Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law
About the Centre
Established in September 2003, the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law (CPICL) is committed to advancing research and fostering interdiscipinary collaboration. The Centre actively engages in scholarly exchanges both within University and with other like-minded research organisations around the world.
The Centre offers robust support for doctoral research and currently 11 doctoral students work with the supervision of the Fellows of the Centre. Our Fellows and members also significantly contrinute to the graduate program of the School of Law by the conduct of courses in its research areas. View our management and members.
The Centre brings together a large group of faculty members and doctoral students who are actively engaged in research and teaching across the following areas:
Public law
- constitutional law
- administrative law
- domestic human rights law
- criminal law and justice
- law of institutions, including educational, religious and professional institutions.
International law
- public international law
- international human rights law
- international criminal and humanitarian law
- the law of international organisations
- private international law
Comparative law
Analysis and comparison of:
- law in nations of Asia and the South Pacific
- legal systems, other than the common law, including civil, chthonic, socialist and Syariah legal systems
- role of legal institutions in different nations and legal systems
- legal pluralism
- inter- and intra-legal pluralism in Australia.
Legal theory
Philosophical, economic, social and historical perspectives on law.
CPICL also disseminates its research through public seminars and conferences and publications. From 2004-2020, the Centre published the LAWSASIA Journal in partnership with LAWASIA and The Law Association for Asia and the Pacific. Since 2017, the Centre has also published the Australian Journal of International Law.
CPICL has established links with relevant government and public institutions and offers consultancy services in its area of expertise.
CPICL is currently running nine research programs:
- The Legal Pluralism Program
- Cultural Heritage Law Program
- International and Comparative Competition Law and Policy Program
- The Korean Law Program
- Disability Human Rights Program
- Indonesian Law Program
- Federalism and Multilevel Governance Program
- Law and Religion in the Asia-Pacific
- National and Global Security Program
Contact
The Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law (CPICL) offers a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment designed to foster expansion of knowledge, challenge established conventions and facilitate meaningful contributions to the fields of public, international and comparative law. We warmly welcome inquiries from prospective students, scholars from Australia and abroad, and professionals engaged in these legal disciplines. For further information abour our research areas, seminars, or organisational activities, please do not hesistate to contact our Centre Management:
Professor Nicholas Aroney
Centre Director, Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law
Email: cpicl@law.uq.edu.au
Telephone: +61733653053
Darul Mahdi
Digital Content Manager, Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law
Email: d.mahdi@uq.edu.au
T.C. Beirne School of Law
The University of Queensland
Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
Featured publication
Philosophy, Law and Culture of Liberal Democracy and the Authoritarian Challenge by Suri Ratnapala
Defending liberal democracy against rising authoritarianism is a moral imperative in our time!
Liberal democracy is the great legacy of the Enlightenment; it has reduced world poverty, increased life expectancy, enriched lives by every measure of wellbeing and enlarged our moral compass. Yet, external threats to liberal democracy are posed by totalitarian regimes and their allies seeking to remake the world in their image, and internal pressures arise from opposition to liberal principles from the extremities of the ideological spectrum: radicalism on the left and nativist populism on the right. The defence of liberal democracy requires understanding of its foundational principles, epistemological norms, institutional framework, cultural underpinnings and economic settings.
In Philosophy, Law and Culture of Liberal Democracy and the Authoritarian Challenge, acclaimed author and legal scholar Emeritus Professor Suri Ratnapala provides combines extensive legal analysis with the history and philosophy of liberal constitutionalism, institutional economics and ethical reasoning. It engages with opposing schools of thought, including radical critical theory and authoritarian ideologies of the right. This book is not just an academic exercise; it is a call to action. It is highly instructive on matters of administrative and constitutional law, the epistemology and ethics of political liberalism, and the pressing threats to fundamental rights and freedoms.
Join us for the official book launch and discover why defending liberal democracy is not just a political choice, but a moral duty. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with one of the most important discussions of our time.
Featured scholar
Dr Kim Weinert is a Lecturer at the T.C. Beirne School of Law and a Fellow of the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law. Her scholarship sits at the intersection of doctrinal charity law and its theoretical foundations, examining how traditional legal concepts respond to contemporary challenges in governance, regulatory strategy and the public–private boundary in the charitable and not-for-profit sector. She contributes to the profession through her role on the Queensland Law Society’s Not-for-Profit Committee and as a Charity Law Scholar with the International Charity Law Network, which reflects her engagement in both national and international debates on the evolution of charity law.
Kim’s work has informed both legal practice and public policy. It has been cited by the Western Australian and Victorian parliaments, the Supreme Court of Queensland and the Australian Productivity Commission, as well as by leading charity law scholars in Australia and abroad.
Her research has been supported by a Federal Government scholarship, a BEL Connect grant examining gender representation on large Australian charity boards and a Visiting Fellowship at the State Library of New South Wales, where she has led work on the modernisation of charity law in Australia and comparable jurisdictions.
Her recent publications include the co-edited collection Charity Law and Governance: Private Benefit, Public Purpose and the Regulatory Strategy, which brings together comparative perspectives on contemporary issues in charity law.
Before joining academia, Kim worked in top-tier law firms on a range of High Court Court cases and notable appeal cases, and later in federal politics within the health portfolio.
For a full list of Dr Weinert's publications, see her UQ Experts profile.
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Research groups
Australian Centre for Private Law
Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law
Food Security and Intellectual Property
Indigenous People and the Law
Law and the Future of War
Law and Religion in the Asia-Pacific
Law, Science and Technology
Marine and Shipping Law Unit
UQ Solomon Islands Partnership