It’s a pleasure to welcome you to the first President’s Report of the Victorian Chapter Committee for 2015.
A few developments in the last quarter worth mentioning are the resignation of:
- Sophocles Kitharidis as the Vice-President;
- Georgina Wu as the Secretary; and
- Lea Christopher as the Treasurer,
due to their relocation to other parts of the country/world and work commitment taking priority. Sophocles will continue to remain on the committee to provide us with his valuable input and also lead the Use of Force Committee which we should have up and running soon.
We are very grateful for their assistance over the last year and more and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.
Barrister Peter Willis has kindly agreed to take over as the Vice-President and we are very grateful for this opportunity, as his long association with ILA and his wealth of experience in the international law arena will provide us with the much needed guidance.
David Chew, a young enthusiastic lawyer, has taken over as the Secretary of the Victorian Chapter Committee and we welcome him to the team. We are inviting expressions of interest for the position of Treasurer so if anyone is interested please email me on [email protected].
Despite the lack of visible activity it has been a busy time for the Victorian Chapter. A very interesting development this quarter has been the launch of an ILA Blog. In February 2015, the Australian Branch of the ILA launched its new blog, the ILA Reporter (ilereporter.org.au). Members of the Victorian Committee – Harry Aitken and Timothy Gorton – are the current editors of the ILA Reporter. In the future, the blog will be edited by other State and Territory Chapters on a rotating basis.
The ILA Reporter is a resource which offers analysis, commentary and discussion on issues in public and private international law. In particular, it intends to explore the ongoing development of international law globally with an emphasis on its connections with Australia. The blog is also a resource for keeping up-to-date with the work and activities of the ILA, both domestically and internationally. It is aimed at practitioners, academics and students. To find out more about the blog and to contribute, please click here.
We will be coming up with more events in the near future. Please keep up-to-date on our activities through the blog and we look forward to an exciting year ahead. If you would like to assist us in the organisation of any events or you have ideas for other events or activities you think the ILA Vic should become involved in please contact our Secretary, David Chew on: [email protected].
Molina Asthana is a Principal Solicitor with the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office. She is the President of the Victorian Chapter of the International Law Association, Chair of the International Law Section of the Law Institute of Victoria and Treasurer of the Asian Australian Lawyer’s Association.