Author’s Series – General Principles as a Source of International Law

Mary Walker has been at the forefront of ADR in Australia for the last 30 years. During this period, as a member of an independent Bar, Mary has arbitrated, mediated, negotiated, facilitated multi- party, environmental and community disputes, designed dispute resolution systems and provided expert appraisal and ombudsman services in respect to thousands of disputes referred by solicitors, industry and government bodies and corporations both domestic and international. Mary has mediated over 4,000 matters. Mary is a member of many mediation and arbitration panels including the Supreme Court of NSW and the Singapore International Mediation Centre Panel and mediates for the Supreme Court of The Australian Capital Territory.

In the first intake Mary was certified as an Investor State Mediator by CEDR, London in 2017, the JIMC-Kyoto Mediator Panel, certified IMI Mediator and IMI Mediation Advocate. She is a member of the Supreme Court of New South Wales ADR Steering Committee and is a member of the International Mediation Institute Ethics and Appraisal Committees and was a member of the original International Mediation Institute Independent Standards Commission amongst other bodies. 

Mary is currently Chair of the NSW Bar Association ADR Committee (2018-2021) and previously Chair of the NSW Bar Association Arbitration and ADR Committee (1996-1999). Mary was previously Chair of the Law Council of Australia (LCA) Expert Standing Committee on ADR (2004-2013), Chair of the LCA International Law Section (ILS) ADR Committee (2013-2016), is currently Chair of the LCA Federal Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section ADR Committee (2013-2023)

Associate Professor Imogen Saunders is the Director of the Centre for International and Public Law at the ANU College of Law. She researches in international law, including on the history of women in international law, backlashes against international law and institutions, and international law and territory. Her work has been published in field leading journals such as the American Journal of International Law, the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law and the Australian Yearbook of International Law. Her monograph on General Principles of Law as a source of international law (Article 38(1)(c) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice) is now out with Hart. Imogen is a Chief Investigator on the 5 year ARC funded project Reconceiving Engagement with International Law in a Populist Era (2022-2027). Imogen completed her undergraduate degrees in law and science at the University of Western Australia, and was awarded her PhD from the Australian National University in 2013. She teaches international law and international trade law in the LLB/JD and LLM programs at ANU.

Suzanne is a law graduate of the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne and has over thirty years’ experience working across the private and public sectors in Sydney, London, Melbourne, and Canberra.  Suzanne has been an Executive Member of the Law Council’s International Law Section since 2020 and was last year appointed as one of the Pacific Correspondents for Unidroit, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law.