Featured Legal Events
All legal careers in the Digital Age will require some understanding of technology. But did you know that, distinct from a career as a barrister or solicitor, there’s a range of career opportunities out there in the post-graduation world, focused on the use of technology in legal practice? Attend this event to find out more!
Representatives of two global law firms and of a legal start-up will illustrate these career paths, envisioning future opportunities for Law graduates and necessary tech skills for lawyers.
Program:
Brief presentations by the speakers will lead into a panel discussion
and then to Q&A with the student audience.
Informal networking with the speakers will follow over drinks and snacks until 20.00.
Event kindly sponsored by BCLP LLP and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.
Speakers attending:
o Iain Telford, Cleary X Analyst, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
o Byron Spring, Pro Bono Managing Attorney, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
o Jeff Westcott, Global Director of Innovation and Practice Technology, BCLP LLP
o Brian Kennedy, Senior Innovation Manager, Real Estate, BCLP LLP
o Aisha Tummon, Head of Business Development & Customer Success, Orbital Witness
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
If you are one of the estimated 15% of people in the UK who are Neurodivergent, this webinar series might be for you - if you are not, but are just curious, keep reading too!
Garden Court Chambers is putting on series of six webinars, exploring the topic of neurodivergency in the law.
This webinar series, will cover a range of practice areas, recounting the experiences and examining the challenges faced by neurodivergent people involved in the justice system in England and Wales, whether as witnesses, defendants, lawyers or otherwise. These webinars will bring together experts from legal practice, academia, policy and other professionals to consider the flaws in the current system, identify instances of best practice and propound changes that could be made to improve access to justice, equality and diversity in the courts.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
The Art Not Evidence campaign launched at the end of 2023 to advocate for a restriction on the use of creative expression as evidence in criminal trials. The campaign addresses the criminalisation of rap music, including the increasing use of lyrics and music videos as evidence against young people accused of crime. By disregarding the culture and conventions of the genre, and by asking courts and juries to take the music literally, police and prosecutors not only undermine the positive aspects of rap, denying its status as an art form and stifling creativity, but also perpetuate harmful racist stereotypes and create a risk of wrongful conviction.
Across two sessions, we will hear from experts on the cultural significance of rap music and the issues and implications of prosecuting rap, including: colonial legacies in the criminalisation of drill music; use of drill music in ‘joint enterprise’ trials and to construct gang narratives; the need to instruct expert witnesses; Criminal Behaviour Orders to restrict the creation of music; and the implications for freedom of expression.
The event will provide information and insight for anyone interested in the criminal justice response to rap and popular culture, and the current efforts for legal reform. It will also provide practical information and tools for those who work in the criminal legal system, music industry, or who create (or support those who create) music.
A drinks reception will follow this Event.
We’re thrilled to have you join us for our upcoming event! We encourage all participants to fully immerse themselves in the experience by attending both sessions. To ensure you don’t miss out on any valuable content, please remember to register for both sessions.
However, If you’re unable to commit to both sessions, you’re still welcome to register for just one.
Session 1 has sold out and there are few tickets remaining for Session 2. If you would like to attend, please join the waiting lists by following the registration links below. Please note, you will need to join the waiting list for each session you wish to attend.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
City, University of London is hosting a day conference on the subject of ‘Deepfakes and the Law’ on Monday 20 May 2024 at its Northampton Square campus, London. The conference is part-funded by the Society of Legal Scholars. A blog post about the conference may be found here.
The theme of the conference is to explore the existing and potential relationships between Deepfake technology and the law. These relationships will cut across a range of existing legal fields of inquiry, and it is intended that the conference will draw on expertise both legal and non-legal in an interdisciplinary fashion. As such, we particularly welcome submissions from those with an interdisciplinary background in (e.g.) the arts, social sciences, history and/or information technology.
We will have themed panels on “Deepfakes, Image-Based Abuse & Consent”, “Deepfakes, Disinformation & Truth”, and two “open” panels. There will also be a round-table discussion session open to post-graduate or early-career researchers, which will also be on an “open” theme.
More info to come...
If you are one of the estimated 15% of people in the UK who are Neurodivergent, this webinar series might be for you - if you are not, but are just curious, keep reading too!
Garden Court Chambers is putting on series of six webinars, exploring the topic of neurodivergency in the law.
This webinar series, will cover a range of practice areas, recounting the experiences and examining the challenges faced by neurodivergent people involved in the justice system in England and Wales, whether as witnesses, defendants, lawyers or otherwise. These webinars will bring together experts from legal practice, academia, policy and other professionals to consider the flaws in the current system, identify instances of best practice and propound changes that could be made to improve access to justice, equality and diversity in the courts.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Marking the launch of Observing Justice(Opens in new window) by Judith Townend and Lucy Welsh (Bristol University Press, 2023), this evening seminar will consider how under-scrutinised legal, social and technological developments have affected the transparency and accountability of the criminal justice process.
Speakers from academic, civil society and legal organisations will share insights from their research and professional experiences, as they relate to key legal policy issues such as equality of access, remote and virtual courts, justice system data management, and the roles of public and media observers.
Townend and Welsh’s socio-legal work, based on both evaluative and empirical studies, highlights the implications of recent changes for access to justice, offender rehabilitation, and public access to information; and argues that a framework for open justice should prioritise public legal education and justice system accountability.
