In the College of Law and Justice, we provide research training and support, develop research capacity and maintain external engagement with government and industry.
Our vision is to see the Victoria Law School (VLS) as a Centre of quality research and a leading Law School in Australia.
In 2013, the College was awarded six research grants.
Areas of research
We focus on research development in four particular areas, namely:
- Governance and Regulation
- The Scholarship of Legal Education
- International Law
- Courts and Justice
Governance research program
The governance research program sits within the College of Law and Justice, and aims to improve governance of the private and public sectors through the use of independent academic research, consultancies and postgraduate teaching.
The VLS encourages research that involves working with industry partners to solve real-world problems. Research is undertaken by academic staff members and research students in the college's disciplinary groups.
Research students
Our College has a large cohort of both domestic and international PhD students, researching a wide variety of interesting and topical subjects.
Our students are at the forefront of empirical and comparative research in such areas as:
- corporate law and regulation
- international environmental law
- the regulation of electronic contracts in the Gulf Cooperative Council
- foreign investment law in Saudi Arabia
- alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in securities markets
- Islamic finance
- disciplinary tribunals in professional sport,
- and more.
We currently have approximately 45 PhD/DBA students enrolled in our programs, coming from diverse cultural backgrounds such as Australia, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Research degrees can be obtained by undertaking a Master by Research, PhD or Professional Doctorate.
To find a supervisor with similar research interests to you, email law.school@vu.edu.au.
Find out about applying for a research degree, or becoming a research student.
Our researchers
Key researchers
- Dr Matt Harvey has developed a reputation as one of the leading researchers in "Wine Law", and has authored two published books in this dynamic and emerging area of law.
- Associate Professor Michael Longo has the recipient of a research grant to investigate emerging issues in international law.
- Dean and Professor of Law, Andrew Clarke, is involved in several research projects to do with governance of small businesses, and developing best practice governance arrangements in a rising China.
- Professor Anona Armstrong has several corporate governance-related projects running at any one time through the College's Governance Research Program, and also edits the Journal of Business Systems, Governance and Ethics.
- Professor Ronald Francis is regularly cited for his empirical work on sentencing in Victoria.
Our researchers on The Conversation website
Our researchers are regular contributors to The Conversation, an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public.
View what some of our staff have been saying on The Conversation:
Research projects in the college
The following are some of the research projects our staff have undertaken.
Developing a responsive regulatory system for Australia’s small corporations
Professor Armstrong and Prof Andrew Clarke were awarded an ARC Linkage grant to study the impact of corporate regulation directed at regulating the governance of Australia’s small corporations by the Corporations Law. The project is to develop a responsive regulatory model for small corporations drawing together the experiences of small corporations owners/mangers, CEOs of industry associations, regulators, the Federal Treasury, industry leaders and academic experts.
The ARC Linkage partners were: The Australian Federal Government Department of the Treasury and the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA)
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
Dr Kumi Heenetigala and Dr Chitra De Silva were awarded an internal grant to investigate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Measures of Listed Mining Sector Companies in Australia This study aims to develop an index to measure environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures for Australian metal and mining Industry.
Australian Criminology Research Council Grant 2014
Armstrong, A., Dussuyer, I., Heenetigala, K., Clarke, A & Smith, R.,� Victimisation of whistleblowers in the private sector – who is most at risk of retaliation/consequences/are they worse off/are the effects worse in the private sector?� supported by the Ombudsman’s Office and StopLine is due to commence in 2014.
Central Research Grant Scheme 2014
Professor Michael Longo, Dr Inez Dussuyer and Professor Armstrong - “Environmental Crime: Effectiveness of Enforcement strategies across Australian Jurisdictions and New Zealand�.
