MONDAY 27 MAY 2013

Rediscovering the Apogee of Internationalism

Dean R. P. Edwards
In todays age of seemingly unprecedented international efforts, Sydney University Professor of International History Glenda Sluga contends that the intellectual and political climate around the mid-20th century were as much, if not more, an apogee of internationalism. Sluga orated on the history of one of internationalisms golden ages during her insightful public lecture last Wednesday at Melbourne Law School, co-hosted by the Institute for International Law and the Humanities and the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies (SHPS). Sluga was a graduate of the University of Melbourne, and continued her studies at Sussex University and through a number of fellowships across the world. Her most recent publication is Internationalism in the Age of Nationalism, published this year by UPenn Press. Following a glowing introduction from SHPS Prof Marilyn Lake, Sluga delved into an hour-long narrative of the figures and ideas that dominated the optimistic postwar conversation about the future of global development, which gradually gave way to the pessimism and Realpolitik of the Cold War in the 1950s. One such figure was the 1940s American thinker Edith Wynner, author of Searchlight on Peace Plans, who said that the establishment of a modern, practical Federalized World Government is the Unfinished Business of [the 20th] Century. (Sluga used slides during the presentation and noted that the capitalization was Wynners.) Wynner had called for a selfconsciously inclusive internationalism, which would not be a diplomats club like the defunct League of Nations. Sluga pointed out that her view was characteristic of the New Deal mindset prevalent in the postwar years. Sluga also highlighted the utopianesque aspirations of Australian Frank Lidgett McDougall, who contributed to plans for a postwar world government, with much of international economic and social planning organised top-down. Throughout her lecture, Sluga emphasised the importance of understanding international history, which has become an emerging field of study in recent years. To drive home her point, Sluga referred to a knowledge awareness gap in the world today, with a United Nations study showing that populations in English-speaking nations rank among the least knowledgeable about international organisations. Conversely, the Nordic nations ranked toward the top, with Jordanians the most aware, according to the study.

De Minimis
Official Newspaper of the Students of Melbourne Law School, Established 1948, Revived 2012 Volume 3, Issue 12

www.mudeminimis.com

PROFESSOR GLENDA SLUGA. (PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY)

Again?! Careers Guide Reignites MLS Gender Wars

Tessa Sidnam
Last Thursday, the LSS Careers Officers launched the publication of the Careers Guide 2013. The Guidebook provides much insight into many of the career options law students may consider pursuing after graduating from law school. The lunchtime launch was largely successful, with many students showing up to steal some lollies and instagram the helium balloons. On closer inspection, things werent as bright and cheery as the guidebook and gummy bears suggested. The dark side of the launch party was the revelation that it was in fact an antifeminist brainwashing attempt, cleverly hidden under the guise of an event which would attract a large proportion of the student body. A statistical analysis of the balloons on level 1 showed that there were more male-coloured balloons than femalecoloured balloons at the event, bringing to light the subversive and reactive nature of the society. Gender debate has been prevalent among the more vocal law students in the past few weeks. The proposal to name a 9pm snack stall TSS to stand for Tasty Study Snacks was rejected because it might spark thoughts of Toxic Shock Syndrome. While TSS is a syndrome that could affect persons of any gender or age, it is strongly associated with menstruating women. Everyone refused to comment on the balloons, but De Minimis thinks that further discussion is necessary to figure out which gender actually runs the law school.

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Comment

De Minimis mudeminimis.com Volume 3, Issue 12

Student Societies: Por Qu No Los Dos?

