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
Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Human Rights, Brunel University, London
Other events
'The "Ideal Mother", Family Law and Domestic Abuse, UCL, London
What is Missing when Defendants disown their Actions?, UCL, London
The Age of Mistrust?, British Academy, London
WG Hart Workshop 2025 Regulating the Global Movement of Care, IALS, London: call for papers
GW4 Network on Family, Regulation and Society Annual Lecture 2025, Bristol
Parity of Esteem as a Constitutional Principle in NI and Beyond, Queen's University Belfast
Navigating the Right to a Fair Trial for Vulnerable People, Goldsmiths, London
BSC Probation Network: Where next for probation and community justice?, Sheffield
1984 - The year of Anti-Racism: Then and now, London
Law Commission Consultation on Business Tenancies Event, Cardiff
Publications
Latest from Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies: Learning from Disability Scholarship
Sentencing Council: response to an independent research review of the domestic abuse guideline
Latest from the JLS Blog: three new posts
Consultations
Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews, Scotland
Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms: Inquiry
Vacancies
AHRC International Fellowships for PhD and Early Career Researchers 2025: open for applications
Applications are invited for these fellowships based in the USA, Japan and China. See website for details. Closing date: 13 March 2025. See website for details.
Call for a Volunteer to Join the IALS Library Committee
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London (IALS) is seeking a volunteer to become one of the members representing UK law schools outside of the University of London on the IALS Library Committee. If you are an academic and interested in the national law collections and services provided by IALS Library and in representing the viewpoints of UK law researchers outside of the University of London, the IALS team would very much like to hear from you! See announcement for details. Call closes: 28 February 2025.
Call for Logo and Image Design: Critical Legal Conference 2025
The Critical Legal Conference will take place at the University of Exeter in September 2025. Further details will be available here in the coming weeks. The organisers invite submission of logo and image designs on the theme 'Surf ‘n’ Turf: Critical Laws of the Land and Sea'. See attachment for further details. The winning design will receive a free ticket to the 3-day conference, as well as recognition in the event materials. Closing date: 6 January 2025.
ESRC postdoctoral fellowships: open for applications
Applications are invited for these ESRC fellowships for scholars who have completed a PhD at a UK research organisation. See website for details. Closing date: 25 March 2025.
New Generation Thinkers 2025
This scheme offers five early career researchers the opportunity to be ‘researchers in residence’ where they will work with programme makers at BBC Radio 4 and produce a piece of writing to be recorded for radio. See website for details. Closing date: 28 January 2025.
Consultations and surveys
Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews, Scotland
The Scottish Government is proposing a new law about modernising procedures in criminal courts and
a process for reviewing deaths which relate to abusive behaviour within relationships to allow lessons to be learned. See website for details. Closing date: 10 January 2025.
Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms: Inquiry
The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee is launching an inquiry into the links between algorithms used by social media and search engines to rank content, generative AI, and the spread of harmful or false content online. The inquiry will examine the effectiveness of current and proposed regulation for these technologies, including the Online Safety Act, and what further measures might be needed. It will investigate the role of these technologies in driving social harms, with a particular focus on their role in the summer 2024 riots. See website for details. Closing date: 18 December 2024.
Welsh Government: White Paper on securing a path towards adequate housing, including fair rents and affordability
The Welsh Government invites responses by 31 January 2025. See website for details.
UK Government: Consultation on future social housing rent policy in England
Responses are invited by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government by 23 December 2024. See website for details.
UK Government: Reforming the Right to Buy in England
Responses are invited by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government by 15 January 2025. See website for details.
UK Government: Tackling modern slavery in NHS procurement: proposed regulations and guidance in England
Responses are invited by the Department of Health and Social Care by 13 February 2025. See website for details.
Law Society Consultation: Disabled Children’s Social Care
The Law Commission is reviewing the legal framework governing social care for disabled children in England to ensure that the law is fair, modern and accessible, allowing children with disabilities to access the support they need. See website for details. Closing date: 20 January 2025.
UKRI seeks your views in our 2024 stakeholder perception survey
The UKRI is keen to hear from everyone who has a stake in its work, whether in the business community, civil service, research and academia, or any other group. Responses from the UK and overseas are all welcome. See website for details.
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.
Other announcements
British Academy: ECR Network new Northwest England and North Wales cluster
The British Academy’s Early Career Researcher Network (ECRN) is delighted to announce its newest regional cluster in the Northwest of England and North Wales. This cluster is led by Lancaster University, University of Manchester, and Manchester Metropolitan. The ECRN now boasts 4844 members across the Midlands, Mid Wales, Southwest of England, South Wales, London, Scotland, Northwest of England, and North Wales, with a goal of becoming nationwide by the end of 2025. The final clusters to join the Network will be Yorkshire and the Humber, Southeast of England, and East of England. See website for details.
Campaign for Social Science Annual Sage Lecture by Dr Hannah White: watch online
In a hugely topical lecture, Dr White offered her reflections on this year of elections and provided some insights and ideas as to how the political landscape has shifted and what the implications might be, especially for the UK. You can catch up on the lecture which is available to watch on the Academy’s website.
Law and Humanities Hub at IALS: Invitation to join mailing list
The Institute welcomed new Professor of Law and the Humanities, Anat Rosenberg, on 1 September. Anat has made great progress already in establishing IALS as a hub of activity in Law and Humanities. As the LHub is developing, as mailing list of those with interests (or potential interest) in the field is being compiled: anyone interested is encouraged to get in touch through joining the mailing list.
British Academy: International Writing Workshops – call for proposals
The British Academy is inviting proposals for Writing Workshops in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries. See website for details. Closing date: 29 January 2024.
Support Through Court: Be a light for litigants campaign
Visit website to watch the campaign law video.
Workshop Series Exploring Perspectives and Experiences of Avatar Design by African Women in Law Living in the UK: call for participants
Participants are invited to take part in this workshop series, being organised by Favour Borokini, a PhD researcher at the University of Nottingham. See poster and invitation for details. The first workshop will take place at the University of Nottingham School of Law on 11 December 2024.
Professor Gloria J Browne-Marshall, keynote speaker at AfriSafe Congress, Livingstone, Zambia
Gloria J Browne-Marshall, Professor of Constitutional Law and Africana Studies at John Jay College (CUNY), in New York City, was the invited keynote speaker at the AfriSafe Congress, in Livingstone, Zambia, where her topic was 'Worker Safety as a Human Right'.
Women in Law 2024: winners announced
The Next 100 Years project has announced this years winners of its Women in Law awards. See website for details.
AcSS Webinar: (Re)building trust in the police – recording
Did you miss our recent webinar on (re)building trust in the police? Chaired by Dr Rick Muir, Director of the Police Foundation, panellists, Professor Jyoti Belur and Professor Martin Innes FAcSS, offered their insights and perspectives on increasing legitimacy, the growing use of AI and the importance of neighbourhood policing to public perceptions of the police. See website for details.
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.
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.