Please note: This is an online event.

In 2021, Readings is partnering with the Victorian International Humanitarian Law Advisory Committee of the Australian Red Cross to host a book club on the laws and impact of war. The book club meets online on the last Wednesday of every second month throughout 2021.

This is the fourth session of the Readings/Australian Red Cross book club on the laws and impact of war. In this session we are joined by one of Australia’s most acclaimed international human rights lawyers, Geoffrey Robertson, to discuss his book Bad People and How to be Rid of Them.

Geoffrey Robertson has been a UN war crimes judge and has won landmark rulings on civil liberty from the highest courts in Britain, Europe and the Commonwealth. He was Australian Humanitarian of the Year in 2014, and in 2018 was awarded an order of Australia for ‘distinguished service to the law and the legal profession as an international human rights lawyer and advocate for global civil liberties’. Bad People and How to be Rid of Them makes the case for naming and shaming the world’s worst human rights abuses by adopting targeted sanctions, or ‘Magnitsky laws’ – named after a Russian tax lawyer who was tortured and killed for exposing state corruption. Robertson’s book tells Sergei Magnitsky’s story, and demonstrates how targeted sanctions can punish – and deter – human rights abuses by denying them the privileges of international travel, and of the right to access western banking facilities, schools and hospitals.

You do not need to have read the book to enjoy this event! This event is for anyone interested in how countries like Australia can promote better accountability for human rights abuses.

International humanitarian law (IHL), also known as the laws of war, is the body of law that applies during war to protect those who are not, or who are no longer participating in hostilities, and that seeks to limit the means and methods of warfare. Find out more by visiting the website of Australian Red Cross.

This event is free to attend but bookings are essential.

Please book here.

Attendees will be sent a promo code to claim $5 off the price of the book when they book their ticket. This code will be valid until 24 hours after the event has ended. When purchasing in store, simply mention the discount code or show your digital ticket at the counter to receive the discount.

How to ‘attend’ a virtual event at Readings

This event commences online at 7pm using the video conferencing platform Zoom.

To book for this event, you must provide your email address.

To ensure the Zoom event stays private, participants will be emailed a unique zoom link and a password 30 minutes before the event begins on the day of the event. Please check your email.

All bookings for online events will be closed one hour before the event begins.

You do not need to have a Zoom account to join a meeting, but mobile users will need to download the Zoom app for their device. Desktop and laptop users can either download the Zoom application or access the event via their web browser.