Professor Catherine Renshaw

Interim Dean - School of Law,
Dean's Unit - School of Law

Associate Dean, Research,
School of Law

Professor,
School of Law

Biography
Contact
Publications
Projects
Teaching
Media

Biography

Catherine Renshaw is a Professor in the School of Law at the Western Sydney University. Her research focuses on human rights and democracy in Southeast Asia. She has also been a Visiting Scholar at the Regulatory Institutions Network, Centre for International Governance and Justice, Australian National University. Catherine acts as an advisor to several human rights NGOs in the Asia Pacific region. Catherine completed her law degree at the University of New South Wales, her Master of Laws at the University of Sydney and her PhD at the University of Sydney. Catherine has ongoing research interests in Myanmar and Southeast Asia . Catherine is admitted to practice as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia. She has practiced as a solicitor for major law firms in Sydney and Newcastle and for the Legal Aid Commission of New South Wales.

This information has been contributed by Professor Renshaw.

Qualifications

PhD University of Sydney
LLM University of Sydney
LLB University of New South Wales
BA (Hons) University of Sydney

Professional Memberships

Law Society of New South Wales (2008)
Australia and New Zealand Society of International Law (2008 - 2015)
American Society of International Law (2008 - 2016)
Asian Society of International Law (2008 - 2016)
Australian Institute of International Affairs (2008)

Organisational Unit (School / Division)

Dean's Unit - School of Law
School of Law
School of Law

Contact

Email:	C.Renshaw@westernsydney.edu.au
Phone:	(02) 9685 9147 (02) 9685 9399
Mobile:
Location:	EK.G.02A ParramattaEK.G.12 Parramatta

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Teaching

Previous Teaching Areas

200700 Law Honours Dissertation, 2023
200908 Human Rights and the Asia Pacific, 2021
200953 Human Rights in Practice and Theory, 2021
200961 International Human Rights Law, 2021
200978 Legal Analysis and Critique, 2021
69142 Human Rights Law, 2021
LAWS1009 Legal Analysis and Critique, 2022

Publications

Books

Renshaw, C. (2019), 'Human Rights and Participatory Politics in Southeast Asia', : University of Pennsylvania Press 9780812251036.
Freeman, D. and Renshaw, C. (2019), 'Nonsense on Stilts: Rescuing Human Rights in Australia', : Connor Court Publishing 9781925826685.
Cullen, H., Harrington, J. and Renshaw, C. (2017), 'Experts, Networks and International Law', : Cambridge University Press 9781107184428.
Saul, B. and Renshaw, C. (2014), 'Human Rights in Asia and the Pacific: Critical Concepts in Asian Studies', : Routledge 9780415834674.

Chapters in Books

Renshaw, C. (2023), 'The National Unity Government : legitimacy and recognition', Myanmar's Changing Political Landscape: Old and New Struggles, Springer 9789811993565.
Renshaw, C. (2019), 'Myanmar', Oxford Handbook of International Law in Asia and the Pacific, Oxford University Press 9780198793854.
Renshaw, C. (2019), 'Myanmar's transition without justice', Civil Society and Transitional Justice in Asia and the Pacific, ANU Press 9781760463281.
Freeman, D. and Renshaw, C. (2019), 'Introduction : rights, nonsense and the commentariat', Nonsense on Stilts: Rescuing Human Rights in Australia, Connor Court Publishing 9781925826685.
Renshaw, C. (2019), 'Where the light gets in', Nonsense on Stilts: Rescuing Human Rights in Australia, Connor Court Publishing 9781925826685.
Renshaw, C. (2018), 'Indonesia, Australia and ASEAN', Strangers Next Door?: Indonesia and Australia in the Asian Century, Hart Publishing 9781509918164.
Cullen, H., Harrington, J. and Renshaw, C. (2017), 'Experts, networks and international law', Experts, Networks and International Law, Cambridge University Press 9781107184428.
Renshaw, C. (2017), 'Top-down transitions and the politics of US sanctions', The Business of Transition: Law Reform, Development and Economics in Myanmar, Cambridge University Press 9781108416832.
Renshaw, C. (2014), 'Disasters, despots and gun-boat diplomacy', The International Law of Disaster Relief, Cambridge University Press 9781107061316.
Renshaw, C. (2014), 'The regional context of Myanmar's democratic transition : what role for ASEAN's new institutions?', Law, Society and Transition in Myanmar, Hart 9781849465977.
Renshaw, C. and Fitzpatrick, K. (2012), 'National human rights institutions in the Asia Pacific region : change agents under conditions of uncertainty', Human Rights, State Compliance, and Social Change: Assessing National Human Rights Institutions, Cambridge University Press 9780521761758.
Renshaw, C. (2011), 'The role of networks in the implementation of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region', Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region: Towards Institution Building, Routledge 9780415859486.
Byrnes, A. and Renshaw, C. (2010), 'Within the state', International Human Rights Law, Oxford University Press 9780199560257.

