International Law Association (Australian Branch) annual general meeting.

• Author: Ward, Christopher
• Position: President's page

The Association has continued to prosper in 2008. It has been an active year for the Branch, although perhaps not as active as in some previous years which have set a standard to which we should aspire. The central work of the Branch of the Association has remained the publication and discussion of significant topics of international law, and the promotion of international law among younger scholars by way of scholarship and prize.

Seminars of note during the year included a very successful seminar held with the Red Cross at which Professor Martin Scheinin spoke on human rights after 9/11. An equally successful seminar was held under the auspices of the arbitration committee on the topic of investment treaty arbitration in September with speakers from the Attorney-General's Department, Freshfields in Paris and our Vice President, Mr Damian Sturzaker.

In March we announced the winners of the Nygh essay prize for Private International Law and the Brennan essay prize for Public International Law. The Nygh and Brennan essay prizes continue to attract extremely high class entries and serve a valuable role in fostering the development of international law in both disciplines in Australia.

The winning entry for the Nygh Prize was awarded to Ms Belinda Robilliard, who wrote on 'Jurisdiction and Choice of Law Rules for Defamation Actions in Australia following the Gutnick case and the Uniform Defamation Legislation'. The winner of the Brennan Prize was Ms Sonja Cenic, who wrote on 'State Responsibility and Self Defence in International Law Post 9/11: Has the Scope of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter Been Widened as a Result of the US Response to 9/11?'.

The Association also continued its sponsorship of the Jessup moot with the award of the Harold Snelling Awards to the members of the winning Australian team and the Johnson Shield for the best placed Australian team in the international rounds.

The Nygh Internship to the Hague Conference on Private International Law, offered in partnership with the Australian Institute of International Affairs and the Attorney General's Department, was again blessed with extremely high calibre applicants. The winner of the 2007 Internship, Ms Zoe Justice, was very well regarded by the Hague Conference Secretariat, and by all accounts the winner of the 2008 Internship, Katie Price, has been at least as highly regarded. The Internship is a very significant award and again our special thanks must go to the Nygh...