With an Array of Student-run Groups at Law School, Could There be a More Democratic Way Forward?
Nicholas Baum
Students societies play a vital role in providing critical services to students, and building the community atmosphere at the law school more broadly. Run voluntarily by students driven by a combination of selflessness and aspiration, they give students social events, access to career pathways, help with studies and an outlet for creative energies. But with limited time, money and talent available, are there too many? This is a question that probably doesnt cross the mind of the vast majority of students, who are more concerned with what they get, rather than who organises it, but it has been a recurring issue for successive student administrations. In 2011, the Law Students Society (LSS) and the Global Law Students Association (GLSA) briefly merged, with the GLSA President holding a non-voting position on the LSS committee and continuing to run an independent operation. This structure was removed in constitutional changes pushed through last year. Simon Breheny, the 2011 LSS President, said the reasons for the merger were numerous avoiding duplication, confusion and competition for talent and sponsorship, while taking advantage of efficiencies and removing the overlap of careers events and resources. Traditionally, the domestic market has been captured exclusively by the LSS while the Hong Kong market has been monopolised by the GLSA, Breheny said. This division is not always respected, by either entity, and this inevitably leads to a situation where two bodies that represent the same group of students find themselves in competition for sponsorship from the same group of firms. The LSS, which carries the greatest burden in providing student equity and educational services, must cross-subsidise these by charging more for their careers events. Other organisations can sell their events more cheaply, dedicating the money to those events only. 2012 LSS President Antony Freeman said the two societies had agreed to revert to the existing structure because the constitutional change instituting it was ambiguous and unhelpful. Practically, the organisations were trying to work together most of the time, and we felt like the sections didnt add anything to it, Freeman said. He echoed Brehenys concerns about the division of service provision between the two organisations. I wasnt really sure where the scope of the GLSA started and ended, as most things at Melbourne Law School inherently have an international flavour to them. Freeman and 2012 GLSA President Sahil Sondhi instituted a dialogue about how best to deal with this, and this has continued this year, with the two organisations working closely together to represent the interests of international students. Faculty is setting up a new Student Organisations Representative Council to further this process. However, many argue that the LSS is too amorphous to be effective in delivering the services currently provided by the groups such as the GLSA, Melbourne Chinese Law Society and Later Law Students Network, with a 50+ member committee and an enormous set of obligations already. These smaller groups are tightly run, more focused on specific groups, and able to deliver niche events that the LSS is too overburdened to handle. These organisations should not detract from the exceptional work of the LSS as the key representative student Continued on Page 3 De Minimis Staff
Editor Dean R. P. Edwards Online/Layout Editor Mika Tsoi Staff Nicholas Baum, Peter Botros, Reegan Grayson-Morison, Emma Henderson, Thomas Ho, Haram Kwon, Andrew Michaelson, Anna Nodrum, Melissa Peach, Doug Porteous, Raoul Renard, Tessa Sidnam, Jess Sykes, Christine Todd, Jessica Williams, Annie Zheng

A Penny (or Several Thousand) for Your Tweet

Georgina Wu
How much could a tweet cost? For Sally Bercow, wife of the House of Commons Speaker in the United Kingdom, a recent Tweet of Bercows is reported to have cost 15,000, a public apology and about 100,000 in legal fees. The offending Tweet? Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent face* The Tweet concerned rumours last year swirling about Lord McAlpine during the Jimmy Savile paedophilia investigation and media row. In a judgment delivered late last week, Lord Tugendhat found the *innocent face* part of the Tweet to be insincere and ironical (readers must resist urge to insert *shocked face* here). His Honour also found the Tweet was in its natural and ordinary sense calling Lord McAlpine a paedophile. He further found that it had the same effect in its innuendo meaning. So what does this mean for our virtual

A LESS TWITTER-AVID SALLY BERCOW. (PHOTO: THE GUARDIAN)

watercooler conversations? Well, as sobering as this case may be, theres no need to delete those Twitter and Facebook accounts just yet. Australian defamation law requires a defamatory comment to state something explicitly. So innuendo away, just dont say shit outright, alright? *wink* Georgina Wu is not an expert on British or Australian defamation laws and her commentary here should not be construed as legal advice.

