Forum fights crime with clever ideas

What do slush funds, smart home safety, smuggling and sport have in common?

All will be put under the legal microscope and scrutinised at the Organised Crime and Corruption Forum (18-21 September) organised by The University of Queensland’s TC Beirne School of Law and the Australian Institute for Business and Economics (AIBE).  

TC Beirne School of Law Deputy Dean (Research) Professor Simon Bronitt said the four-day event aimed to develop practical outcomes for policy development and law reform.

“The Organised Crime and Corruption Forum will see and exchange of new ideas for combatting corporate corruption, technology-enabled domestic violence, cheating in sport, and illegal immigration,” Professor Bronitt said.

“It is about bringing together people from government, industry, the judiciary, legal professions and academia to tackle four topical law issues that Australians are concerned about.

“For example, criminalising migrant smuggling and promoting safe migration poses a complex problem for criminal justice, international relations and human rights which prompts the question – are migrant smugglers criminals or Good Samaritans?”

Another topic to be addressed will be the task of combatting uses of smart technologies and connective devices by domestic violence perpetrators.

Australia’s efforts to plug enforcement gaps and legal loopholes in instances of corporate corruption will also be discussed, as will ensuring fair play triumphs in the $US1.5 trillion global sports industry.

“These are kind of challenges each of the four sessions will pose, and we believe some very innovative solutions will emerge,” Professor Bronitt said.

International experts joining UQ academics and local specialists for the Forum include Dr Federica La Chioma (Procura della Repubblica, Italy); Professor Peter Lewisch and Dr Farsam Salimi (University of Vienna, Austria); Professor Liz Campbell (Durham University, UK); and Dale Sheehan (International Centre for Sport Security, Qatar).

The program includes public lectures, panel discussions, roundtable workshops and a mini hackathon to examine the implications of contemporary organised crime.

The forum is open to the public, with one session each afternoon:

Monday 18 September 2-5 pm –  Criminalising Migrant Smuggling; Promoting Safe Migration

Tuesday 19 September 4-7 pm – The Smart Home as a Safer Space

Wednesday 20 September 2-5 pm – Anti-Corruption in the Company

Thursday 21 September 2-5 pm – Sports Corruption: Transnational Perspectives

To register online, please visit https://law.uq.edu.au/occ-forum

Media: Professor Simon Bronitt, s.bronitt@law.uq.edu.au, +61 (07) 3365 9785; Alysha Hilevuo, UQ Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, a.hilevuo@uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 428 884 097