Te Pokapū Ture me te Papori ki Ōtākou
Buddha statue with 'turning-the-wheel-of-law' gesture, Dambulla, Sri Lanka
About us | He kōrero mō mātou
The Otago Centre for Law and Society (OCLaS) is dedicated to supporting the social scientific and humanistic study of law across the University, with the specific goal of encouraging empirical, analytical and critical accounts of law's complex intermeshing with human societies and cultures across time and space.
The Centre serves as a hub for events, research and scholarly collaborations across numerous academic disciplines including Law, History, Religion, Politics, Bioethics, Philosophy, Economics, Psychology, Anthropology, and Indigenous Studies. Although supporting a wide variety of socio-legal research, OCLaS-affiliated researchers have particular areas of strength in the study of legal pluralism, law and religion, law and gender, legal institutions, environmental studies and legal cultures in the Asia-Pacific.
Centre goals
- To create a forum for cross-disciplinary collaboration and conversation among scholars engaged in socio-legal research at the University of Otago and beyond.
- To host public speakers, symposia and scholarly roundtables that will generate and disseminate new insights into the interactions of law, society, religion, culture, history, race, human rights, gender and other factors.
- To establish relationships and collaborations with national and international research bodies, policymakers, iwi, social organisations and other stakeholders around issues relating to law and society.
- To support postgraduate students and Early Career Researchers in the field of socio-legal studies.
The Centre is based at the University of Otago within the Faculty of Law in the Division of Humanities.
Our people | Ō mātou tāngata
Our directors come from a range of disciplines across the University and all share a common interest in fostering law and society scholarship.
Co-Directors
Anna High (Law) research interests include law and culture in the Asia-Pacific, law and gender, and law and dignity. She teaches Evidence law and Chinese law. Her recent monograph on orphan relief in China was the recipient of the 2020 Asian Law and Society Association Distinguished Book Award.
Ben Schonthal (Religion) researches and teaches about the intersections of religion, law and politics in colonial and contemporary South and Southeast Asia, looking especially at topics such as Buddhist law, legal pluralism and comparative constitutional law.
Bridgette Toy-Cronin (Law) researches access to the civil justice system, including the delivery of legal services (lawyer and non-lawyer services) and the design of dispute resolution systems (ADR, tribunals, courts and online methods).
Otago Steering Committee
Professor Nathan Berg (Department of Economics, Division of Commerce)
Professor Lisa Ellis (Philosophy, Division of Humanities)
Dr. Farleigh Gilmour (Criminology, Division of Humanities)
Professor Janine Hayward (Politics, Division of Humanities)
Professor Jing-Bao Nie (Centre for Bioethics, Division of Health Sciences)
Associate Professor Greg Rawlings (Anthropology, Division of Humanities)
Professor Jacinta Ruru (Faculty of Law, Division of Humanities)
Professor Angela Wanhalla (History, Division of Humanities)
Professor Rachel Zajac (Department of Psychology, Division of Science)
International Advisory Board
Associate Professor Noelani Arista (University of Hawai'i)
Professor Benjamin Berger (Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada)
Professor John Borrows (University of Victoria, Canada)
Professor Shaunnagh Dorsett (University of Technology Sydney)
Professor Terry Halliday (American Bar Foundation and Australian National University)
Professor Samuel Moyn (Yale University)
Associate Professor Jaclyn Neo (Centre for Asian Legal Studies, National University of Singapore)
Professor Fernanda Pirie (Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford University)
Professor Mitra Sharafi (University of Wisconsin at Madison)
News and events | Karere me ngā mahi
Event
The hermeneutics of torture in Thailand
Public talk and discussion with Associate Professor Nick Cheesman, Head of the Department of Political and Social Change at the Australian National University.
Date: Friday 15 November, 2024, online
Time: 12:00–1:15 pm
Join the hermenutics of torture in Thailand discussion
Meeting ID: 969 3770 2934, Password: 562593
Past events
Conference on ‘Pluralising Legalities'
On Friday, August 9 the Otago Centre for Law and Society hosted a one-day conference entitled ‘Pluralising Legalities.’ The conference capped off our 2022-2023 lecture series and brought together scholars of Law, History, Religion and other fields from around Aotearoa and Australia. Over four panels, 18 speakers and other participants discussed the diverse ways that humans conceive, manifest and express law. They also considered the different strategies used by states and practitioners to manage multi-legality while also protecting the integrity and authority of law. Contributors spoke about legal pluralism and bijuralism in Aotearoa, Australia, the Pacific and other places..