De Minimis mudeminimis.com Volume 3, Issue 12

OPINION 3
military as terrorism when at least 30 members of a wedding party were killed in the Afghani province of Uruzgan in 2002? By calling into question the nature of what we call terrorism, we do not equivocate about the gravity of the crimes: but, as Greenwald says, we must challenge ourselves to view violence, whether done by us or others, in a consistent and fair manner. In declaring the war on terror over the entire globe, with any Muslim that doesnt conform to the western model demarcated as our enemy, western states are over-privileging the idea of sovereignty and security, and are in favour of exercising military force on the periphery of legitimacy. Surely the shooting of two men holding knives, who had essentially given themselves up, according to eyewitnesses, is nothing more than the response of an anxious sovereign, afraid of its own legitimacy as a state and its role in extra-territorial conflicts. (Ed.French police are still searching for a man who stabbed a soldier at the La Defense station in Paris. Authorities are unsure whether this was a copycat crime.) students. Hamilton, who also noted that issues of overlap could be addressed by better coordination and communication, said he would like to see further efforts to realise a framework within which we can co-exist more effectively and efficiently. The LSS runs elections open to all students, and is directly accountable to those students. For all the imperfections of elected committees, they have a mandate from the student body, and responsibilities to the student body. This is significant where both elected and non-elected societies receive university funds directly. The LSS should not see itself as the sole source of all things good in the student community, and should encourage and support independent student initiatives and societies. Practically speaking, having smaller, more focused societies may deliver a more diverse range of programs and publications. But a single overarching organisation to represent student interests and run key events and programs could be more democratic.

Sovereigntys Double Standards?

THE ALLEGED ATTACKERS SPOKE TO WITNESSES FOLLOWING THE MURDER OF DRUMMER LEE RIGBY. (PHOTO: THE GUARDIAN)

Reegan Grayson-Morison

The recent incident in London last week, where a pair of Muslims killed an offduty soldier, and the UK Governments and police response, should call into question what actually constitutes terrorism, as well as the legitimacy of force against civilians. In an article in The Guardian following the British response to the incident, Glenn Greenwald criticised the use of the term terrorism to describe the attack, in light of the fact that violence against Muslim immigrants in the UK is not labelled as terrorism, nor are the daily attacks perpetrated by Western forces against civilians in Muslim countries. To emphasise this point, Greenwald pointed to the shock and awe attack on Baghdad, which was clearly a campaign to intimidate the population into turning against Saddam Husseins regime, and to galvanise support for the Ameri-

can invaders. On grounds of definition, it was arguably an act of terror in which an estimated 6,700 civilians were killed, in the name of forcing political change. The killing of one British soldier would be a passing headline had it occurred in Afghanistan: why then has it caused such an outcry and a violent backlash from the government when a soldier who participated in the war in Afghanistan is killed in the UK? Why does the western public not decry the killings of civilians by the

Student Societies
Continued from Page 2 body, said current GLSA President Tim Hamilton, but I also believe that it is not so much about who puts on the events or runs certain activities so long as someone is doing it, and so long as those events and activities are pertinent to the needs, issues and interests of

Itching to write? At Law School, who isnt opinionated? With all that free time the JD course allows students to
enjoy, everyone naturally has something to say. Kidding aside, writing a bit whether its hard news or opinion, or maybe something creative doesnt take much time away from your cramming, and it can be therapeutic. We think. De Minimis is a community newspaper for you, the JD student (and for the occasional Masters or Doctoral student who wants to be in the know). Our primary goal is to be a platform for discussion and to spotlight the news and people that (should) capture our attention each week. Thats why we provide an open and independent forum for students to use their talents and share their work. If youd like to contribute or youre just curious, send us a message on Facebook or to MLSdeminimis@gmail.com. Were always happy to receive article and photo submissions, creative work and opinion pieces. For the noble soul, and rare human specimen, who likes to copy edit, theres a role for you, too. The world is your oyster, or [place suitably encouraging clich here]. If youve got the passion or the desire to try out contributing, wed love to have you aboard.