The event will also respond to the Government’s 2023 consultation on open justice: a report is expected to be published in early 2024. Though this book focuses on England and Wales, the topic has international relevance, with – for example – open justice and access to justice initiatives led by the OECD, World Justice Project and Open Government Partnership.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Is it time to recalibrate the relationship between access to justice, law school clinics, and legal services regulation?
Stephen Mayson, Honorary Professor at UCL, will be speaking about his work on the regulation of the legal profession, in particular exploring the relationship between access to justice, law school clinics, and legal services regulation. He will be joined by Rebecca Wilkinson of LawWorks and Laura Pinkney of Nottingham Law School to discuss current regulation and whether it meets the legal needs of society’s most vulnerable in a time when access to justice is in short supply.
The event will be chaired by Rachel Knowles from the UCL Centre for Access to Justice.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
What does a Company Secretary actually do? And do they only work in the commercial sphere? (Hint: no!)
Fancy a seat in the boardroom, contributing to strategic decision-making? Do you want a professional qualification/experience recognised globally? Attend this event to explore becoming a company secretariat professional. You’ll hear from company secretaries at a range of organisations – limited companies, PLC, charity – who’ll talk about their stimulating role and the path, in the UK and abroad, that has led them there. The Chartered Governance Institute will be represented on the panel, too, and will explain the route to qualification (NB it’s cheaper than qualifying as a solicitor or barrister!).
Students will have the opportunity to put questions to the panel.
Presenters:
Fiona Boyce, a private property limited company, UK
Fiona is the Company Secretary for a private property business, part of an international organisation whose activities span urban property, rural estate management, food and agtech, and support for philanthropic initiatives. She is a business studies graduate and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. Fiona has worked for a learned society, a global auction house and a global management consultancy firm. She has lived and worked in the UK, Scandinavia, and the USA. Her work has involved joint ventures; private equity; mergers and acquisitions; management buy outs; and the management of an employee share scheme with multiple dealing periods.
Craig Budde, The Chartered Governance Institute
The Chartered Governance Institute’s main purpose is to champion good governance and to develop the value, skills, and effectiveness of governance professionals; it believes that better governance drives better decision-making, and better decision-making creates a better world.
Craig is the Business Account Manager at The Chartered Governance Institute. A key part of his role is to engage with employers, universities and tuition providers to raise the profile of the Institute and promote good governance throughout all sectors and industries in general.
Rory Herbert, Drax Group plc
A history graduate, Rory completed a Master's in Corporate Governance and Law and, after graduating, secured an internship as a Company Secretarial Intern at CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, a conglomerate listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Following the internship, he worked as a Governance Trainee at a professional services firm, before obtaining a role as a Company Secretarial Assistant at The Go-Ahead Group plc and, currently, Drax Group plc.
Paul Johnston, ONE Advisory Limited and Blockchain and Climate Institute
Paul is an Associate Director at ONE Advisory Limited, a business providing financial reporting and corporate governance services to a range of listed clients. Paul is also Company Secretary at the Blockchain and Climate Institute, an international think-tank looking at deployment of emerging technologies to address climate change, and serves as the Chair of the CGI's South East England
Branch. Paul passionately believes that the corporate governance / company secretarial profession has a central role to play in supporting companies to do the ‘right thing’, both in terms of ethical standards and value generation for shareholders and other stakeholders. “It’s never been a more interesting and exciting time to be a corporate governance professional!”
Sheila Lumsden OBE FCG, CounterCulture Partnership LLP
Sheila’s career focus has been in education and arts working with the British Council for 30+ years. Her British Council career included postings as Deputy Regional Director Europe, Deputy Regional Director Wider Europe (Western Balkans to Central Asia)); Director Business Development Wider Europe; various Business Development posts (for education, scholarships, arts and civil society work) as well as senior posts in both Scotland and Manchester. She has worked with and in many countries in all regions of the globe. Sheila also trained in workplace mediation. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute UK (CGIUK) and Liveryman and Chair of the Education Committee of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. She is currently an Associate at CounterCulture Partnership LLP.
Theresa Minnie ACG, The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland
Theresa is a Chartered member of the Institute and heads up their UK and international outreach team. She originally had aspirations of becoming a lawyer, but trained in finance before joining the Institute. Theresa has owned and run various businesses including restaurants, bookmaking and retail businesses. She has been with the Institute for a number of years and has moved between different departments including Finance and Membership.
Today, as Head of Outreach, Theresa shares her expertise and guidance to Institute members as well as current and potential students from around the globe. Part of her role is to work with international regulators and ministers to raise awareness of governance and lobby for the importance of having suitably qualified individuals working at board level within organisations.
Zillah Stone, DS Smith Plc
Zillah started her career as a solicitor specialising in ship finance, working in London and later in Hong Kong. She then discovered the variety of the company secretarial world and for the past 20 years has worked in a diverse range of industries in FTSE 350 and private companies. Between jobs Zillah has written a book and has taken numerous opportunities to travel. She is currently Deputy Company Secretary at a FTSE 100 packaging company.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Please note that the time allocated for this colloquia will be devoted to discussion of the paper.
