Emeritus ProfessorElizabeth Toomey

The keynote speaker was Ms Audrey Loeb, a partner at Miller Thomson LLP in Toronto - a specialist lawyer on condominium developments in Canada and the related issues of corporate governance and operations. As well as the keynote speech, there were twenty two papers presented. The papers covered a diverse range of topics that examined many property law issues: personal properties securities legislation; native title issues; financial elder abuse; the concept of statutory property; bitcoins as property; Australia’s emissions reduction fund; the role of equity in the Torrens system; shared ownership models; insurance and other fascinating topics. We were also privileged to have an address from Robbie Muir, Registrar-General of Land, on new developments in our New Zealand land transfer system. We were very grateful for the New Zealand Law Foundation’s generosity. The Foundation funded all the expenses for our keynote speaker from Toronto as well as student scholarships which enabled students from each of the six New Zealand Law Schools to attend. The eleven students, selected from a competitive pool, added a wonderful dimension to the Conference. They conducted themselves splendidly and were not shy in mixing with the other attendees and asking very intelligent questions during the sessions. "I just wanted to say thank you for organising the conference. It was absolutely fantastic." .

Co-organiser (with Jeremy Finn) Workshop: Natural Disasters: Criminal Law and Criminology ( 30 November 2015)

I am a member of the Academic Board at the University of Canterbury. This Board comprises delegates from each University faculty, is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, and is the ultimate decision-maker for all University academic matters.

I am a member of the Academic Committee of the University of Canterbury. This committee oversees all departmental decisions and makes recommendations to the Academic Board.

I am a member of the Legal Aid Review Panel. This national Panel reviews all disputed decisions made by the Legal Aid Agency. Each review decision must analyse the Agency's interpretation of the Legal Services Act 2000 and decide whether the Agency's decision should be confirmed, reversed, or reconsidered. As a result of this appointment, I have been invited to submit my curriculum vitae for potential appointments to central government boards.

I was a Session Chair at the Trans-Tasman Law and Legal Practice Conference, held in Christchurch, 2010.

I was invited in December 2011 to the 10th Australian Network for Japanese Law Conference (ANJeL), 1-2 March 2012 for the presentation of a paper outlining the consequences of the Canterbury earthquakes. I accepted this invitation. ANJeL is the initiative of the College of Law at Australian National University and the Faculties of Law at the University of Sydney and Bond University. Its aim is to promote scholarly engagement with Japanese law, especially in Australia. This anniversary conference will commemorate Japan's "3-11" disaster in 2011 as well as ANJeL's decade-long efforts to compare Japanese Law in broad context. The conference promotion material advises that it includes specialists (often with first-hand experience of recent disasters) from China, Indonesia, New Zealand and the USA as well as Japan.

Invited to provide conference papers for the Australasian Property Law Teachers' Association:1997;1999;2001;2002

Invited to provide conference papers for the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association: 2000;2001.

Invited to provide a conference paper for " Taking Torrens into the 21st Century" run by the University of Auckland (invitation issued 2002)

Invited to conduct a Canterbury District Law Society Seminar on s 40 Public Works Act 1981 - 2001

Invited to participate in a New Zealand Law Society Seminar, travelling throughout New Zealand ( declined because of teaching commitments) - 2000.

Invited Seminar address " s40 Public Works Act 1981 - The Offer Back Provisions"" Canterbury District Law Society, 21 March 2001

Invitation, issued in November 2005, to present conference paper " Access to Land Issues" at Lexis Nexis Property Advisers' Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, 4 April 2006

Invited conference address "The Timeless Problem of Access" Australasian Real Property Law Teachers' Association Conference, Melbourne University, September 2001.

Invited conference address "Law and Sport: Comparative Law at its best" Commonwealth Legal Education Annual Conference, University of Greenwich, London, England, 9-10 September 2005.

Invited Conference presentation " Landlocked Land" International Land Law Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, 19-21 March 2003. The Conference marked the 50th anniversary of the Land Transfer Act 1952 and was attended by distinguished members of the judiciary from both Australia and New Zealand, the Registrar-General of Land in New Zealand, and leading practitoners and academic lawyers from a number of Torrens jurisdictions.