JGLS appoints former Australian High Court Judge Michael Kirby as Honorary Adjunct Professor

Eminent international jurist and former Judge of the High Court of Australia, Michael Kirby AC CMG, has been appointed as Honorary Adjunct Professor at Jindal Global Law School (JGLS).

Justice Kirby joins Justice Michael D Wilson and Justice Sabrina S McKenna, Judges of the Hawaiian Supreme Court, Justice Dalveer Bhandari of the International Court of Justice, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Senior Advocate Gopal Subramanium, who had earlier been appointed as Honorary Adjunct Professors at JGLS.

Justice Kirby is credited with frequent citations of Indian judgments during his tenure as a judge. According to a recent study by Australian and Indian professors, his citations of Indian judgments alone constitute 64% of the total citations of Indian judgments by the Judges of the High Court of Australia, which is the apex court in the country. In addition to his longstanding connection to India, in 2014, Justice Kirby was also appointed as the presiding arbitrator in the KG basin dispute.

Speaking on the occasion, Professor (Dr) C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, of JGU and Dean of JGLS said,

“The founding vision of JGU is to promote global education across different disciplines led by appointment of faculty members from different parts of the world with outstanding academic qualifications and experience. The appointment of Hon’ble Mr. Michael Kirby AC CMG, as Adjunct Professor at Jindal Global Law School is a demonstration of our commitment towards global legal education while recognizing the need for giving opportunities to our students to gain perspectives and experiences that transcend geography and jurisdiction.”

“It is our proud privilege to welcome Hon’ble Mr. Michael Kirby as ‘Honorary Adjunct Professor’ to our university,” he noted.

The citation for his appointment as Honorary Adjunct Professor at JGLS appreciates his contributions and reads as follows:

“For his significant contribution to the judiciary, comparative and international law, the India Australia legal relationship and legal education.”

Professor Shaun Star, Executive Director of CIAS and Assistant Dean (International Collaborations) at JGLS observed,

“There has been no greater advocate of the India Australia bilateral legal relationship than Justice Michael Kirby. We are delighted to host Justice Kirby once again in India. His involvement as a member of the advisory board of the Centre for India Australia Studies and more recently as an Honorary Adjunct Professor of Jindal Global Law School underscore his commitment to promoting stronger ties between our two jurisdictions.”

Justice Kirby’s visit to India and appointment as Honorary Adjunct Professor of JGLS comes at a time when over 40 Australian students are also visiting JGU under the ‘India Immersion Programme’ being convened by the Centre for India Australia Studies (CIAS).

The annual 3-week residential programme aims to introduce Australian students to the many different facets of India and is funded by the New Colombo Plan of the Australian government, which enables undergraduate students from leading Australian universities to visit and study in the Indo-Pacific region.

The CIAS is the first and only Centre with a focus on the India-Australia bilateral relationship that is embedded in an Indian Higher Education Institution.

Image taken from here.