Speaker: Professor David Dyzenhaus (University of Toronto)
About the Session: I argue that constitutional theory lives in the space between philosophy of law and the messy ‘real’ world. Constitutional theory is that branch of philosophy of law that discusses the optimal institutional structure for a particular society to inquire into the values that do and should form its compulsory, that is, legally enforced, public morality. Its main question is how the institutions of legal order should be configured so as to make that inquiry the best it can be. I begin with the debate in constitutional theory between ‘political constitutionalists’ and ‘legal constitutionalists’ and suggest that it is deadlocked by its focus on whether the judiciary or parliament is the legitimate guardian of the liberal democratic values of the constitution. I then sketch Bernard Williams’s ‘Realist’ criticism of the very assumption that the only legitimate societies are liberal democratic ones and his attempt to refocus political philosophy on the way in which legitimacy should be understood in accordance with its role in sustaining political order per se. Finally, I argue that the deadlock can be broken by placing the debate on pragmatist terrain, the terrain where the experience of legal government provides the test for theory, and which I show is exemplified by the methodology of John Austin’s utilitarian legal positivism.
About the Institute: The Institute brings together political and legal theorists from Law, Political Science and Philosophy and organises regular colloquia in terms 2 and 3. Read more about the Institute's work.
If you would like to be added to the ILPP mailing list please contact us at laws-events@ucl.ac.uk.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
This event takes place over three days: 20th March, 17th April, 15th May
Price for this day only: £80 student, £95 non-student
Price for all three days: £150 student, £195 non-student (please note that the first training day on 20th March will be held in-person at the IALS building; the two subsequent training days will held online).
Bundle Price: Register for day one only, you will be manually registered for day two and three.
Now, onto the event!
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies welcomes students enrolled for an MPhil / PhD in Law from across the UK to this specially tailored day of presentations, library tours and networking opportunities.
How to get a PhD in Law
The PhD journey: Research ethics and preparing yourself for upgrade and vivas
Held at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
Charles Close House, 17 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5DR
PROGRAMME
9.45-10.00 Registration
10.00-10.45 Becoming a legal researcher: what is a PhD in law?
Susan Breau, Interim Director of Postgraduate Research, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
10.45-11.30The PhD journey: The staging posts of your PhD and support for research students
Susan Breau, Interim Director of Postgraduate Research, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
11.30-12.00 Coffee break
12.00-13.00 Panel of research students who have completed or nearly completed their PhD will discuss how they approached researching their theses and the PhD journey. Session to be open to questions from the audience and discussion.
Session Chaired by: Dr Constantin Stefanou, Director of the Sir William Dale Centre for Legislative Studies, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London
13.00-14.00 Lunch
14.00-14.45 Preparing for the Ethics Committee
Emeritus Professor Avrom Sherr, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London
14.45-15.30 Preparing for upgrade viva and the PhD viva
Emeritus Professor Avrom Sherr, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London
15.30-16.00 Coffee break
16.00-16.30
The foreign, international and comparative law research collections at IALS Library
Hester Swift, Foreign and International Law Librarian, IALS Library
16.30 Close
Optional tours of IALS Library 16:30-17:00
Although tailored specifically for PhD in Law students, this training programme does contain some material which repeats and reinforces generic training suitable for all PhD students.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
During your time researching and planning for your dream career, you may have come across the term 'commercial awareness'. It is a skill vital to not only secure your first role, but to continue up the career ladder, making informed decisions as you go.
For that reason, we've put together a series of workshops, written to help you master the art of commercial awareness.
Whether you're eyeing commercial law, human rights law, or family law, understanding and applying commercial awareness is key.
Facilitated by Caroline Berry, Careers Consultant, in collaboration with legal professionals, this 4-session interactive series will equip you with the knowledge to confidently pursue training contracts and legal work experience opportunities.
During the series of workshops you will;
- Learn why commercial awareness is important in the legal sector
- Establish how commercial awareness is applied in the work of a solicitor, paralegal and other legal roles
- Identify resources and approaches for developing your commercial awareness
- Practice using frameworks to interpret recent news stories and explain the impact on law firms and their clients
- Understand how to answer commercial awareness questions in applications and interviews
Key details:
Wednesdays 4:00 – 5:00pm
20 March (online)
27 March (online)
3 April (in person)
10 April (in person)
Open to all LLB, GDL and GELLB students – places are limited!
To ensure you gain a comprehensive understanding, we strongly encourage you to join all four sessions.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
With the globalist project immersed in conflicts and adversity, Post-Colonial Globalisation offers an insight into the actors who animate it and the power dynamics which run through it. Using the law as the prism through which these are examined, and fusing historical with contemporary perspectives, the book contributes to understanding the crisis in which we find ourselves as a moment of both existential danger and an opportunity.
This book is in two parts. The first part charters capitalism’s historical progression to globalism through the lens of the act of taking. Taking has risen to institutional prominence as a core concept in the legal lexicon of foreign investment protection to denote deprivation of private property. Post-Colonial Globalisation advances a broader notion of taking as a tool of social criticism. From enclosures to colonial settlement to an empire of unequal exchanges, to contemporary land grabs, private property, now so vigorously protected against taking, was itself born out of taking. The second part focuses on the ecological dimension of neoliberal globalisation and its hallmarks of unlimited growth and excessive extraction. It has negatively impacted the climate, the earth and its human and non-human inhabitants to the point of putting their continued existence at risk. Central to this is the deification of property. Our understanding of proprietary relations and the rights they confer must be revisited if our interface with the planet is to be reconfigured. The emerging doctrine of rights of nature offers one route which may lead us in this direction.
The two parts complement each other. One looks at taking by members of the human species from each other. The other looks at taking by the human species from nature.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
THE DIRECTOR’S SEMINAR SERIES:
Professor Borg's lecture will explore the way different countries have dealt with the question of supremacy of the Constitution. Is such supremacy inherent in the very nature of a written constitution, whether it is declared or not in the fundamental law of a country? Prof Borg will cover supremacy issues which have arisen in the United States of America, India and his home country Malta and how the issue has been tackled in each of these countries.
