Please join members of the Australian Centre for Health Law Research for a public lecture with Professor Ian Freckelton AO KC presenting:

Life and Law After a Genocide: Learning from Rwanda

The most confronting form of violation of the internationally recognised rights to life and the highest attainable standard of health is genocide. A number of genocides have taken place in the modern era, arguably commencing with the systematic massacres of populations in Namibia and Armenia.

Between 7 April and 19 July 1994 (a period of about 100 days), according to the Rwandan Constitution, approximately one million Rwandans, mostly Tutsis, were massacred. A number of major legal responses ensued. The first was the establishment in November 1994 of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), based in Arusha, Tanzania. In its first case, the Trial Chamber made the first ever findings of genocide by an international body, pursuant to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It also made history by delivering findings of the deployment of sexual violence as an instrument of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Another legal initiative was the establishment in 2002 of “Gacaca courts”, a modernised version of a traditional Rwandan dispute resolution mechanism. Arguably, these courts constitute the largest-scale community-based justice initiative ever undertaken. They involved over 12,000 courts and the election and training of approximately 108,000 persons, who, after being elected, assumed the role of judges. It was the task of the courts to encourage reconciliation and national unity while also attending to the processing of the remaining 760,000 cases, arising from the massacres, not, however, including murder cases. The decision-making involved a unique fusion of restorative and retributive justice.

The third legal response related to encroachments on freedom of speech. Article 38 of the 2003 Rwandan Constitution guarantees “freedom of expression” and “freedom of access to information”, with the important proviso that they not prejudice public order, good morals and the right of citizens to honour and dignity. Article 34 recognises and guarantees the freedom of the press and freedom of information but strict laws preventing inflammatory speech have been promulgated to retain national unity and protect against the potential for further genocides. This has prevented criticism of the government and restricted many aspects of freedom of speech. Laws passed in 2003 and 2008 criminalised “sectarianism” and conduct which involves “genocide ideology”.

Genocidal violence and crimes against humanity recur. Much can be learned from the complex legal responses adopted by the Rwandan government in an effort to respond to the horrendous murders that enveloped Rwanda in 1994. They have set important legal precedents, been heavily criticised, and involved fraught compromises. Thus far, however, there has been no recurrence in Rwanda of the 1994 genocide.

About the presenter

Ian Freckelton is a King’s Counsel in full-time practice as a barrister throughout Australia with a mixed appellate, trial and advisory practice. He is listed as a Leading Senior Counsel by Doyle’s Guide and Best Lawyers in Australia. Since 2017 he has been a judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Nauru and has been a member of eleven statutory tribunals at State and Federal level, including the Administrative Review Tribunal.

Ian was a member of the Mental Health Tribunal of Victoria for 25 years until 2021 and is a member of the Coronial Council in Victoria. He is also a Professor of Law and a Professorial Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, where he is a Co-Director of the Health and Medical Law postgraduate programme, an Adjunct Professor of Forensic Medicine at Monash University, and an Adjunct Professor of Law in the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at the Queensland University of Technology. In 2021 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia and in 2026 he was appointed as a Governor of the World Association for Medical Law.

Ian holds a Doctor of Laws (LLD) degree from the University of Melbourne and a PhD from Griffith University. He is an elected life member of the Australian Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law and an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, the Academy of Social Sciences Australia, the Australian Academy of Law, and the Australasian College of Legal Medicine.

Ian is the Editor of the Journal of Law and Medicine and the Founding Editor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. He is the author of more than 800 articles and chapters of books, and the author and editor of over 50 books, some of which are: Australian Uniform Evidence Law (with Bellew et al, LexisNexis, 2026); Expert Evidence: Law Practice, Procedure and Advocacy (7th edn, Thomson Reuters, 2024); Australian Public Health Law (Federation Press, 2023, with Bennett); COVID-19, Law and Regulation (Oxford University Press, 2023, with Bennett and Wolf); Pandemics, Public Health Emergencies and Government Powers (Federation Press, 2021 with Bennett); Tensions and Traumas in Health Law (The Federation Press, 2017, with Petersen), and Scholarly Misconduct (Oxford University Press, 2016).

Event details

Date: Tuesday 13th October 2026
Time: 5.30pm to 7pm AEST (arrival from 5pm)
Location: Gibson Room, Z Block, Level 10, Gardens Point campus (or register to attend ONLINE)
Cost: Free

We look forward to meeting you there.

Contact the host of ACHLR Public Lecture - Professor Ian Freckelton AO KC