Adopting International Conventions for Australia

Associate Professor Sagi Peari is an expert in the discipline which deals with the legal effects of cross-border interactions. He is an author of two research monographs in this field published by Oxford University Press: The Foundation of Choice of Law (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018) and  International Negotiable Instruments (with Professor Benjamin Geva) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020). Sagi is the only Australian academic who has authored two research monographs in law with Oxford University Press. His papers have been accepted for publication in leading UK, US, Canadian and Australian journals, including Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Cambridge Law Journal, American Journal of Comparative Law, Delaware Journal of Corporate Law and the University of Toronto Law Journal.

Richard Garnett has a LLM from Harvard University where he was a Fulbright and Lionel Murphy scholar. In 2020 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of Melbourne for a body of published work that constitutes 'a substantial and original contribution to legal scholarship' and demonstrates 'authoritative standing in the field of study'. The LLD is the highest degree offered by the University of Melbourne Law School.

Richard's major research interests are in the areas of conflict laws, public and private international law and international commercial arbitration. He has published books and articles in major international journals in these fields, a number of which have been cited by leading international tribunals such as the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, the English Court of Appeal, Singapore Court of Appeal, US federal courts and Israeli and New Zealand tribunals. Richard has also acted as a legal advisor and counsel in private international law and international commercial arbitration matters before Australian and international tribunals, including the High Court of Australia. He is currently a consultant in international disputes and arbitration at Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

Other positions Richard has held include: Expert advisor to the Australian Government delegation at the Hague Conference on Private International Law (Conventions on Choice of Court Agreements and Foreign Judgements), Director of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, Advisor to the American Law Institute in its project on transnational intellectual property adjudication, co-rapporteur on the International Law Association (ILA) project on transnational group actions and Consultant to the Australian Law Reform Commission on the Commonwealth Judiciary Act. Richard is also an elected member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

Prior to joining the Faculty in 2014, Maria was a judges' clerk at the High Court of New Zealand and a Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington, where she also completed her PhD. Maria's primary research interest is private international law (the conflict of laws), which is the law dealing with civil cross-border matters. She is the co-author of New Zealand's first comprehensive text on the subject, The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand (LexisNexis, 2020), and its 2024 Supplement. She is an editor of the online platform The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand. Although much of Maria’s work focuses on New Zealand private international law, she also enjoys taking an internationalist approach to her research, covering both common law and civil jurisdictions. Occasionally, Maria dabbles in teaching-inspired research on the law of torts. Maria currently teaches Private International Law, International Law, International Litigation and Dispute Settlement, and the Law of Torts.

Shawn Raphael Tan (he/him) holds a Bachelor of Philosophy (First Class Honours) in Psychology. Shawn is currently a PhD Candidate undertaking the Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine; Public Health-Psychology) program at the University of Western Australia, supported by the UWA International Fee Scholarship. His interdisciplinary PhD focuses on understanding the risk and protective factors of mental health outcomes in international students at the cognate intersections of medicine, public health, psychology, and adjacently with culture and language. He has training and background in conducting empirical studies including quantitative and qualitative research. In this project, Shawn serves as a Research Officer, supported by the UWA Research Collaboration Grant.

Larisa Jacono is a Juris Doctor Candidate at the University of Western Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a double major in Business Law and Economics, and minor in Chinese Language and Culture.

Larisa is currently a Sessional Tutor at UWA Law School, where she tutors commercial law. She also has experience in economics and public policy, and was granted a Mannkal Scholarship to complete research at the Institute of Economic Affairs - London, and the American Institute for Economic Research.

In this project, Larisa serves as a Research Officer, supported by the UWA Research Collaboration Grant.