Speaker: Professor Tonio Borg
Professor Borg’s legal and political career spans the past thirty years. He practiced and specialised as a human rights lawyer from 1980 – 1998 and has also been lecturing at the University of Malta since 1989. He is currently Associate Professor of Public Law and his field of expertise is human rights law, Maltese constitutional law, and court scrutiny of government’s actions under Administrative law.
Prof Borg is widely published in these fields. In 2016, he published A Commentary on the Constitution of Malta, the first in depth study of the Maltese constitution and the only textbook on the subject. Its second edition was published in 2022. Prof. Borg is also the author of Leading cases in Maltese Constitutional Law(2019), Judicial Review of Administrative Action in Malta (2020), Leading Cases in Administrative Law (2021), Maltese Administrative.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Welcome to International Women's Day 2024!
Come join us on Thu, Mar 21, 2024 at 6:00 PM GMT at Cornerstone Barristers to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women around the world. This event is a great opportunity to network, learn, and be inspired by powerful women from the legal profession.
Don't miss out on this fantastic event dedicated to honoring and empowering women. Let's come together to support and uplift each other.
Programme of Events
Thursday 21 March 2024
6pm Registration for a 6.30pm start
8pm Networking
At Cornerstone Barristers, 2-3 Gray's Inn Square, London WC1R 5JH
International Women's Day
The campaign theme for International Women's Day 2024 is Inspire Inclusion.
When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world.
And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment.
Come together to hear from pioneering female legal professionals; network with other lawyers and celebrate brilliant women!
Collectively, let's forge a more inclusive world for women.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
All legal careers in the Digital Age will require some understanding of technology. But did you know that, distinct from a career as a barrister or solicitor, there’s a range of career opportunities out there in the post-graduation world, focused on the use of technology in legal practice? Attend this event to find out more!
Representatives of two global law firms and of a legal start-up will illustrate these career paths, envisioning future opportunities for Law graduates and necessary tech skills for lawyers.
Program:
Brief presentations by the speakers will lead into a panel discussion
and then to Q&A with the student audience.
Informal networking with the speakers will follow over drinks and snacks until 20.00.
Event kindly sponsored by BCLP LLP and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.
Speakers attending:
o Iain Telford, Cleary X Analyst, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
o Byron Spring, Pro Bono Managing Attorney, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
o Jeff Westcott, Global Director of Innovation and Practice Technology, BCLP LLP
o Brian Kennedy, Senior Innovation Manager, Real Estate, BCLP LLP
o Aisha Tummon, Head of Business Development & Customer Success, Orbital Witness
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Speaker: Nisha Waller, PhD candidate at the University of Oxford, Centre for Criminology
Abstract
Through the narratives of young black men convicted as secondary parties to murder, and insight from legal practitioners, Nisha will surface the punitive function of the ‘gang’ in the context of joint enterprise. Nisha contends that young black male defendants face inherent disadvantages when they are indicted as a secondary party, as they fit within a ‘ready-made’ narrative of ‘gangs’ which has a conviction-maximising capacity in the context of joint enterprise. Nisha also illustrates that young black men are more likely to enter the dock with ‘gang evidence’ readily available for the prosecution to use against them - a direct outcome of the surveillance and ‘datafication’ of young black men through discriminatory police work. Nisha’s work prompts critical reflection on the connection between racialised criminal justice policies, longstanding stereotypes about ‘black criminality’, and the racialised application of joint enterprise.
Bio
Nisha is a final year PhD candidate at the University of Oxford, Centre for Criminology. Her PhD research investigates racialised processes of prosecution in the context of ‘joint enterprise’, specially focusing on the experiences of young black men. Nisha’s work is in part motivated by her own experience of having a loved one convicted under ‘joint enterprise’ in 2017.
Nisha also works part time as a researcher at charity law practice APPEAL, where she is leading a research project exploring the relationship between the English jury system, Britain’s colonial history and miscarriages of justice.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Please note this event is free to attend, but seats are allocated on a first come first served basis.
Those of you interested in International Human Rights, this event might be for you!
This event is to launch and discuss Alpa Shah’s new book, The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the search for democracy in India.
As general elections fast approach in the world’s largest democracy, this event asks what democracy today must urgently ensure for our common future. In her latest book, Alpa Shah pulls back the curtain on Indian democracy to tell the remarkable and chilling story of the Bhima Koregaon case, in which 16 human rights defenders (the BK-16) – professors, lawyers, artists – have been imprisoned, without credible evidence and without trial, as Maoist terrorists. The BK-16 were accused of inciting violence and plotting to kill the Indian prime minister. But Professor Shah finds a shocking case of cyber warfare - hacked emails, mobile phones and implantation of electronic evidence used to make the arrests. Diving deep into the lives of the BK-16, The Incarcerations shows how the case is a bellwether for the collapse of democracy and why these events matter to all of us.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Abstract
This talk provides an introduction into the debate around competition law and sustainability and compares the different approached encountered around the world.
It specifically focuses on how the aims of the EU’s Green Deal have been implemented in EU competition law and how it now aims to deal with sustainability matters.
The talk highlights the unique EU dimension and approach while asking how this EU approach was shaped and to what extent similar approaches can be expected around the world.
About the speaker
Dr Julian Nowag, Associate Professor in EU law at Lund University and an Associate at the Oxford Centre for Competition Law and Policy.
