How can we hold corporations to their human rights obligations? When it comes to multinational asbestos-mining corporations such as Cape and James Hardie, do arguments of forum non conveniens and separate legal personality hold up? Could a simple claim in negligence be the best way to redress human rights violations?
In this episode, Just Cause co-director and LLB V student Eamonn Murphy speaks with Professor David Kinley, the Chair in Human Rights Law at Sydney Law School, about the intersection between corporate responsibility and human rights law. Drawing from David’s new book, In a Rain of Dust: Death, Deceit and the Lawyer Who Busted Big Asbestos, we consider the case of Lubbe v Cape, brought in 1995 by grassroots lawyer Richard Meeran against Cape Plc, a British company that mined and milled asbestos in apartheid-era South Africa, causing innumerable deaths from asbestos-related diseases among local workers and their communities. While the case is largely seen as one about jurisdiction in private international law and tort liability in the context of a corporate group, we examine what it has to say about human rights — how, as David phrases it, can you cut a human rights cloth? Find out in this episode!
Professor David Kinley holds the Chair in Human Rights Law at the University of Sydney Law School. He is also an Academic Expert Member of Doughty Street Chambers in London, a member of the Australian Council for Human Rights, a member of the Human Rights Council of Australia and a board member of Cisarua, an Afghan refugee-led education centre located in Bogor, Indonesia.
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How can we hold corporations to their human rights obligations? When it comes to multinational asbestos-mining corporations such as Cape and James Hardie, do arguments of forum non conveniens and separate legal personality hold up? Could a simple claim in negligence be the best way to redress human rights violations?
In this episode, Just Cause co-director and LLB V student Eamonn Murphy speaks with Professor David Kinley, the Chair in Human Rights Law at Sydney Law School, about the intersection between corporate responsibility and human rights law. Drawing from David’s new book, In a Rain of Dust: Death, Deceit and the Lawyer Who Busted Big Asbestos, we consider the case of Lubbe v Cape, brought in 1995 by grassroots lawyer Richard Meeran against Cape Plc, a British company that mined and milled asbestos in apartheid-era South Africa, causing innumerable deaths from asbestos-related diseases among local workers and their communities. While the case is largely seen as one about jurisdiction in private international law and tort liability in the context of a corporate group, we examine what it has to say about human rights — how, as David phrases it, can you cut a human rights cloth? Find out in this episode!
Professor David Kinley holds the Chair in Human Rights Law at the University of Sydney Law School. He is also an Academic Expert Member of Doughty Street Chambers in London, a member of the Australian Council for Human Rights, a member of the Human Rights Council of Australia and a board member of Cisarua, an Afghan refugee-led education centre located in Bogor, Indonesia.
Natalie Silver: Foreign Aid, Private Philanthropy and Global Justice
Just Cause
35 minutes 10 seconds
1 month ago
Natalie Silver: Foreign Aid, Private Philanthropy and Global Justice
As governments like Australia and the US scale back their commitments to international assistance, what power structures are left in place when billionaires and foundations step in? How do tax laws shape how cross-border philanthropy flows? How can charities best operate on an international level?
In this episode, LLB students Sphe Shembe and Joshua Mortensen speak with Associate Professor Natalie Silver about the global retreat from state-funded foreign aid and the expanding role of private philanthropy. Together, we explore how tax frameworks shape global justice efforts — and what reforms might be needed to ensure philanthropy serves equity, not just influence.
Dr Natalie Silver is an Associate Professor at Sydney Law School whose research focuses on charity law, not-for-profits, and the regulation of philanthropy. She has published widely on cross-border giving and the role of tax incentives in structuring charitable flows, particularly in an era of global inequality and declining aid.
Suggested Readings:
Silver, Natalie and McGregor-Lowndes, Myles and Tarr, Julie-Anne, Should Tax Incentives for Charitable Giving Stop at Australia's Borders? (March 20, 2017). Sydney Law Review, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 85-120, 2016, Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 17/24, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2937531.
Silver, Natalie and Buijze, Renate, Tax Incentives for Cross-Border Giving in an Era of Philanthropic Globalization: A Comparative Perspective (November 1, 2020). Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law, 6(1), 2020, pp.109-150, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3765102.
Just Cause
How can we hold corporations to their human rights obligations? When it comes to multinational asbestos-mining corporations such as Cape and James Hardie, do arguments of forum non conveniens and separate legal personality hold up? Could a simple claim in negligence be the best way to redress human rights violations?
In this episode, Just Cause co-director and LLB V student Eamonn Murphy speaks with Professor David Kinley, the Chair in Human Rights Law at Sydney Law School, about the intersection between corporate responsibility and human rights law. Drawing from David’s new book, In a Rain of Dust: Death, Deceit and the Lawyer Who Busted Big Asbestos, we consider the case of Lubbe v Cape, brought in 1995 by grassroots lawyer Richard Meeran against Cape Plc, a British company that mined and milled asbestos in apartheid-era South Africa, causing innumerable deaths from asbestos-related diseases among local workers and their communities. While the case is largely seen as one about jurisdiction in private international law and tort liability in the context of a corporate group, we examine what it has to say about human rights — how, as David phrases it, can you cut a human rights cloth? Find out in this episode!
Professor David Kinley holds the Chair in Human Rights Law at the University of Sydney Law School. He is also an Academic Expert Member of Doughty Street Chambers in London, a member of the Australian Council for Human Rights, a member of the Human Rights Council of Australia and a board member of Cisarua, an Afghan refugee-led education centre located in Bogor, Indonesia.
