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The Faculty of Law and Business has a thriving and highly regarded research community. Research within the Faculty focuses on substantive themes closely aligned with the mission of ACU. Our commitment to social justice, public service, human dignity, and ethical practice is reflected in our research into some of the most challenging and important societal issues confronting today’s scholars, practitioners and policy-makers.
The Thomas More Law School hosts three Research Clusters in Human Rights; Access to Justice; and Commercial Law and Just Societies. Our vibrant research culture fosters research excellence, impact, and researcher development through our postgraduate research degrees.
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Researchers in the Human Rights cluster work on the interaction between domestic law and international human rights law; on issues at the intersection of human rights and religion, society and politics; indigenous issues in Australia and overseas; transitional justice; and the human rights implications of globalization and development, including intellectual property rights. The human rights cluster has a strong record of producing important inter-disciplinary work that examines the role of institutions (national, regional and international) in promoting and protecting human rights.
Researchers in the Access to Justice cluster research and write on therapeutic justice as part of positive criminology perspectives. The cluster also addresses restorative justice as part of dispute resolution perspectives and by implication the criminal courts and the role of mental illness and disabilities. The cluster has a strong record of access to justice for people with disabilities, having recently completed an Australian Research Council research project on the right and ability of deaf people to participate in jury duty. The cluster is currently pursuing research initiatives on the vanishing trial phenomenon in Australian courts.
The Commercial Law and Just Societies cluster undertakes innovative and engaging research in the fields of commercial law with special emphasis on the promotion of just outcomes for society. The cluster focuses on critical enquiry, analysing the role of the state in providing effective and robust regulation of markets which are designed to promote integrity, transparency and the protection of vulnerable consumers and investors. Our researchers take an international approach, with a special focus on the European Union and Asia.
Associate Professor Michael Longo
Associate Professor Patrick Quirk
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