Race and the Legal Profession

For centuries, lawyers have survived in Western democracies as an independent profession because they maintain certain codes of conduct and profess to uphold the rule of law and to serve the public interest in the administration of justice. In this subject, students will be asked to question who that public is in Australia; and draw conclusions about whether racism is institutionalised and endemic to the profession and/or the rule of law and the administration of justice. By interrogating the legal profession and its role, students will be invited to reflect upon the role law and lawyers should play within Australian social, political, and legal discourses about ‘race’ and/or the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and minority ethnic groups.