Journal Articles

Renshaw, C. (2023), 'The numbers game : substantiality and the definition of genocide', Journal of Genocide Research, vol 25, no 2 , pp 195 - 215.
Renshaw, C. (2021), 'Southeast Asia's human rights institutions and the inconsistent power of human rights', Journal of Human Rights, vol 20, no 2 , pp 176 - 193.
Renshaw, C. and Lidauer, M. (2021), 'The Union Election Commission of Myanmar 2010-2020', Asian Journal of Comparative Law, vol 16, no S1 , pp 136 - 155.
Renshaw, C. and Fitzpatrick, K. (2021), 'Building human rights in the region through the role of horizontal transnational networks : the role of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions', Australian Journal of Human Rights, vol 27, no 3 , pp 422 - 441.
Renshaw, C. (2020), 'Myanmar's genocide and the legacy of forgetting', Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, vol 48, no 2 , pp 425 - 472.
Renshaw, C. (2020), 'Poetry, irrevocable time and Myanmar's political transition', International Journal of Transitional Justice, vol 14, no 1 , pp 14 - 34.
Dastyari, A. and Renshaw, C. (2020), 'Frontline workers as human rights defenders : protecting the human rights of frontline workers in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic', UNSW Law Journal Forum, vol 6 .
Renshaw, C. (2019), 'Martin Krygier and human rights', Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, vol 11, no 2-3 , pp 479 - 484.
Renshaw, C. (2017), 'Global or regional? : realizing women's rights in Southeast Asia', Human Rights Quarterly, vol 39, no 3 , pp 707 - 745.
Renshaw, C. (2016), 'Human trafficking in Southeast Asia : uncovering the dynamics of state commitment and compliance', Michigan Journal of International Law, vol 37, no 4 , pp 611 - 659.
Renshaw, C. (2013), 'The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration 2012', Human Rights Law Review, vol 13, no 3 , pp 557 - 579.
Renshaw, C. (2013), 'Democratic transformation and regional institutions : the case of Myanmar and ASEAN', Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, vol 32, no 1 , pp 29 - 54.
Renshaw, C. (2012), 'Law, legitimacy and the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights', Thammasat Review, vol 15, no Special Iss. , pp 51 - 70.
Renshaw, C. (2012), 'National human rights institutions and civil society organizations : new dynamics of engagement at domestic, regional, and international levels', Global Governance, vol 18, no 3 , pp 299 - 316.
Renshaw, C. (2012), 'Book Review: The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights: Institutionalising Human Rights in Southeast Asia', Australian Journal of Asian Law, vol 13, no 1 , pp 1 - 7.
Renshaw, C., Byrnes, A. and Durbach, A. (2011), 'Testing the mettle of National Human Rights Institutions : a case study of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia', Asian Journal of International Law, vol 1, no 1 , pp 165 - 198.
Renshaw, C., Byrnes, A. and Durbach, A. (2010), 'Human rights protection in the Pacific : the emerging role of National Human Rights Institutions in the region', New Zealand Journal of Public International Law, vol 8, no 1 , pp 117 - 144.
Durbach, A., Renshaw, C. and Byrnes, A. (2009), ''A tongue but no teeth?' : the emergence of a new human rights mechanism in the Asia Pacific region', Sydney Law Review, vol 31, no 2 , pp 211 - 238.
Renshaw, C., Byrnes, A. and Durbach, A. (2009), 'Implementing human rights in the Pacific through national human rights institutions : the experience of Fiji', Victoria University of Wellington Law Review, vol 40, no 1 , pp 251 - 277.
Byrnes, A., Durbach, A. and Renshaw, C. (2008), 'Joining the club : the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, the Paris Principles, and the advancement of human rights protection in the region', Australian Journal of Human Rights, vol 14, no 1 , pp 63 - 98.

Conference Papers

Renshaw, C. (2008), 'The globalisation paradox and the implementation of international human rights : the function of transnational networks in combating human trafficking in the ASEAN region', Australian and New Zealand Law and Society Association. Conference, Sydney, N.S.W..

Catherine's research focuses on the theory and practice of human rights, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia. She undertakes comparative studies regional human rights systems and has published numerous articles about the legitimacy and potential of Southeast Asia's regional human rights body, - the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission of Human Rights. One of Catherine’s recent books, Human Rights and Participatory Politics in Southeast Asia (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019) considers what purchase the discourse of 'human rights and democracy' has at the regional level in Southeast Asia. Catherine also writes and publishes a great deal about Myanmar, and its failed transition to constitutional democracy. She is part of the Australia-Myanmar Constitutional Democracy Project, with colleagues from the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, the National University of Singapore and the Australian National University. She has written about the Asian experience of Transitional Justice.