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

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Equity Uncle

De Minimis mudeminimis.com Volume 3, Issue 12

Equity Will Not Aid a Poser

Dear Equity Uncle, A friend called me a hipster. They pointed to my black frame glasses, constant use of ironic speech, giving up on bands once they become popular and being a coffee aficionado. My response is that the glasses are very comfortable and soon everyone will be wearing them, and theyre prescription. I stop listening to bands when their music is no longer interesting to me; I like coffee: I live in Melbourne. I dont ride a fixie and I dont have a moustache or beard and I dont want to live in Brooklyn or Fitzroy. Am I a hipster, at common law or at equity? Just Sayin Just Sayin, Its not true that cheap wine is bad wine. Equity is not above drinking cheap wine. Equity acts on principle, and that principle is not that cheap wine is bad wine. But sometimes principles conflict with other principles and maxims like equity treats as done that which ought to have been done and dont miss the editing deadline for the third week in a row lead Equity to realise that perhaps, occasionally, cheap wine might be bad wine. OK, your problem. Theres nothing wrong with black frame glasses. Equity is fine with prescription lenses. Speak ironically if you want. It makes you look a boss and Equity wont judge you for it at all. It seems that this case turns upon your music tastes. Equity has been listening to Daft Punk this week. Like, a lot. Even though, in Equitys experience, if you have to spend all night looking for luck youre unlikely to find it. Equity, too, is just sayin. Are these masked French boppers too mainstream for you? If yes, then at Equity you might as well order another siphoned vegan espresso and ride a baby-blue bicycle and grow a cheap moustache. Equity Uncle

QUIZ
1. Ermine is the winter coat of which animal? 2. Who was Lady Chatterleys lover? 3. Which treaty signaled the end of the First World War? 4. What shape is the pasta called farfalle? 5. Which beetle was sacred to the ancient Egyptians? 6. Which food did Captain Cook feed his crew to prevent scurvy? 7. What was the first of Hercules Twelve Labours? 8. In which Disney movie were all the characters changed into household items? 9. In which river did John the Baptist baptise Jesus? 10. In which US State is the famous ski resort of Aspen? Answers below. This weeks quiz compiled by Anna Nodrum.

Upcoming Events
Monday, 27 May A Comparative View of the Judiciary: The Training of Judges in the Japanese Legal System, a lecture by Judge Sachiyo Kitagawa. Hosted by the ALC. 6.15 pm. Room 920. Wednesday, 29 May LSS Ride to Uni Breakfast, put on by the Environment Officers. Fruit, pastries, muffins &c. 8 10 am. Level 1. Wednesday, 29 May Coffee Hour Discussion with Prof Karen Knop, hosted by the GLSA and sponsored by King & Wood Mallesons. 1 pm. Room 221. RSVPs are essential: glsa-professional@ unimelb.edu.au. Wednesday, 29 May Purely Dicta Launch/BBQ. 1 pm. Law School Lawns. Thursday, 30 May After Smart Power: From Instrumentalism to Legal Technique in Feminist Foreign Policy, with Profs Karen Knop and Annelise Riles. 4 pm. Room 920. RSVPs are essential.

Reflections

Law School: Probably Worth the Health Risk

Jessica Sykes
Theres a certain kind of poetry to making it to your final year of the JD only to realise that all you want is to become a writer. The kind of poetry that makes you want to stab yourself in the eyespoken word Id say. There are two main elements to how bothersome this epiphany is. The first is that it almost seems as though the obscene amount of debt and finely tuned anxiety Ive accumulated are somehow not worth it now, given that I dont actually want to use my degree. But perhaps poverty and some whimsical emotional shortcomings will just put me in good stead for a writing career, with the added bonus of now possessing a cynicism far beyond my years. The second is that Im such a stubborn asshole that Im going to finish this bastard JD anyway. Most likely I will be the most gloriously overqualified hobo in history; thank God Im well across squatters rights. Yet somehow it is still well worth it. Ill come out of these three years far more logical (which wasnt difficult); more capable of beating friends in arguments (which has been met with mass disappointment in said group); and having been exposed to some of the most impressive people that Melbourne Uni can offer. And whilst the visiting lecturers have been incredible, its pretty hard to regret studying an obscenely overpriced and insanely difficult degree that has brought friends of such a high calibre. Although Im sure others will celebrate their phenomenal intellectual abilities (yawn), Im much more impressed to have friends who can cook, hold themselves horizontally from a pole, stir people to within an inch of their lives and deliver easily the best deadpan known to man. Not bad for three years and $100,000. Or Im just sitting on the wrong side of exams for career choices. De Minimis feels your pain.

QUIZ ANSWERS. 1. Stoat 2. Oliver Mellors 3. Treaty of Versailles 4. A bow-tie or butterfly (farfalle is Italian for butterflies) 5. Scarab 6. Sauerkraut 7. Taming of the Nemean Lion 8. Beauty and the Beast 9. Jordan 10. Colorado