Julian is associate professor in EU law at Lund University specializing in competition law and the director of the master programme in European Business Law.
He is also an associate at the Oxford Centre for Competition Law and Policy where he is on the editorial board of The Journal for Antitrust Enforcement as managing editor.
He teaches courses on competition and various areas of EU law and has given lectures at various European, Asian and Latin American universities.
His research focuses on the interaction between competition law and sustainability as well as algorithms and competition law.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
The full title of this event is: ‘Your Christmas holidays cannot be more dull than mine. I pass the morning in arbitrations, the most irksome of all employments, and the evening in absolute solitude’: Arbitration in Nineteenth-Century England
Arbitration, the settling of disputes by one or more party-appointed referees, continued to be a common experience in nineteenth-century England, even in a period of rapid change in the demography society and economy. This talk will describe the multifarious disputes to which arbitration was applied, ranging from bankruptcy and land disputes, to divorce settlements, labour disputes and international relations.
It will also chart the ways in which arbitration was changed, both in its relationship with the courts and via its inclusion in legislation relating to other aspects of governance, like the compulsory purchase of land and regulation of the railway industry. As a voluntary process it was also profoundly affected by the parties who turned to arbitration and the uses they made of it.
To help navigate this complex landscape, the individual experiences of parties, arbitrators and reformers are highlighted, showing how class, gender and region all affected attitudes to arbitration and its operation. These biographies encompass lawyers, such as the enthusiastic Lord Brougham LC and the reluctant Lord Campbell LC, who provides the quote for the title. However, the diversity of disputes demands a wider cast of characters. There are also industrialist-politicians like AJ Mundella, engineers like Robert Stephenson, businessman and polymath, Leone Levi and campaigner for women’s rights, Caroline Norton.
Dr Boorman has been conducting legal history research into little-examined areas of the history of arbitration, a subject of considerable modern importance and one upon which comparatively little is known of its historical development.
This lecture will have significant national and international interest. Due to the contemporary importance of arbitration in London, Dr Boorman’s work is likely to have an impact beyond the academy. His research is inter-disciplinary in nature and appeals to historians and lawyers. This lecture is of importance to the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies and builds upon a symposium held at IALS in 2022.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Celebrate the publication of City students' legal writing in this year's edition of The City Law Review on Thursday 28 March at 6pm in the TG14! The Volume VI Editorial Board has stewarded several initiatives, old and new, including a revamped website and the launch of The CLR Blog. Volume VI is proudly sponsored by 4 New Square, The City Law School, The Bar and Mooting Society, and City's Law Society. Event registration TBA. Follow the CLR on Instagram for the latest updates: https://www.instagram.com/citylawreview/
- The City Law Review
- Volume VI Launch Event
- Thursday 28 March 2024
- 6:00pm - 8:00pm
- Moot Courtroom & Atrium
Sponsored by: 4 New Square, The City Law School, The Bar and Mooting Society, and City's Law Society.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
This is a hybrid event. If you would like to attend it in person, please click on "Register now". If you would like to attend it online, please contact Hallam.Tuck@city.ac.uk.
Speaker: Dr. Omar Phoenix Khan, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Bath
This paper exposes how colonial ways of knowing and being shape judicial behaviour in Brazil, where pre-trial detention is excessively used against racialised groups. I argue that judges continue to conceptualise and operationalise justice according to colonial logics and thus reveal the coloniality of justice. Drawing on decolonial theory from across South America and from interviews and court observations in Rio de Janeiro, I reveal how judges understand themselves as heroic crime fighters, acting beyond the law in a modern moral crusade. I examine how violence remains a central component of justice and consider how judges deal with the contradiction of neutrality and aggression. I argue that judges, by endorsing or tolerating violence, become agents of coloniality.
Omar is a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Bath, having previously taught at the University of Oxford, and the University of Westminster where he completed his PhD. Before completing his doctorate, Omar worked across several criminal justice sectors, including in HM Prison Service as the Diversity & Equality manager in two London prisons, for several international NGOs running complex multi-country projects to reduce the overuse of imprisonment, and as a consultant for UN agencies on human rights projects in justice settings. Omar’s research focuses on how coloniality informs criminological thinking and practice. His current focus is on investigating how legacies of empire influence judicial decision-making at the pre-trial stage in Brazil.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Tickets for this event are going fast, so register now if you want to attend.
Anita Casavantes Bradford (University of California Irvine) and Francesca Meloni (King’s College London) will discuss Anita’s new book, Suffer the Little Children: Child Migration and the Geopolitics of Compassion in the United States. The book is the first comprehensive historical analysis of unaccompanied child migration to the United States from 1930 to present day. The book argues that the US response to unaccompanied child migration has been consistently driven by a geopolitics of compassion that prioritises foreign policy and domestic political objectives over children’s best interests.
The event is co-sponsored by the (B)OrderS Centre for the Legal Study of Borders and Migration and the Childhood, Law, and Policy Network.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
No date for valentines? That's ok - we've got key dates here for you to take note of, so please read the whole post carefully.
Are you interested in public and administrative law, environmental law, or the legal process governing what gets built where and how? Then you may be interested in a career at the public and environmental Bar.
FTB will be offering interested students an opportunity to attend and participate in a Virtual Mini Pupillage Day on 4 April 2024.
During the course of the day, participants will hear from members and staff about pupillage and tenancy in FTB, including the application and interview process and insights from all levels of seniority about practice in FTB’s areas of specialism. There will also be opportunities to take part in interactive advocacy exercises, discuss leading cases Chambers has been involved in and ask any burning questions about FTB, pupillage and the Bar in general.
