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In this first episode, JD III student Mahati Garimella and LLB III student Victoria Miller are joined by Emeritus Professor Barbara McDonald to discuss the development of privacy law, and the implications of the recently implemented statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy. Professor McDonald shares her journey from being a law student, to leading the ALRC Inquiry into Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era (2013–2014). She also explores key developments in privacy law over the decades, and how this evolving area of law intersects with social justice.

In this episode, JD I student Fatima Nadeem talks with Dr Tamer Morris to explore the role and limitations of international law in addressing human rights violations and achieving social justice in times of crisis. Tamer Morris is a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, where he teaches and researches in international law, United Nations peacekeeping, and international humanitarian law. Tamer also teaches in private international law and the conflict of laws.

Did you know there are currently over 18,000 pieces of legislation in Australia? Do you think you could easily explain what they all say? How did legislation become so voluminous and complex, and what does this mean for the rule of law and the rights of the individual? In this episode, LLB students Grace Lagan and Jamey Wang chat to Professor Lisa Burton Crawford about these issues and more, as explored in her recent publication, , which this episode is based on.

What does justice look like for victims of atrocity crimes? How can they participate in the criminal process? Are international criminal tribunals even the best means of addressing violations? How else might we support victims? In this episode, LLB V student and Just Cause co-director Eamonn Murphy speaks with Senior Lecturer and Just Cause co-director Dr Rachel Killean, unpacking the mechanics of victim participation in international criminal law. Drawing from Dr Killean’s research on the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, this episode explores how victims can be involved in trials for violations of international criminal law. 

What implications do videolink technologies bear for the criminal process? What threat do remote proceedings pose for access to justice? How might emerging technologies be adopted by criminal courts and prisons? In this episode, Associate Professor Carolyn McKay joins co-hosts Victor Lin and Natalie Yeoman to discuss digital criminology and the intersection of emerging technologies with the criminal justice system. We explore the possibilities of entirely digital courtrooms using avatars and virtual reality, and the development of highly automated dystopian-like prisons, which Carolyn has witnessed in the course of conducting her research internationally.

Why has Australia placed so few sanctions on Israel? Why are we still exporting fighter jet parts to a state that, over the past two years, has systematically attacked civilians in Palestine and deliberately denied them humanitarian relief? Can sanctions be an effective means of changing Israel’s behaviour? In this episode, LLB students Joshua Mortensen and Sphe Shembe speak with Professor Ben Saul about the use of sanctions as a tool of international justice in the context of Israel’s assault on Gaza. While sanctions are often presented as a non-violent alternative to military force, do they truly restrain unlawful conduct and protect civilians — or are they undermined by political double standards and unintended humanitarian costs?

What is climate justice? How do we compensate those affected by climate disasters, particularly in the developing world? In this episode of Just Cause, JD student Debadrita Guha and LLB student Amelia (Mae) Milne speak with Professor Rosemary Lyster about what justice means in the context of the climate catastrophe, and how climate and disaster law can address this crisis. Rosemary provides a brief overview of the national and international policy infrastructure of climate law and the current challenges we face in climate and disaster management, before giving advice on what we, as individuals, can and need to do in the face of climate change.

In July, the International Court of Justice delivered its landmark Advisory Opinion on Climate Change. What, though, did the Court actually say? In this episode, LLB V student and Just Cause co-director Eamonn Murphy speaks with Professor Tim Stephens about the implications and influence of the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion. Drawing from the statement published by Tim and members of the Sydney Environment Institute, we consider the substance of the Opinion and the influence that it might bear.

As governments like Australia and the US scale back their commitments to international assistance, what power structures are left in place when billionaires and foundations step in? How do tax laws shape how cross-border philanthropy flows? How can charities best operate on an international level? In this episode, LLB students Sphe Shembe and Joshua Mortensen speak with Associate Professor Natalie Silver about the global retreat from state-funded foreign aid and the expanding role of private philanthropy.

How can we hold corporations to their human rights obligations? When it comes to multinational asbestos-mining corporations such as Cape and James Hardie, do arguments of forum non conveniens and separate legal personality hold up? Could a simple claim in negligence be the best way to redress human rights violations? In this episode, Just Cause co-director and LLB V student Eamonn Murphy speaks with Professor David Kinley, the Chair in Human Rights Law at Sydney Law School, about the intersection between corporate responsibility and human rights law.

Governments spend billions each year fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, but do these regimes actually make the world fairer or simply more complicated? In this episode, LLB Student Joshua Mortensen speaks with Professor Colin King, a financial crime expert at Sydney Law School, about whether anti money laundering and counter terrorism financing regulations truly serve justice.