stage of my life, it’s about going in with all guns blazing and making it happen,” she says.
She describes her jewellery as “textural and high contrast” and says it appeals to people looking for something unique.
“I love experimenting. I think my pieces are for people who want something a little bit different,” she says.
“I love that my creations aren’t just a piece of work that hangs on the wall.”
Jess was mentored at the QCA byMs Liz Shaw, the convenor of Jewellery and Small Objects. She credits the course at the QCA with providing a launch pad to an international career.
“My lecturers at the QCA were amazingly supportive and encouraging,” she says.
“They don’t deter you from exploring and experimenting.
“And access to the studios and tools means that you have everything at your fingertips.”
The self-confessed fashionista is keen to make the most of her first visit to the French capital — home to the world’s finest fashion, food and culture.
“Once the showcase is over, I plan to drink a lot of rosé, eat cheese and go exploring with my camera.”
A pathway to a career in international logistics and supply chain management could open up for one Griffith business student in 2017 with the introduction of the Mainfreight Scholarship.
Final year students of business and commerce are invited to apply for the scholarship which has been developed with a focus on the next generation of responsible global leaders.
Mainfreight is a sophisticated international supply chain business with a team of more than 6000. The $2 billion global business specialises in transport and logistics.
Australia’s largest whistleblowing research project has given evidence to the first hearings of the Joint Parliamentary Committee inquiry into whistleblower protections in the corporate, public and not-for-profitsectors.
Whistling While They Work 2 project leader Professor A J Brown of Griffith University’s Centre for Governance & Public Policy told the Brisbane Inquiry, comparisons across the G20 countries showed Australia’s legal protections for corporate and not-for-profit whistleblowers is embarrassingly weak.
“However, Australian business and government face a vital choice on what to do about this,” he said.
“Will it be by introducing protections for employees who reveal wrongdoing in a piece-by-piece fashion in Commonwealth laws, starting with tax avoidance, then financial misdeeds, and so on?
“Or will it be a more strategic approach in which business is spared pain, with companies and employers operating under one overarching set of protections for those who blow the whistle on wrongdoing?”
Professor Brown and fellow WWTW2 research team, Associate Professor Kath Hall of ANU told the Inquiry, preliminary results supported a comprehensive approach — based on the breadth of wrongdoing types already identified in business whistleblowing policies.
Senator Nick Xenophon speaks to the media at the Joint Parliamentary Committee inquiry in Brisbane
The results are drawn from a survey of whistleblowing processes and procedures across 702 public sector, business and not-for-profit organisations from Australia and New Zealand, collected by the project between April and July 2016.
Protection to suit Australian standards
“We can go down the US road, and have whistleblower protections relating to 47 different types of corporate wrongdoing in 47 different laws, or we can support business with something higher quality and more streamlined,” Professor Brown said.
The WWTW2 preliminary research already influenced important reforms to federal whistleblowing laws in November, introduced by Senator Nick Xenophon — who also recommended the present inquiry and is a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee.
More research results will be released at next month’s National Integrity 2017 conference, in Brisbane, being held by Griffith University and Transparency International Australia.
Experts in rehabilitation have joined forces to improve the outcomes for people with long-term disabling conditions including spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and persistent pain.
Launched by the Minster for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick, The Hopkins Centre — Research for Rehabilitation and Resilience brings together 150 senior clinicians and researchers from Metro South Health and Griffith University, to produce impactful research in disability and rehabilitation.
“Rehabilitation is an essential part of a person’s healthcare journey and should be seen as an essential component of an integrated health system,” Mr Dick said.
“The distinguishing feature of the Queensland health system is that it never gives up–not on people, not on the conditions that afflict them, not on finding better ways to treat them.
“The Hopkins Centre will make an important contribution to that tradition, and the partnership it formalises between Metro South Health and Griffith University will promote and support world’s best practice research in rehabilitation and disability here in Queensland.”
The Hopkins Centre is based at Logan Campus, Griffith University and the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) but will have a Queensland-wide focus.
PAH Medical Chair Division of Rehabilitation and Deputy Director of The Hopkins Centre, Professor Timothy Geraghty, said researchers and clinicians from MSH and Griffith University had been working together for more than 20 years, conducting high-quality research and evaluation that translated directly into practice.
“Our partnership has resulted in some really innovative services that meet the needs of people with chronic disabilities,” Professor Geraghty said. “After all of these years, we’re now able to open a centre of research that unites clinicians, local, national and international researchers and research groups, and industry partners into a coherent strategic entity.”
Named after Dr Paul Hopkins
Professor Geraghty said the Centre was named after renowned rehabilitation medicine physician Dr Paul Hopkins AO.
“Dr Hopkins contribution to rehabilitation medicine and the rehabilitation and disability sectors was immense and there can be no more appropriate person after whom to name for our new Centre,” he said.
Director of The Hopkins Centre, Professor Elizabeth Kendall from Griffith’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland said the Centre would focus on developing effective disability and rehabilitation practices, services and systems that were responsive to the needs of people with disability and high-quality outcomes.
“Our mission is to find better solutions to complex systemic challenges through interdisciplinary collaborative and responsive research. We want research to be embedded in practice and informed by people with disability,” she said.
The research undertaken by the Centre includes the translation of new practices and technologies enhancing the experience of people with disabilities who use those services.
“We want to build the capability of the rehabilitation and disability workforce and investigate the types of environments that can improve outcomes,” Professor Kendall said.
“Most importantly, our research will uphold the dignity of the people with disability through respectful language and methods and recognition of how important it is to draw on experiential knowledge of those who deal with disability every day.”
Griffith University continues to cement its reputation as one of Australia’s leading educational institutions with the release of the Graduate Management Association of Australia (GMAA) 5-star rankings.
The University attained one of the prized top ratings of five stars for their MBA program in 2016, which reinforces their position as an industry leader in the field of business.
The Griffith MBA is already well credentialed, ranked No. 4 in Australia by the Australian Financial Review BOSS Magazine and is among the country’s leading MBA programs in the CEO Magazine’s ranking.
Pro Vice Chancellor of Business, Professor David Grant, says the ranking results further demonstrate Griffith Business School’s commitment to producing high-quality, cutting edge content that ensures graduates are ready for the modern workplace.
“We are delighted that GMAA have once again awarded the Griffith MBA five stars,” Professor Grant says. “The award reflects both the program’s innovative content as well as the commitment of our high-calibre staff to delivering a quality product.”
He continues: “The Griffith MBA has once again been recognised as producing graduates who are the kind of cutting edge thinkers able to navigate the challenges, and to take advantage of the opportunities, that prevail in the contemporary business environment.”
Professor Linda Trenberth, Dean (Academic) for GBS and acting Pro Vice Chancellor, agreed that the ranking is further proof of the School’s commitment to quality.
“Over the years we have received strong ratings from the GMAA even though through the years they have changed their criteria as the MBA market develops,” Professor Trenberth explains. “Thus that we continue to achieve the top rating is a reinforcement that the Griffith MBA has and continues to be a leading and high-quality MBA.
“The Griffith MBA probably has the most progressive values of any MBA in the market,” the Professor continues. “As we look forward, the Griffith MBA is continuing to develop in terms of its teaching practices and content to offer leading-edge content to a high standard.
“Winning this award pushes us to continue to improve in our offering of a great program and a great student experience.”
The GMAA rankings are geared towards assessing the top business schools in the country to emphasise the value of post-graduate qualifications, and help prospective students identify prospective learning institutions.
Dr Edward Mussawir is a lecturer at the Griffith Law School.