Those who are at least in their second year of a qualifying law degree or who have commenced the GDL or other graduate-entry LLB courses are eligible to apply. Prospective applicants should send their CV and a cover letter by email to pupillage@ftbchambers.co.uk by 4pm on 29 February 2024.
Participants will be informed if they have secured a place by w/c 14 March 2024.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
This event is hosted by Safer London, and tackles a topic that, unfortunately, will affect a portion of our students in their lifetime. They are still actively recruiting participants to join this research. To learn more, visit Safer London’s website https://saferlondon.org.uk/loss-research/
At the start of 2023 Safer London, UCL, and Child Bereavement UK, embarked on research looking at what bereavement and loss support is available to those who have been impacted by youth violence related murder.
Spearheaded by bereaved parent Karen Green Stewart, who lost her son Lamar to murder in 2017, the research aimed to assess the existing support systems in place for anyone impacted by this type of tragedy, and whether that support is adequate for those who need it. Our goal is to inform a culturally competent model of support, one that is shaped by the authentic voices, experiences, and opinions of those directly impacted.
On the day we share insights from our research, as well as discuss next steps. The event will feature presentations and panel discussions featuring UCL researchers, the Safer London project team, as well Karen Green Stewart, and opening remarks by Claire Waxman, London’s Victim’s Commissioner.
The event will take place in the Strand, Fleet & Bell suite at the Law Society, Chancery Lane. Refreshments and a hot buffet lunch will be provided.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
If you are one of the estimated 15% of people in the UK who are Neurodivergent, this webinar series might be for you - if you are not, but are just curious, keep reading too!
Garden Court Chambers is putting on series of six webinars, exploring the topic of neurodivergency in the law.
This webinar series, will cover a range of practice areas, recounting the experiences and examining the challenges faced by neurodivergent people involved in the justice system in England and Wales, whether as witnesses, defendants, lawyers or otherwise. These webinars will bring together experts from legal practice, academia, policy and other professionals to consider the flaws in the current system, identify instances of best practice and propound changes that could be made to improve access to justice, equality and diversity in the courts.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
The Bar Association for Commerce, Finance and Industry are hosting an event in which the speakers will be Considering the complex tensions of commerciality versus your duty to being a full legal service provider to your employer.
If, over April you will find yourself in or near Bradford, this one might be of interest to you. If not, there is of course the option to join over MS Teams (which might be a slightly easier option for most of you.
Speaker: Stephen Waud (Group CEO, Business Enterprise Fund)
Free for everyone to attend but you must register beforehand and state whether you wish to attend in person or via MS Teams.
To register or if you have any queries, please email events@bacfi.org
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
This will be the 18th Annual PIEL UK conference on ''Challenges of New Business-Centred Environmental Law: Obligations and Opportunities''. We will discuss production and supply chain issues, touch on compliance, accountability, implementation and enforcement mechanisms needed.
In addition to our speaker panels, we’ll be offering introductory sessions for those new to the discussion on challenges of new environmental legislation and Q&A sessions with leading academics.
Fascinating speakers from Leigh Day, Wallbrook-Anthesis, City Law School, UCL Laws and Cambridge University Press. Don’t miss out on this opportunity!
Drinks, catering and networking included.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
The Art Not Evidence campaign launched at the end of 2023 to advocate for a restriction on the use of creative expression as evidence in criminal trials. The campaign addresses the criminalisation of rap music, including the increasing use of lyrics and music videos as evidence against young people accused of crime. By disregarding the culture and conventions of the genre, and by asking courts and juries to take the music literally, police and prosecutors not only undermine the positive aspects of rap, denying its status as an art form and stifling creativity, but also perpetuate harmful racist stereotypes and create a risk of wrongful conviction.
Across two sessions, we will hear from experts on the cultural significance of rap music and the issues and implications of prosecuting rap, including: colonial legacies in the criminalisation of drill music; use of drill music in ‘joint enterprise’ trials and to construct gang narratives; the need to instruct expert witnesses; Criminal Behaviour Orders to restrict the creation of music; and the implications for freedom of expression.
The event will provide information and insight for anyone interested in the criminal justice response to rap and popular culture, and the current efforts for legal reform. It will also provide practical information and tools for those who work in the criminal legal system, music industry, or who create (or support those who create) music.
A drinks reception will follow this Event.
We’re thrilled to have you join us for our upcoming event! We encourage all participants to fully immerse themselves in the experience by attending both sessions. To ensure you don’t miss out on any valuable content, please remember to register for both sessions.
However, If you’re unable to commit to both sessions, you’re still welcome to register for just one.
Session 1 has sold out and there are few tickets remaining for Session 2. If you would like to attend, please join the waiting lists by following the registration links below. Please note, you will need to join the waiting list for each session you wish to attend.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Can't get enought of law lectures? Looking for something to do on a midweek evening? Keep reading!
The Dickson Poon School of Law is proud to present our Inaugural Lecture Series. Inaugural Lectures are a celebration of our Professors, as they present an overview of their contribution to their field, as well as highlight its latest developments. The lecture is open to both members of the university community and the wider public, and is followed by a reception in the Great Hall.
