Socio-legal news
Welcome to the news section of the SLSA website. This area is divided into the following categories:
- Events
- Publications
- Research and funding
- Vacancies
- Consultations, inquiries and surveys
- Other announcements
If you would like an item added to the news section, please contact the
News
SLSA events
Law’s Role in Shaping and Responding to Disability and Motherhood, Reading: call for papers
Other events
Conference on Judicial Activism and Resistance in Eastern Europe and Beyond, Université libre de Bruxelles: call for papers
Critical Legal Talks: 'Of law and the world', online from QMUL, London
Launch of information video and leaflet: 'Which special measure? A guide for adults giving evidence in cases of rape and sexual assault', online from CSLS, Oxford
Book launch: The Dialectics of Democracy: Towards a socialist constitutionalism, QMUL, London
Using Ethnographic Methods in Participatory Research and Practice: NRCM methods webinar
Researcher Reflexivity and Including ‘Outsider’ Researcher Perspectives: NRCM methods webinar
Law and Social Justice: Exploring intersections and innovations conference, online from Leeds Trinity University – call for papers
Seminar – Justice Beyond the Courts: Music, testimony, voice, Wolfson College, Oxford: registration open
Book Symposium: Statehood as Political Community – International law and the Emergence of new states by Dr Alex Green, Maynooth University
The BSLC Inaugural Annual Janine Sargoni Memorial Lecture, University of Bristol
Justice, Recovery and Reconstruction in Ukraine, University of Liverpool
The Global and Local Politics of Surveillance, Technology and Counterterrorism, University of Glasgow
Book Discussion: Excusing Homicide (‘Crimes of Passion’, a case study), QMUL, London
Book Launch – Structural Injustice and the Law, UCL, London
Women, Gender and Constitutionalism, UCL, London
Accessibility and the Limits of the Equality Act 2010, UCL, London
Publications
Joseph Rowntree Foundation: October Newsletter
New book: Gender, Sexuality and Law: A Textbook, edited by Chris Ashford and Alexander Maine: 25% member discount
NCRM Methods News: October 2024
New book: Rethinking Human Rights: Critical insights from Palestinian youth, by Erika Jiménez: 20% discount
Research and Funding
British Academy/JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships for Overseas Researchers 2025: open for applications
Consultations
NI Department of Justice: Victim and Witness Strategy 2025–2030 – call for views
Regulation of Buy-Now, Pay-Later: consultation on draft legislation
Northern Ireland Assembly Consultation on the Draft Unacceptable Behaviours Policy
Other
NCRM Innovation Fora: call for EOIs
Vacancies
NCRM Innovation Fora: call for EOIs
NCRM is inviting researchers to express their interest in running collaborative events that stimulate imaginative developments in methods. See website for details.
Sentencing Council: two non-judicial vacancies – academic and probation
The Sentencing Council is looking to appoint two non-judicial members with either recent relevant or current experience of academic research into criminology or criminal law or recent relevant or current expertise in probation or the rehabilitation of offenders more broadly. See website for details. Closing date: 6 November 2024.
Birmingham Law School: Six vacancies
Birmingham Law School looking for excellent and inspiring researchers and educators to join their brilliant team:
- four Assistant Professors, in commercial law, contract law, environmental law and sustainable development, and IP and/or digital tech: see website for details
- and two Associate Professors in any area of law: see website for details
Deadline: 11 November 2024.
Consultations and surveys
NI Department of Justice: Victim and Witness Strategy 2025–2030 – call for views
The Department of Justice in Northern Ireland would like to hear from members of the public, from community and voluntary organisations, and from anyone with an interest in and knowledge of the victim and witness experience. See website for details. Closing date: 29 November 2024.
Regulation of Buy-Now, Pay-Later: consultation on draft legislation
The government has published a consultation setting out its plans for regulating the BNPL market. These plans aim to ensure people using BNPL products receive clear information, avoid unaffordable borrowing, and have strong rights when issues arise. See website for details. Closing date: 29 November 2024.
Law Commission Consultation on Burial and Cremation
The Law Commission is seeking to reform the law of burial in England and Wales, which is piecemeal, complex and outdated. It is also gauging solutions for unresolved issues in cremation law. The Commission has published a consultation paper and a summary and is looking for views on its proposals. The consultation is open until 9 January 2025. See website for details.
Department of Health consultation on commencement of provisions under the Mental Capacity Act (NI) 2016 relating to acts of restraint
The Department of Health is undertaking a consultation on the commencement of provisions under the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 related to 'acts of restraint'. See website for details. The consultation will close on 1 December 2024.
Consultation on guidance on modern slavery and human trafficking
The College of Policing is seeking views on its updated guidance on modern slavery and human trafficking. See website for details. Closing date: 12 November 2024.
