Search

This paper draws on our continuing work on the neoliberal and marketised law school and seeks to understand how we might apply vulnerability theory to address some of the problems resulting from cu...

This article examines Blackstone’s Tower: The English Law School from the perspective of law students entering and studying in law schools 25+ years after the publication of the book. The article provides an alternative ‘tour’ of an English law school, the tour that might be given by students. In doing so it asks to what extent students now would recognize the tour on which Twining took us in 1994 and what key sites and debates are either missing or now redundant. In particular, the article aims to encourage us to think about both physical and digital aspects of campus life, the increasing role of marketing, the growing emphasis on student support (particularly relating to wellbeing) and the continuing tensions between the vocational and liberal legal education. Key words: legal education; law students; student experience; student support.

Gender and Careers in the Legal Academy is a welcome addition to the growing literature on women and gender in law. It adds a perspective which has, until now, been missing and gives a fascinating ...

This chapter introduces some of the key ideas and concepts around judicial politics from both political science and legal perspectives as they can be applied to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The first section outlines judicial politics as a concept and comments on how it can and cannot be applied in the context of the CJEU before reminding us what we can learn from the existing mainstream and gender-specific research. It highlights that using a gender lens allows the asking of questions and exploration of issues which would otherwise be missed or ignored. As such, a gendered approach is crucial to a full understanding of how the CJEU works and impacts on the lives of everyone living in the EU. The second section of the chapter draws on the weaknesses of existing research, highlighting the gaps in our knowledge. It focuses on the lack of systematic work, which would take a holistic approach and include considerations of intersectionality as well as the relationships between different European, national and international courts . The final part addresses directions for future research, focusing particularly on the relationship between the CJEU and the European Court of Human Rights.

Um ein Konzept ambidextrer Fuhrung zu erstellen, ist es notwendig, ein Untersuchungsdesign zu entwickeln, das einen adaquaten Forschungsprozess gewahrleistet. Nachfolgend wird deshalb einleitend auf die empirische Sozialforschung Bezug genommen. Anschliesend folgen die Erlauterung der verwendeten Forschungsmethoden, Explikation des Forschungsfeldes, Datenauswahl, Codiermethode und Gutekriterien.

In this editorial we are taking the opportunity to set out our views on the current legal education and training reforms. In doing so we are perhaps taking a slightly unusual approach for an editorial but the issues currently facing us all as legal academics and educators are, we feel, too important for us to miss this opportunity.

What are the prospects for internationalised legal education in the contemporary UK? Our reflections on this question were prompted by three relatively recent publications dealing with a variety of aspects of the internationalisation of legal education, as well as discussions in and outputs from “Brexit and the Law School” events in Liverpool Law School, Keele University, Strathclyde University, and Northumbria University during 2017. We argue that, although law is often assumed to be state based and jurisdiction specific, there are significant reasons to internationalise legal education but that in the current climate of Brexit, marketisation of higher education and the Solicitors Qualifying Examination such internationalisation is under threat.

This article considers the proposals to introduce the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) from a widening participation angle. It argues that the SQE will not increase access to the solicitors profession but will instead perpetuate patterns of subordination and risks further silencing already unrepresented social groups. The paper examines the widening participation agenda in relation to the solicitors profession concluding that there is little incentive or real commitment to widening access. The paper then examines the SQE and the widening access rhetoric which has, for a time at least, accompanied it and questions whether the assertions and assumptions about how the SQE can improve diversity in the profession really hold true.

The wider equality case law deals with discrimination on grounds of other protected characteristics, including race, religion and disability. The Advocates-General of the Court have attempted to establish a foundation to equality jurisprudence which sees human dignity as fundamental to equality. Although this approach has not been taken up by the Court, it would facilitate the consideration of gender alongside other factors and may be more sensitive to gender implications. The consideration of other protected grounds allows us to evaluate the Court’s engagement with fundamental rights and consider the theory of intersectionality.

The Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) which reported in June 2013 conceded that undergraduate law degrees are generally outside the remit of the review other than when there is a direct impact on the provision of legal services. On first glance therefore the review has few implications for those of us interested in delivering a liberal legal education and developing socio-legal approaches to law and legal study. However, on closer reading, the report contains a number of suggestions which, if taken up by the regulators, have significant potential to change law degrees, even if regulation remains "light touch". This article explores those issues with a particular focus on the implications for liberal law degrees and socio-legal approaches to law teaching. In particular the article will explore issues around possible changes to foundation subjects; the creation of a framework of learning outcomes; the possible strengthening of legal writing and research in the curriculum and the opportunities offered for the introduction of more socio-legal material; and the trickle-down effect likely to be felt by providers of undergraduate law degrees of changes in regulation of legal services and as a result of student, employer and other stakeholder expectations.

The back cover of Law and Social Theory indicates that “there is a growing interest within law schools in the intersection between law and different areas of social theory”. That may well be true b...

Labour Law, by Simon Deakin and Gillian S. Morris, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 6th edition, 2012, £37.50 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-84946-341-6 Selwyn's Law of Employment, by Astra Emir, Oxford, Oxford U...

Prompted by the recent Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) decision in Gerardo Ruiz Zambrano v Office national de l'emploi, 1 this article is intended to provide an overview of citizenship...

This paper considers the definitions of spouse, civil partner and partner in European Union (EU) free movement of persons law in order to question the EU's heterocentric approach to defining 'family' in this context. It argues that the term 'spouse' should include same-sex married partners in order to ensure that there is no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. It further highlights the problems created by basing free movement rights of civil partners on host state recognition of such partnerships. This approach allows Member States to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and is therefore not compatible with EU equality law in others areas. The position of unmarried or unregistered partners is also considered; in particular, the paper examines the requirement of a duly-attested durable relationship and its impact on same-sex partners wishing to move from one Member State to another. The paper argues that it is time to reconsider the law in this area and bring it in line with the EU's commitment to eliminate discrimination on several grounds, including sexual orientation. © 2011 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

The first and major pull for me to review this book is that it underscores the reason I came to the UK to study law, which is rooted in an investigative drive for legal knowledge, targeted at two e...

A time-turner is the device used by Hermione Granger in JK Rowling's Harry Potter books to turn back time so she can attend more than one class at the same time. They should, I believe, be standard issue for new law lecturers. This paper examines the practical day to day activities and my attempt to balance teaching, research, administration, training courses and other activities as a new law lecturer as well as maintaining a private life that is not wholly dominated by work.

This paper reflects on the experience of two new law lecturers who took up their posts in August 2007. It considers the process of “getting the job” as well as the period of settling into a new institution and new career path. Further reflection on those engagements is then offered by the Head of School to provide a balanced picture of the appointment of new law lecturers.

This paper, based on extensive empirical work with Polish and Bulgarian scientists in Germany and the UK, examines the impact of the EU enlargement including the free movement of persons provisions on the mobility of scientists from Eastern to Western Europe. It focuses on early career researchers and particularly PhD candidates and begins by sketching out the status and ensuing free movement rights of those scientists in European Law. It then moves to discuss the policy rationale for promoting scientific mobility and examines how this fits with the scientists' own perspectives. Following on from there the paper looks at various areas where the EU enlargement has had an impact including the continuing transitional agreements, cheaper travel and the question of tuition fees, and goes on to consider the symbolic power of law in influencing scientific mobility.

Science is conducted in an increasingly international domain but it is highly questionable whether scientists have equal chances, both professionally and personally, as opportunities and working conditions vary enormously. Drawing on new empirical research with Eastern European scientists, this article explores the professional motivations of Polish and Bulgarian doctoral scientists who have ‘gone West’. We consider the relationship between doctoral training, mobility and labour markets within the broader context of science careers. Conditions that create a ‘migration potential’ are coupled with doctoral candidates’ own professional motivations for moving. Moves are found to be economically driven—not just in the ‘traditional’ sense that moves are made to earn more—as expenditure on research and development influences the number of positions available and their attractiveness to doctoral candidates. Eastern European doctoral scientists share the same rationales for moving as mobile scientists in other stu...

This paper reflects on my first year as a law lecturer. It considers the conversations, chances and choices that have shaped my growing into the role of legal academic. Based on my personal reflections, the paper examines what it is that I think I am trying to do in carrying out the business of the university and how that fits within the institutional framework in which I operate. Mirroring the realities of my time as a lecturer so far, the paper focuses on my development as a teacher. 1 Bradney (2003).