On Tuesday evening 10 March, over 175 people, including Chief Justice Robert French of the High Court of Australia, legal practitioners, academics and students gathered at the College of Law, Australian National University in Canberra to welcome the new book, The Human Rights Enterprise in Australia and Internationally. The Hon Michael Kirby, former Justice of the High Court of Australia, was the guest speaker. Kirby described the book as a “marvelous cornucopia of material… every nook and cranny of the subject of human rights in Australia is examined.”

Kirby is well known for his efforts to keep the law in-line with social change, especially in the human rights arena. At the Hondius Lecture in 2008, Kirby acknowledged that human rights laws have come a long way, and said that the systems in place today have “saved lives, improved the human rights conditions in many countries, and are succeeding in forcing an increasing number of governments to take their human rights obligations more seriously than before.” However, Kirby also realises that both the law and society still have a long way to go to erase global violations of human rights.

The Human Rights Enterprise in Australia and Internationally draws on international law to identify the standards embodied in human rights and considers how those rights can be implemented, in practice, in Australia’s own unique legal system. The text examines controversial topics including the Haneef trial, the Sorry Statement, as well as Counter Terrorism Law and the Australian Bill of Rights initiative. Kirby congratulated Peter on his examination of euthanasia as it is “rarely examined in a human rights context.” Kirby also describes the text as “extremely interesting and full of controversy” whilst noting that the controversy boxes serve as an excellent teaching tool.

The author, Peter Bailey, is an Adjunct Professor at the Australian National University (ANU) College of Law and has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in both the academic and administrative human rights arenas. Before joining the ANU he was Deputy Chairman and full-time Chief Executive of the Commonwealth's first Human Rights Commission (1981) and had been a Deputy Secretary when the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet was established. Kirby describes Peter Bailey’s new book as ranking with Sarah Joseph's book on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Anthony Lester's book on Human Rights Law and Practice.

LexisNexis is the proud publisher of The Human Rights Enterprise in Australia and Internationally. Mike Russell, General Manager, Legal Markets for LexisNexis said, “We are very pleased to be involved with this title and all that it represents in field of human rights. LexisNexis is committed to playing a positive role in the community and in the area of human rights with its rule of law initiatives that aim to preserve, protect, and defend the rights and property of individuals and corporations around the world.”