The pace of scientific and technological discovery is rapidly increasing and this has significant implications for how the justice system receives and evaluates scientific evidence.
Join the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Law for their annual joint symposium, where an expert panel of scientists and legal professionals will discuss the evolution of how evidence is dealt with in the courts, and specific cases that illustrate the interface between science and justice.
The academies are delighted to welcome two international guests to the Shine Dome for this event: Professor Michael Toft Overgaard and Professor Mette Nyegaard from Aalborg University in Denmark, who were among the authors of a scientific article that partially led to the second inquiry into the wrongful convictions of Kathleen Folbigg. They will share their experience bringing cutting edge scientific discovery to the inquiry, which led to Folbigg’s exoneration.
They will be joined by The Hon Chief Justice Lucy McCallum FAAL (Chair), and Kirsten Edwards SC, who has a national practice in coronial inquests and teaches on evidence and ethics at UNSW’s School of Law, while Former Chief Scientist of Australia Professor Ian Chubb AC FAA FTSE and expert evidence specialist Dr Ian Freckelton AO KC FAAL FAHMS FASSA will examine the evolution of scientific discovery and evidence.
Date: Monday 25 November 2024
Time: 5.30pm—7.00pm AEDT, followed by refreshments
Venue: Shine Dome in Canberra, and online livestream
Cost: $20 general admission; $10 students; free for Fellows of both academies; free livestream
Justice McCallum is Chief Justice of the ACT and a former judge of the Supreme Court of NSW. She was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2008 and in 2019 was elevated to the NSW Court of Appeal. In March 2022, she was affirmed as the Chief Justice of the ACT Supreme Court.
Professor Chubb is Secretary, Science Policy at the Australian Academy of Science. For many years he has been a strong and effective advocate for science, in particular through his roles as Chief Scientist of Australia and as Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University.
Ms Edwards practices in criminal law and inquests and inquiries. She has a particular interest in corporate crime and the law of evidence. Ms Edwards is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Law at UNSW where she co-teaches a course involving advocacy, evidence and ethics, and she has also lectured in evidence law at the University of Sydney Law School and the University of Technology Law School.
Dr Freckelton is a King’s Counsel in full time practice as a barrister throughout Australia. His practice is trial, appellate and advisory. He is also a Professor of Law and Professorial Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne and an Honorary Professor of Forensic Medicine at Monash University.
Professor Nyegaard is Head of Research Group in Genomic Medicine at Aalborg University in Denmark, and Head of the Department of Congenital Disorders at Statens Serum Institute, the department responsible for congenital disorder screening of all newborns in Denmark. Professor Nyegaard has expertise in genetics and genomics, and has more than 25 years’ experience in linking genetic variation to phenotype for both rare and common complex diseases.
Professor Toft Overgaard is Professor of Protein Science in the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience at Aalborg University in Denmark. Professor Toft Overgaard has more than 15 years’ experience in characterising the effect of calmodulin gene mutations and is world leading authority in this area.
events@science.org.au
The pace of scientific and technological discovery is rapidly increasing and this has significant implications for how the justice system receives and evaluates scientific evidence.
Join the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Law for their annual joint symposium, where an expert panel of scientists and legal professionals will discuss the evolution of how evidence is dealt with in the courts, and specific cases that illustrate the interface between science and justice.
The academies are delighted to welcome two international guests to the Shine Dome for this event: Professor Michael Toft Overgaard and Professor Mette Nyegaard from Aalborg University in Denmark, who were among the authors of a scientific article that partially led to the second inquiry into the wrongful convictions of Kathleen Folbigg. They will share their experience bringing cutting edge scientific discovery to the inquiry, which led to Folbigg’s exoneration.
They will be joined by The Hon Chief Justice Lucy McCallum FAAL (Chair), and Kirsten Edwards SC, who has a national practice in coronial inquests and teaches on evidence and ethics at UNSW’s School of Law, while Former Chief Scientist of Australia Professor Ian Chubb AC FAA FTSE and expert evidence specialist Dr Ian Freckelton AO KC FAAL FAHMS FASSA will examine the evolution of scientific discovery and evidence.
Date: Monday 25 November 2024
Time: 5.30pm—7.00pm AEDT, followed by refreshments
Venue: Shine Dome in Canberra, and online livestream
Cost: $20 general admission; $10 students; free for Fellows of both academies; free livestream
Justice McCallum is Chief Justice of the ACT and a former judge of the Supreme Court of NSW. She was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2008 and in 2019 was elevated to the NSW Court of Appeal. In March 2022, she was affirmed as the Chief Justice of the ACT Supreme Court.
Professor Chubb is Secretary, Science Policy at the Australian Academy of Science. For many years he has been a strong and effective advocate for science, in particular through his roles as Chief Scientist of Australia and as Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University.
Ms Edwards practices in criminal law and inquests and inquiries. She has a particular interest in corporate crime and the law of evidence. Ms Edwards is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Law at UNSW where she co-teaches a course involving advocacy, evidence and ethics, and she has also lectured in evidence law at the University of Sydney Law School and the University of Technology Law School.
Dr Freckelton is a King’s Counsel in full time practice as a barrister throughout Australia. His practice is trial, appellate and advisory. He is also a Professor of Law and Professorial Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne and an Honorary Professor of Forensic Medicine at Monash University.
Professor Nyegaard is Head of Research Group in Genomic Medicine at Aalborg University in Denmark, and Head of the Department of Congenital Disorders at Statens Serum Institute, the department responsible for congenital disorder screening of all newborns in Denmark. Professor Nyegaard has expertise in genetics and genomics, and has more than 25 years’ experience in linking genetic variation to phenotype for both rare and common complex diseases.
Professor Toft Overgaard is Professor of Protein Science in the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience at Aalborg University in Denmark. Professor Toft Overgaard has more than 15 years’ experience in characterising the effect of calmodulin gene mutations and is world leading authority in this area.
events@science.org.au
© 2024 Australian Academy of Science