Professor Paul James Cardwell: A Tale of two Europes: the External Relations of the EU
Paul James Cardwell joined King’s College London as Professor of Law and Vice Dean (Education) in February 2022. He previously held Chairs at the University of Strathclyde and City, University of London and was a Lecturer and Reader at the University of Sheffield. His research focusses on the European Union’s external relations, particularly in the areas of migration and sanctions, with over 100 publications to date. He is the editor of the JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, the leading interdisciplinary journal in his field. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has particular interests in the internationalisation of higher education, Erasmus+ and studying abroad.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
The Dickson Poon School of Law is proud to present our Inaugural Lecture Series. Inaugural Lectures are a celebration of our Professors, as they present an overview of their contribution to their field, as well as highlight its latest developments. The lecture is open to both members of the university community and the wider public, and is followed by a reception in the Great Hall.
Professor Paul James Cardwell: A Tale of two Europes: the External Relations of the EU
Paul James Cardwell joined King’s College London as Professor of Law and Vice Dean (Education) in February 2022. He previously held Chairs at the University of Strathclyde and City, University of London and was a Lecturer and Reader at the University of Sheffield. His research focusses on the European Union’s external relations, particularly in the areas of migration and sanctions, with over 100 publications to date. He is the editor of the JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, the leading interdisciplinary journal in his field. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has particular interests in the internationalisation of higher education, Erasmus+ and studying abroad.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
The dominant legal form for governing work relations in the UK, the standard employment relationship, provides a historically specific mode of capturing social and economic relations of labour within market economy. However, these economic relations can only be ‘seen’ by law when they take the form of legal relations between individual subjects, in this case, the contract of employment governing a bilateral relationship between worker and employing entity. Much else – the inequality of bargaining power between the parties, the broader structures within which the bilateral relationship exists, the unpaid work of social reproduction, the colonial extraction which makes the paid work possible – is invisible for the purposes of legal form. Thus, the gendered and racialised origin of the labour contract is erased, and the legal form itself systematically excludes certain groups from the scope of labour law.
This lecture tracks the continuing effects of linking employment protection rights, collectively bargained standards, and entitlements within the Keynesian welfare state to the standard employment relationship which co-evolved alongside vertically integrated firms, industrial trade unions and the welfare state. It contributes to critical analysis of legal forms adopted within racial capitalism, as well as to the empirical study of social relations of work.
Workers who are perhaps most in need of social and labour law protection are most likely to be excluded from its scope: those subject to non-standard arrangements which lack the ongoing promise of future work (e.g. ‘zero hours’ contracts); or which are mediated via a third party (e.g. agency work); or which take place within the ‘household workplace’. There is a racialised ‘clustering’ in contemporary labour markets, with Black and minority ethnic workers and those of migrant origin increasingly subject to precariatisation, dominating the occupational periphery even when located in the geographic core. This lecture explores how, for racialised and migrant workers, this exclusion from the standard employment relationship mirrors the history of racialised exclusion from institutions of social citizenship, tracing contemporary continuities with colonial and postcolonial legal forms.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Hill Street Birmingham B5 4EW
A one-day workshop to explore the proposed reform of posthumous conception and consent under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.
This one-day workshop, which is hosted by Lisa Cherkassky, Senior Lecturer in medical law at the University of Exeter, is open to scholars and PGR students with an interest in fertility law (particularly posthumous conception), reproductive rights, and ethics.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies welcomes students enrolled for an MPhil / PhD in Law from across the UK to this specially tailored day of presentations, library tours and networking opportunities.
How to get a PhD in Law
Researching, disseminating and publishing
Facilitated via Zoom
PROGRAMME
9.45-10.00 Registration
10.00-10.45 Handling the supervision relationship
Professor Carl Stychin, IALS Director and Professor Sally Wheeler, OBE, Vice-Chancellor at Birkbeck University of London (from January 2024)
10.45-11.30 Legal writing
Professor Lisa Webley, Chair in Legal Education and Research and Head of Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham
11.30-12.00 Coffee break
12.00-13.00 Disseminating your legal research
Dr Nóra Ni Loideain, Director and Senior Lecturer in Law, Information Law & Policy Centre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London
13.00-14.00 Lunch
14.00-14.30 Getting your research published in journals
Susan Breau, Interim Director of Postgraduate Research, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
14.30-15.00 What books are law publishers looking to publish?
Sinead Moloney, Editorial Director, Hart Publishing, Oxford
15.00-15.30 Coffee break
15.30-16.00 Open Access Publishing
Dr Emma Gallon, University of London Press
16.00-16.30 Tips on keeping up-to-date with your topic after completion
Alice Tyson, Access Librarian, IALS Library
16.30 Close
Although tailored specifically for PhD in Law students, this training programme does contain some material which repeats and reinforces generic training suitable for all PhD students.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
City, University of London is hosting a day conference on the subject of ‘Deepfakes and the Law’ on Monday 20 May 2024 at its Northampton Square campus, London. The conference is part-funded by the Society of Legal Scholars. A blog post about the conference may be found here.
The theme of the conference is to explore the existing and potential relationships between Deepfake technology and the law. These relationships will cut across a range of existing legal fields of inquiry, and it is intended that the conference will draw on expertise both legal and non-legal in an interdisciplinary fashion. As such, we particularly welcome submissions from those with an interdisciplinary background in (e.g.) the arts, social sciences, history and/or information technology.
We will have themed panels on “Deepfakes, Image-Based Abuse & Consent”, “Deepfakes, Disinformation & Truth”, and two “open” panels. There will also be a round-table discussion session open to post-graduate or early-career researchers, which will also be on an “open” theme.
More info to come...
