TC Beirne School of Law

TC Beirne School of Law,
The University of Queensland

Law School logo
Type	Public
Established	1936
Dean	Sarah Derrington
Students	2,000 (2013)
Location	Brisbane , Queensland , Australia
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	University of Queensland
Website	[1]

North entry of the TC Beirne School of Law

File:Thomascharlesbeirne.jpg

Thomas Charles Beirne, Brisbane millionaire, major giver and eponym of the TC Beirne School of Law

The TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland, founded in 1936, is the oldest law school in the Australian state of Queensland, as well as the sixth oldest law school out of 32 in Australia. Its alumni include two Chief Justices of Australia. The school has approximately 2,000 students, the majority of whom are studying the Bachelor of Laws. Other programs offered by TC Beirne include the Master of Laws, Master of Applied Law and Doctor of Philosophy. The school, as part of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, works closely with several student associations including the University of Queensland Law Society, the Justice and the Law Society and the Australian Legal Philosophy Students Association (based at UQ).

History

Although the TC Beirne School of Law began teaching in 1936, a Faculty of Law was established with the foundation of the University of Queensland in 1910. This was apparently a ‘shadow faculty' that enabled the University to confer honorary degrees on locally notable graduates of other universities. Sir Samuel Griffith, former Premier and Chief Justice of Queensland and, at that time, Chief Justice of Australia, was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Laws in August 1912. The school is named for Thomas Charles Beirne, Warden of the University who in 1935 donated £20,000 to establish the faculty.

Since the turn of the 21st century there have been at least 3 notionally permanent Deans of the Law School and a similar number of reasonably long-term Acting Deans.

In 2005 and 2013, a team from the TC Beirne School of Law won the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

Scholars

Current professors:

• Professor Sarah Derrington, current Dean
• Professor James Allan
• Professor Ross Grantham
• Professor John Devereux,
• Emeritus Professor Suri Ratnapala
• Professor Nicholas Gaskell
• Professor Nicholas Aroney
• Professor Graeme Orr
• Professor Craig Forrest
• Professor Kit Barker
• Professor Jennifer Corrin
• Professor Heather Douglas.

Publications

The following publications are produced by students and staff at the Law School:

• University of Queensland Law Journal

Alumni

Main article: List of University of Queensland people

The TC Beirne School of Law's alumni include:

• Francis Patrick Donovan, former Ambassador and jurist.
• Gerard Brennan, former Chief Justice of Australia
• Harry Gibbs, former Chief Justice of Australia
• Ian Callinan, former Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Patrick Keane, current Justice of the High Court of Australia
• Paul de Jersey, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland; current Governor of Queensland.
• Quentin Bryce, former Governor-General of Australia
• Una Prentice, first graduate of the school and first female Commonwealth Prosecutor
• [Queensland Premiers, such as Annastasia Palaszczuk and Peter Beattie

See also

• University of Queensland
• University of Queensland Business Association
• University of Queensland Union (UQU)