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Researcher

Dr Carolyn M Evans

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Fields of Research (FoR)

Public international law, International relations, Other law and legal studies, International and comparative law not elsewhere classified, Law and humanities

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Biography

Previously a senior decision-maker in commercial and nonprofit enterprise, after an early career in the Royal Australian Air Force which culminated in the award of the Conspicuous Service Cross.

Carolyn is presently a researcher and teaching fellow at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, with current interests in international law - particularly in relation to her recent monograph, Towards a more accountable United Nations Security...view more

Previously a senior decision-maker in commercial and nonprofit enterprise, after an early career in the Royal Australian Air Force which culminated in the award of the Conspicuous Service Cross.

Carolyn is presently a researcher and teaching fellow at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, with current interests in international law - particularly in relation to her recent monograph, Towards a more accountable United Nations Security Council (Brill | Nijhoff, February 2021). 

In parallel to her doctoral research, on which the book is based, Carolyn has had the opportunity to contribute to projects on ‘The partiality of international peacekeeping’, ‘Scenario-Based Training for Senior Leadership in Peace Operations - Sexual Exploitation and Abuse’, ‘Dealing with Disgrace: Addressing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeping’, and ‘Leveraging power and influence on the United Nations Security Council’.  

She has also addressed topics as diverse as forced marriage in Australia and competition in Australian retail banking, and, more recently, is supporting a project investigating constitutional populism as it relates to constitutional democracy - not least in convening a series of webinars beginning in 2020, and editing the archival edition of each session


My Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy (2019) University of New South Wales, Sydney
Thesis entitled ‘Towards a more accountable United Nations Security Council - why, to whom, for what, and how’
Research completed with scholarships from the Australian Government Research Training Program (formerly the Australian Postgraduate Awards) and the UNSW Faculty of Law, both continued for maximum duration of 3.5 years (full time).

Master of Legal Studies (2010) University of New South Wales, Sydney
Focus on public international law, constitutional law and international human rights law. Weighted average mark of over 85% (High Distinction). Listed twice in the Faculty of Law Dean’s List For Excellence in Academic Performance for attaining the highest mark in a course unit.

Master of Business Administration (1988) Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (now RMIT University), Melbourne
In addition to coursework, a (required) major research project was completed on the human behaviour aspects of mathematical modelling in inventory management. The research investigated decision-making practice in the Royal Australian Air Force and included field work with allied forces in the USA, Canada and New Zealand.  The project was supported by a Defence Fellowship (one year, full time, fully funded) awarded by the Australian Defence Force.

Graduate Diploma in Operations Research (1987) South Australian Institute of Technology (now University of South Australia), Adelaide
Coursework spanned applied mathematics and computer programming, with a (required) research essay - completed on modelling space allocation decisions of large organisations. The essay was published after winning the 1986 Australian Society for Operations Research (Vic) Student Paper of the Year.

Bachelor of Business (Distinction) (1982) Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education (now University of Southern Queensland), Toowomba
Undertaken as an officer cadet with the Royal Australian Air Force.  Attained a double major in Economics and Personnel Management. This included an independent research study in industrial law, examining trade practices law implications of union-led boycotts and strike action. Awarded the 1982 Australian Institute of Management (Qld) Prize for Best Graduate in Management.


My Awards

Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC), 1994 Australia Day Honours List: 'For conspicuous service to the Royal Australian Air Force particularly in the field of Defence logistics'.


My Teaching

JURD 7270/LAWS 2270 Law in the Global Context (since 2019)

JURD 7782/LAWS 8082 Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes (in 2022)

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Research Activities

Reform discourse about the United Nations Security Council gives every reason to believe that flaws in its legal and institutional design prevent the Council from adequately meeting its responsibility to maintain or restore international peace and security - in part by allowing the Council to act in an ad hoc and unprincipled manner.

In Towards a more accountable United Nations Security Council, Carolyn Evans argues that enhanced accountability of the Council, and corresponding evolution of practice, are feasible, salutary changes towards the Council better answering its…

The project aims to identify, reconstruct, and evaluate legal and constitutional aims of, and institutional solutions adopted by, regimes that have come to power in a global wave of ‘populist’ parties challenging traditional ones - examining whether they respect both the forms and underlying values of constitutional democracy, or just pay lip service to, for example, principles of the rule of law and constitutionalism, while working to subvert such principles. The project will focus on what ‘new populists’ do with power once they have it, and what the consequences…

Reform discourse about the United Nations Security Council gives every reason to believe that flaws in its legal and institutional design prevent the Council from adequately meeting its responsibility to maintain or restore international peace and security, in part by allowing the Council to act in an ad hoc and unprincipled manner.  

Contemporaneous geopolitics were naturally at the heart of the socio-legal framing of the Council’s composition and tasks.  While such contexts do not remain static, the Council has, however, been very largely untouched by reform of…