Using evidence from computational analysis of the digitised Old Bailey Proceedings, this paper examines the major transformations in courtroom practices which took place in this influential court in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It examines the changing roles played by courtroom participants (focusing on victims, juries and witnesses, but also with attention to defendants, counsel and judges), the evolution of the physical design of the courtroom, and changing trial outcomes (verdicts, punishments) to argue that historians have overemphasised the role of judges and counsel and the development of the written law in their accounts of the history of the criminal trial. Changes in the courtroom roles of other trial participants, only detectable through analysis of actual trial proceedings and associated evidence, were at least as important in shaping the development of the modern criminal trial.
Professor Hitchcock and Professor Shoemaker are world leading legal historians in the common law world. Their work is particularly interesting and important not only for its content but also for the uses to which they have put this content. These include the Old Bailey Online and the Digital Panopticon: their projects have worked to digitise and provide direct access online to billions of primary source material. This enables historians easy access to those sources which enable the writing of a new ‘history from below’.
Their work is inherently cross-disciplinary, combining and enabling research in both law and history. It is also of importance in research training. This research has national and international appeal. It is important that the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies hosts this lecture for all of these reasons.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Already dreaming of the summer? Here is an event for the calendar to look forward to!
About the book
As the ongoing situations in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Venezuela show, it is not uncommon for the identity of a state’s government to be contested or otherwise unclear. Such uncertainty can create difficulties for virtually every matter to which the representation of a state is relevant, such as the denunciation of a treaty, access to state assets situated abroad, and consent to foreign military presence.
While the importance of the international legal rules concerning the identity of the governments of states is apparent, there exist several unresolved questions in this regard. For example, on what basis is a claimant to be treated as the government of a state for the purposes of international law? What are the legal consequences of a state recognizing the ‘wrong’ government? In dealing with matters of state representation, to what extent must international organizations strictly follow the position under customary international law on the identity of governments?
To discuss such matters, this event brings together a distinguished panel with the author of the recently published book The Identity of Governments in International Law (Oxford University Press), which offers a distinctive and comprehensive account of the regulation of governmental status in international law. Drawing on their academic and practical expertise, the speakers will consider, among other things, recent state and organizational practice as well as conceptual and other legal questions with a view to better understanding the international legal framework regulating the identity of the governments of states.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Press Freedom and Regulation in a Digital Era: A Comparative Study assesses the extent to which the emergent regulatory model for online news media is shaped by analogies from the past, or rather by a newly prevalent culture of control. By interweaving two distinct strands of analysis - the concepts of press freedom and regulation, and the phenomena of convergence and digitalization - this book examines the challenges for press freedom in the nascent digital news ecosystem. Drawing upon decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as from German, UK and US case law, this comparative work explores the regulation of the press in the digital era and the impact of the proliferating media laws, policies, and jurisprudence on press freedom.
Part of the book was written while the author was an ILPC Research Associate. The book launch and panel discussion should be of interest beyond the academy, namely for lawyers and policymakers working in government departments and/or involved with media regulation as well as for campaigners defending press freedom and/or advocating for greater press accountability. The book launch will also be an opportunity for collaboration between the ILPC and CFOM.
Speakers: TBC
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
Event Date:June 26-28, 2024
London, Livable Cities: A Conference on Issues Affecting Life in Cities
Today, the societies, cultures, and the places in which we live and work are increasingly intricate phenomena. Globalization eradicates spatial boundaries to business. Gentrification involves social and political pressure. Pandemics are never site specific or confined to the past. Architecture and urban design are global endeavors. Sustainability requires material and political action. Patterns of criminality are not place bound. Similarly, the need for education and housing are universal and land rights are essential legal tools for First Nations and communities everywhere.
Sounds Interesting? This Conference might be for you!
Reflecting this positioning, the themes of Livable Cities – London are diverse and are intended to encourage overlap and cross disciplinary discussion. They include but are not limited to:
Design & Planning | Resilience & Sustainability | Urban Development and City Economies | Technology, Media & Smart Cities | Social Justice & the Right to the City | Cultural Cities & the Arts | Healthy Cities & Public Wellbeing | Infrastructure & Transport.
Formats
- In-person: Delegates can visit London and present live at the conference venue.
- Zoom: Live presentations via Zoom.
- Pre-recorded: Pre-recorded presentations or films will be available permanently on the AMPS Academic YouTube channel.
- Written papers: In all cases, delegates can present full written papers for inclusion in all associated conference publications.
Find out more on their event details page (external site).
As the days start getting longer, its time to start thinking ahead to how you'll be spending the summer months. Here is an event you might be interested in:
Join us in July for the Summer Showcase, the British Academy’s annual free festival of ideas. The Showcase will return from 12-13 July 2024, giving visitors a chance to preview the Academy’s brand-new public events programme set to be unveiled later this year.
Featuring interactive exhibits, workshops, screenings and performances and talks – including headline events with Professor Gary Younge Hon FBA and Zeinab Badawi – the Summer Showcase invites you to engage with the social sciences and humanities research that is shaping our world. From a relaxed Late on Friday 12 July to the family-friendly Showcase on Saturday 13 July, there is something for everyone.
Experience a taster of the British Academy's brand-new public events programme, starting in September 2024 and set to be unveiled at the Showcase. The programme will feature leading thinkers, researchers and artists, showcasing the best of the best of the humanities and social sciences.
Register for your free space and sign up for Summer Showcase newsletter.
#ForCuriousMinds
Find out more on their event details page (external site).