Patrick Capps appointed Herbert Smith Visiting Fellow at University of Cambridge22 December 2010Dr Patrick Capps, Reader in Law at the University of Bristol, has been appointed Herbert Smith Visiting Fellow at University of Cambridge. In a project supported by the University of Cambridge Herbert Smith Visiting Fellow Scheme, Patrick will work with Professor Sir Elihu Lauterpacht on Hersch Lauterpacht's unpublished lectures delivered at the London School of Economics in the 1920s and 1930s. This project affords these scholars a unique opportunity to consider some of the earliest formulations of Lauterpacht's most important ideas about the international legal order.
UoBIP: Why the conviction of Simon Hall cannot stand21 December 2010With serious questions over the reliability of the fibres evidence used at his trial, the University of Bristol Innocence Project (UoBIP) has called for the conviction of Simon Hall to be quashed. Mr Hall, whose case was investigated by the University of Bristol Innocence Project (UoBIP), is the first case worked on by an innocence project in the UK to be referred back to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Founded and directed by Dr Michael Naughton, the UoBIP is a pro bono initiative, which involves students working on real cases of prisoners maintaining innocence who have exhausted the normal appeals process and the legal aid system. It is also the first innocence project to be established in the UK and has spawned the creation of innocence projects in over 30 universities in the UK in the last five years.
New Book: Grubb, Laing & McHale: Principles of Medical Law (3rd ed)17 December 2010Dr Judy Laing, Senior Lecturer in the School of Law, has co-edited the third edition of 'Principles of Medical Law', which was published by Oxford University Press in December 2010. The book provides an authoritative and up-to-date account of medical law whilst also seeking to set the law in context and critique its application.
Pathways to Law targets students from under-represented backgrounds11 December 2010At a time of great concern about the future of fair access to Higher Education, particularly for already underrepresented groups, the University of Bristol Law School is engaged in an exciting new venture for A-level students in the South West region. The School has just launched the Pathways to Law scheme, a four year initiative designed to provide opportunities for 150 students from local state schools who are interested in a career in law. Jointly run by the School of Law and Widening Participation Office, supported and funded by The College of Law and The Sutton Trust, the programme targets students from under-represented backgrounds and provides support throughout years 12 and 13, and beyond into university.
Achilles Skordas participates in Commentary project on European Immigration and Asylum Law10 December 2010Professor Achilles Skordas, along with fifteen other authors has contributed to a Commentary on European migration law. The Commentary on EU Immigration and Asylum Law, edited by Kay Hailbronner, and published by C.H. Beck, Hart, and Nomos (1568 pages), fills a major gap in the academic writing on immigration and asylum law.
"Truth as a Defence in the Law of Defamation" wins SLS Best Paper Prize 201025 November 2010Dr Eric Descheemaeker of the School of Law was the winner of the SLS Best Paper Prize 2010 with "Truth as a Defence in the Law of Defamation". The winning article will appear in the first issue of Legal Studies in 2011.
UoBIP: Appeal of Simon Hall to begin on the 7th December24 November 2010Simon Hall, convicted of the murder of 79 year old Joan Albert in February 2003, had his case referred back to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in October 2009 following a series of submissions by the University of Bristol Innocence Project (UoBIP). The appeal will begin on December 7th 2010, and is scheduled to run over three days.
UoBIP: 'Is the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) Fit For Purpose?', House of Commons, 30 November23 November 2010Dr Michael Naughton and Gabe Tan of the University of Bristol Innocence Project and the Innocent Network UK (INUK) will be amongst those speaking at an open meeting at the House of Commons, sponsored by John McDonnell MP, on the topic of 'Is the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) Fit For Purpose?' on Tuesday 30 November 2010, 18:30 - 20:30.
Bristol academics participate in Feminist Judgments Project12 November 2010What if a group of feminist scholars were to write the 'missing' feminist judgment in key cases? Could they put theory into practice, in judgment form? What would these judgments look like? What impact would they have? The Feminist Judgments Project is a unique, imaginative collaboration in which a group of feminist socio-legal scholars have written alternative feminist judgments in significant English legal cases. Academics from Bristol University involved in the project include Professor Celia Wells, Lois Bibbings and Morag McDermont from the Law School and Richard Huxtable from the School of Social and Community Medicine.
Professor appointed to Government’s Human Rights Advisory Group12 November 2010Malcolm Evans OBE, Professor of Public International Law at the University of Bristol, is to join the Government’s Human Rights Advisory Group. The Group has been established to give the Foreign Secretary the best possible information about human rights challenges, and for the Foreign Office to benefit from outside advice on the conduct of its policy. It will meet for the first time on 2 December.
UoBIP: LawWorks Student Conference 2010, Birmingham, 13 November5 November 2010Dr Michael Naughton, Senior Lecturer, School of Law and School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS), and Gabe Tan, Research Assistant, School of Law will talk about the work of Innocence Network UK (INUK) and University of Bristol Innocence Project (UoBIP) at the LawWorks Student Conference 2010.