Sentencing Council: Miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines
The Sentencing Council is seeking views on a series of proposed changes to existing guidelines in the fourth annual miscellaneous amendments consultation. See website for details. Closing date: 27 November 2024.
Other announcements
Law Teacher of the Year 2025: open for nominations
Nominations are invited for this annual Oxford University Press award, See website for details. Closing date: 13 December 2024. See website for details.
JLS Appoints 12 New Members to the Advisory Board
The Journal of Law and Society's Editorial Board has announced the appointment of 12 new membes to its Advisory Board. See website for details.
National Archives: The Material Culture of Wills project – call for volunteers
Through a collaboration between University of Exeter and The National Archives, cutting edge technology has been used to generate transcriptions of 25,000 early modern wills held in our collection. This project is now seeking volunteers to check and correct the transcripts through the online platform Zooniverse. See website for details.
Dr Agnieszka Kubal appointed new Associate Professor at CSLS, Oxford
The Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies has announced the appointment of a new Associate Professor, Dr Agnieszka Kubal. Agnieszka will play a key role in advancing the Centre’s regional expertise in Eastern Europe and will lead its research cluster on Lived Experiences of Human Rights. See announcement for details.
Journal of Law and Society and the Centre of Law and Society Special Issue Workshop: call for proposals
This is an open call to conduct a workshop potentially leading to a Special Research Issue of the Journal of Law and Society (subject to quality and space considerations) organised through the Cardiff Centre of Law and Society. See announcement for details. Call closes: 20 November 2024.
Academy of Social Sciences Annual Lecture by Will Hutton: available to view online
AcSS President Will Hutton delivered the AcSS Annual Lecture on 10 October 2024. You can watch the lecture or download a transcript on the Academy's website.
Shifting Dynamics in Medical Law: Invitation to join network
Dr Anna Nelson, University of Sheffield, and Professor Beverely Clough, Manchester Metropolitan University, have set up a mailing list with a view to building an interdisciplinary network of scholars who are interested in 'Shifting Dynamics in Medical Law'. This network is for anyone engaging in – or interested in – work which explores the shifting landscape of medical law as a discipline, from one which is focused on static analysis of legal doctrine to one which is attentive to the different spatial, temporal and agential dynamics which influence the way the law operates in practice.
This mailing list is envisaged as a space to share published papers, books, events, calls for papers, panel proposals for conferences etc. To join, please follow the link and subscribe in the top left corner. If you have any questions, please contact
Five SLSA nominees appointed AcSS Fellows
We are delighted to announce that the Academy of Social Sciences has appointed five SLSA nominees in its latest list of 45 new Fellows. They are: Professor Ana Aliverti, Professor of Law, University of Warwick; Professor Anne-Maree Farrell, Chair of Medical Jurisprudence, University of Edinburgh; Professor Neve Gordon, Professor of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Queen Mary University of London; Professor Kirsty Horsey, Professor of Law, University of Kent; and Professor Helen Stalford, Professor of Law, University of Liverpool. See website for the full list of new Fellows.
Centre of Law and Society, Cardiff University, appoints new co-directors: Professor Dave Cowan and Rachel Cahill-O'Callaghan
Following the appointment of Professor Jiří Přibáň as a Judge of the Czech Constitutional Court and his stepping down as director of the Centre of Law and Society, Professor Dave Cowan and Professor Rachel Cahill-O’Callaghan have taken over as the new co-directors of the Centre. Dave is a former Vice Chair of the SLSA having served twice from 2002–2004 and again from 2008–2011. The Centre is a hub for socio-legal studies, working to promote socio-legal research. See website for details.
Nuffield Foundation Emerging Researchers Network launched
As part of its 80th-anniversary programme, the Nuffield Foundation has launched this new network to invest in the research community of the future. The network supports early career researchers to develop successful careers and build skills in achieving impact, so their findings can influence real-world change. See website for details.
Research Study on the International Reach of Policy Clinics and Policy Work in Law Schools: invitation to participate
Rachel Dunn (Leeds Beckett University), Lyndsey Bengtsson and Siobhan McConnell (Northumbria University) are conducting research on the reach of policy and law reform clinics in law schools. In policy clinics, students conduct desk-based and/or empirical research for clients that aims to influence policy and/or law reform. This work may be done inside or outside of a law school clinic and may or may not be credit bearing. The research team would be very grateful if you could complete a short survey which is accessible here.
Academic Mentoring: Professor Didi Herman
Professor Didi Herman has retired from Kent Law School and is now offering confidential help to individuals and universities looking to improve scholarship for publication, mentoring, and the REF. See her website for details.
Professor Herman is now also offering expert consultancy to law schools for advance preparation for REF 2028.