Friday 9 August 2024
Hope, Happenstance, and the Making of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan's Landmark Transgender Rights Judgments
Public talk and discussion with Jeff Redding, Senior Research Fellow at Melbourne Law School.
Friday 15 March 2024, 12:00pm
Circulations of Law: Trace, Translation, Trajectory
Public talk and discussion with Iza Hussin, Associate Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge and a Mohamed Noah Fellow at Pembroke College Cambridge.
Friday 1 March 2024, 12:00pm
Regulating Religion in Asia: Contemporary Trends and Trajectories
A half-day workshop featuring talks by Dinesha Samararatne, Matthew J. Nelson, Ernils Larsson, and Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang.
10 July 2023, 2:00pm–5:00pm NZDST
Mark Fathi Massoud, Building the Rule of Law with Religion: A Discussion of Shari'a, Inshallah
10 March 2023, 12:00pm–1:15pm NZDST
Pluralising Legalities: Religious Freedom in Secular States
30 September 2022 12:00pm–1:00pm
Pluralising legalities: The Rule of Laws – A 4,000-Year Quest to Order the World
Thursday 12 May 2022, 8:00am–9:30am
Pluralising legalities: Co-operation Without Submission. An online seminar in conjunction the University of Otago Centre for Law and Society
Friday 29 April 2022, 12:00pm–2:00pm
Benjamin Schonthal, “Buddhist law under Colonialism”
Wednesday 13 October 2021 at 3:00pm
Stephen Young, “Troubling Subjects: Legal Performativity and Indigenous Peoples”
Friday 20 August 2021 at 3:00pm
Launch and discussion of the Routledge Handbook of Law and Society, edited Mariana Valverde, Kamari M. Clarke, Eve Darian Smith, Prahba Kotiswaran (co-hosted with UNSW Facilty of Law)
Thursday 17 June 2021, 1:00–2:30pm
Anna High, “Caring for 'Lonely Children': A Socio-Legal Analysis of Orphan Welfare in China”
Thursday 15 April 2021 at 4:00pm with OCLaS launch reception following
Law and Society Research at Otago | Rangahau
Our directors and members are engaged in a variety of research projects on law and society. A few of these are listed below, with more profiles to come. Check back here regularly for updates.
Ben Schonthal is currently leading two projects investigating how law and religion intermesh and affect each other in Asia: a Marsden-funded project on the history, politics and contemporary practice of Buddhist monastic law in Southern Asia; and a NSF-funded project (with Tom Ginsburg) examining Buddhism and constitutional law across the Asian region. More information about both projects can be found on Schonthal's webpage.
Bridgette Toy-Cronin is undertaking a Marsden-funded project on eviction and its consequences in New Zealand, with a focus on the operation of the Tenancy Tribunal. She is also leading work on the delivery of online legal information and the development of online courts funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation.
Anna High is currently leading a New Zealand Law Foundation-funded project investigating the interplay of the concepts of dignity and mana in the New Zealand legal system. She is also undertaking a Marsden-funded project on sexual violence law, with a current focus on feminist theory as it impacts legal understandings of sexual dignity.
Networks and links | He taura whiri, he hononga
The Otago Centre for Law and Society works collaboratively with a range of researchers, academics, professionals and practitioners within the University of Otago, New Zealand, and internationally.
University of Otago links
- Faculty of Law
- Centre for Research on Colonial Culture
- Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Public Law
- University of Otago Bioethics Centre
New Zealand and international links
- Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand
- Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society
- American Bar Foundation
- Centre for Asian Legal Studies, National University of Singapore
- Osgoode Colloquium on Law, Religion & Social Thought, Osgoode Hall Law School
- Indigenous Law Research Unit, University of Victoria, Faculty of Law
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School
- UW-Madison Institute for Legal Studies
- UW-Madison Center for Law, Society & Justice
Contact us | Whakapā mai
For all enquiries please email oclas@otago.ac.nz
Postal address
Otago Centre for Law and Society
Faculty of Law
University of Otago
PO Box 56
Dunedin 9054
New Zealand
Legal advice
The Otago Centre for Law and Society at the University of Otago does not give legal advice. If you require legal advice, please contact the Dunedin Community Law Centre.
Visit the Dunedin Community Law Centre website.