About the AAPrIL
The Australasian Association of Private International Law (AAPrIL) is a group of people committed to furthering the understanding of private international law in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region.
AAPrIL was founded in 2024 by private international lawyers from Australia and New Zealand who have known one another for years through engaging with the discipline of private international law, including through conferences of the Journal of Private International Law, meetings of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, and numerous other academic activities.
You can view the proposed AAPrIL Constitution (as amended 3 June 2025) here.
To learn more about private international law in Australasia, see the PrIL Resources page.
AAPrIL’s officers
At AAPrIL’s first general meeting, on 11 July 2024, AAPrIL’s members voted to appoint the following persons as officers of the Association:
- President: Professor Mary Keyes
- Secretary: Professor Reid Mortensen
- Treasurer: Ms Cara North
- Australian Vice-President: Dr Michael Douglas
- New Zealand Vice-President: Mr Jack Wass
AAPrIL’s founding members
The association was founded by the following private international law enthusiasts, who comrpised the association’s interim executive until the general meeting of 11 July 2024.
Michael is a Consultant at Perth litigation firm Bennett, specialising in commercial litigation and media law. Previously an academic, Michael co-authored the latest edition of Nygh’s Conflict of Laws in Australia with Martin Davies, Chief Justice Bell and NACC Commissioner Brereton, and co-edited Commercial Issues in Private International Law with Vivienne Bath, Mary Keyes and Andrew Dickinson. His writing on private international law has been cited by the High Court of Australia. In 2019 he was an invited expert at the Hague Conference on Private International Law. Michael edits ConflictofLaws.Net for Australia.
Professor Richard Garnett is Chair of Law at Melbourne Law School. Richard’s major research interests are in the areas of conflict of laws, public and private international law and international commercial arbitration. He has published books and articles in major international journals in these fields, a number of which have been cited by leading international tribunals such as the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, the English Court of Appeal, Singapore Court of Appeal, US federal courts, Israeli, Swiss, New Zealand and Australian tribunals. Richard has also acted as a legal advisor and counsel in private international law and international commercial arbitration matters before Australian and international tribunals, including the High Court of Australia. He is currently a consultant in international disputes and arbitration at Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
Associate Professor Maria Hook
Maria is an Associate Professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand. She is a co-author (with Jack Wass) of the text The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand (LexisNexis, 2020) and runs a New Zealand-focused blog on private international law (https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/conflicts/). Her research has focused on jurisdiction, choice of law and private international law theory. She teaches private international law, public international law, international litigation and dispute settlement, and tort law.
Mary Keyes is a professor at Griffith University where she teaches and researches in private international law. She’s especially interested in jurisdiction, and in cross-border family litigation. With Reid Mortensen and Richard Garnett, she co-authors Private International Law in Australia, currently in its 5th edition.
Reid Mortensen is Professor of Law at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, Australia. He has affiliations with the Centre of Public, International and Comparative Law (University of Queensland) and the Centre for Private International Law (University of Aberdeen), and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. Reid is co-author of Private International Law in Australia, now in its fifth edition. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Private International Law.
Cara has over 10 years of experience as a dispute resolution practitioner, specialising in international litigation, arbitration and private international law. Her experience spans acting for clients on large and complex multi-jurisdictional disputes, specialising in domestic and international commercial litigation, arbitration and investor-state dispute resolution. Her expertise includes arbitrating under the rules of various arbitral institutions and acting for clients in complex and high profile litigation in Australia, the UK, the US, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and Malaysia, primarily in the areas of construction projects, large corporate collapses and fraud. In addition, Cara worked as a consultant to the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law for five years and, prior to that, as a legal officer to the Hague Conference where she assisted in the development and servicing of multilateral treaties designed to facilitate the resolution of cross-border commercial disputes, and drafted several international legal policy documents to inform multilateral negotiations.
Jack is a barrister admitted to the bar in New Zealand and Victoria. He practises civil and commercial litigation, with a focus on cross-border disputes. He is co-author of the text The Conflict of Laws in New Zealand (LexisNexis, 2020).
Australasian Association of Private International Law 