THES Article: HRIC and partners awarded over €2 million26 October 2010The University of Bristol’s Human Rights Implementation Centre (HRIC), which seeks to address the effective implementation of human rights, together with partners in Africa and Europe, have been awarded two grants totalling nearly €2.4 million by the European Commission (EC). The funding will contribute towards research into torture prevention in Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Dr Keith Syrett speaks at Institute of Biomedical Ethics, Zurich23 October 2010Dr Keith Syrett, Reader in Public Law and Policy, has been invited to speak at an international workshop on The role of health technology assessment agencies in national rationing policies: towards elements for best practice, organised by the Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Zurich on 25-26 October 2010. The event marks the designation of the Institute as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Bioethics.
Method in Legal Science: The Science Barbeque22 October 2010Research students from the Law School, University of Bristol and the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen will be taking part in a forum at the University of Bristol on 28 and 29 October 2010 designed to foster links between research students from the two institutions.
New Book: Burnside, "God, Justice and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible22 October 2010Jonathan Burnside, Reader in Biblical Law in the School of Law has published a new book, "God, Justice and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible" with Oxford University Press. In this 580-page book Burnside questions the biblical texts from the perspective of an academic lawyer and criminologist and asks what the biblical materials contribute to our understanding about the nature and character of law.
Progressing Prisoners Maintaining Innocence (PPMI) Public Meeting, London, 7 November17 October 2010Dr. Michael Naughton & Gabe Tan of the Innocence Network UK and University of Bristol Innocence Project (UoBIP) will be speaking about the hurdles facing prisoners maintaining innocence in their quest for release at the Progressing Prisoners Maintaining Innocence (PPMI) Public Meeting, in the hall of St Mellitus Church, Tollington Park, London N4 3AG on Sunday 7 November 2010.
Academic Visitor - Dr. Ruth Janal13 October 2010The School of Law is very pleased to welcome Dr. Ruth Janal as an academic visitor for the autumn term 2010.
Celia Wells invited to speak at Conference on "Corporate War Crimes", The Hague, Oct. 29–3027 September 2010Professor Celia Wells joins an distinguished international line-up of speakers at the Conference on "Corporate War Crimes: Prosecuting Pillage of Natural Resources" held at The Peace Palace, The Hague, Netherlands Oct. 29–30, 2010. The conference is meant to foster renewed public debate about how the law can—and should—be used against companies whose theft of natural resources has driven conflict.
Human Rights Implementation Centre celebrates first anniversary with launch of NPM database.25 September 2010University of Bristol Law School's Human Rights Implementation Centre (HRIC) celebrated its first anniversary with the launch of a database providing information on the Mandates and Functioning of the Institutions Comprising the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) for the United Kingdom.
Keith Stanton elected President of the Society of Legal Scholars 2011/1217 September 2010Professor Keith Stanton has been elected to the position of President of the Society of Legal Scholars for the year 2011/12. The Society has a membership of over 2700 academic lawyers and researchers in the UK and elsewhere.
Law School researchers to present at Summer School in Uppsala23 August 2010Professor Achilles Skordas and Dr Patrick Capps will deliver lectures on their research at the Legal Research Network Summer School, held from 23 to 27 August 2010 at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. They are joined by three research students from the School of Law - Clair Gamage, Lydia Hayes and Ben-Jacob Diewitz - who will also present papers on their current research.
Celia Wells to speak on corporate liability for bribery at Kuala Lumpur seminar20 August 2010Celia Wells has been invited to speak on corporate liability for bribery at a Regional Seminar in Kuala Lumpur organised by the Asian Development Bank/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and Pacific on 23-24 September 2010.
Descheemaeker: 'The Divisions of Wrong' shortlisted for SLS Book Prize23 July 2010Eric Descheemaeker, Lecturer in the Law School, has had his book 'The Divisions of Wrong: A Historical Comparative Study' shortlisted for the Society of Legal Scholars' Peter Birks Prizes for Outstanding Legal Scholarship 2010.
Andrew Charlesworth interviewed on Channel 4 News22 July 2010Andrew Charlesworth, Reader in IT and Law, and Director of the cross-disciplinary Centre for IT and Law (CITL) in the University School of Law, was interviewed on Channel 4 News on 21 July about the impact of social networking site, Facebook, as the site celebrates reaching the 500-millionth user mark.
HRIC secures large EU grant to assist torture prevention mechanisms in the CIS region.10 June 2010The Human Rights Implementation Centre, together with its partners Penal Reform International and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture have secured funding of nearly 1.2 million Euros from the European Commission for a three year collaborative project.
HRIC awarded EU grant to assist African human rights institutions prevent torture3 June 2010The Human Rights Implementation Centre, together with its partners the University of Cape Town; the Community Law Centre of the University of the Western Cape; and the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, have secured funding of nearly 1.2 million Euros from the European Commission for a three year collaborative project to assist African institutions working for the prevention of torture.
