Thursday 16th May 2013, 3pm-5pm
The Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance has organised its first official activity by organising a successful Guest Lecture on 16 May delivered by Prof Dr Tianbao Qin from Wuhan University, China titled “Developing Environmental Law in Developing China”[2]. Dr Francesco Sindico, the Director of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance in welcoming Prof Qin said: “It is with great pleasure that we receive at Stratchlyde one of the leading Chinese environmental law experts. Together with the recent signing of three MOUs with leading Chinese universities, the Law School is keen to collaborate also with Prof Qin and his institution, Wuhan University, which stands as one the leading environmental law research centres in China”. Collaboration with Prof Qin is already undergoing in the context of the forthcoming LLM in Climate Change Law and Policy that will start in 2014 and where Prof Qin sits as a member of its distinguished Advisory Board. The LLM in Climate Change Law and Policy joins the well-established LLM in International Law and Sustainable Development [4]as two of the key post graduate teaching programmes linked to members of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance. The latter also has a Visiting Research Programme, with current researchers coming from Brazil, Spain and Italy, and a vibrant PhD community, which is currently organising the first Strathclyde Post Graduate Colloquium on Environmental Law and Governance (see SCELG Programme scheduled on 6 June in the Lord Hope Building.
Murder and Violence Research
Lethal and Non-Lethal Violence against Intimate Partners: Evidence from the Murder in Britain Study
Tuesday 7th May evening Public Lecture
The world-leading experts on violence and homicide will give a public lecture hosted by Strathclyde Law School’s Centre for Law, Crime and Justice
Despite media reporting concentrating on ‘stranger danger’, most murder and violence is committed by someone known to the victim. This is especially likely when women are killed: most women who are murdered are killed by an intimate partner or ex-partner. What can be done to address the disturbingly widespread levels of intimate partner violence and murder? To do so effectively we need to understand the patterns, dynamics and triggers of the violence. For instance, are perpetrators individuals with relatively distinct characteristics? Are those with significant criminal history more likely to commit intimate partner violence and murder? What is the influence of familial and childhood factors? And what roles do attitudes to the use of force and gender play?
As the leading experts on intimate partner violence, Professor Rebecca Emerson Dobash and Professor Russell Dobash will present the findings from their latest research before opening discussion to the floor about the implications for law, policy and practice.
Dobash and Dobash have recently been appointed as Visiting Professors at the Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime and Justice. They will teach on the new Strathclyde LLM/MSc in Criminal Justice and Penal Change
Centre for Law, Crime and Justice, Strathclyde Law School
Collins Lecture Theatre
Tuesday 7th May 5.30 for 6-7.30pm
Click here for full details - Murder and Violence Research
All welcome but booking is essential
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, recently signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with three leading Chinese Law Schools to promote collaboration.
Professor Poustie signed MoUs with Fudan University Law School (Shanghai), Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Law School, and Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School during March 2013.
The Memoranda of Understanding encompass the promotion of each other’s courses, facilitation of staff and student exchanges, collaborative research and envisage the longer term development of possible articulated or joint degrees.
The Memoranda of Understanding will create significant opportunities for Strathclyde Law students to study LLM courses in Chinese Law and Chinese Business Law, or to attend Summer Schools at partner institutions which will serve to enhance their employability.
Commenting on the visit, Professor Poustie said:
“I am delighted with the outcome of my recent visit to China and am grateful to my hosts for their warm hospitality. We are developing very positive relationships with some excellent Law Schools in China and further Memoranda of Understanding are in prospect with other Chinese Law Schools”.
“These new partnerships and the prospects they bring are a key part of enhancing the Law School’s international profile within the University’s wider internationalisation agenda”.
“I look forward to welcoming applicants from our partner institutions to our LLM and PhD programmes at Strathclyde”.
Professor Poustie also delivered guest lectures at Peking University Law School on the Enforcement of Environmental Law, at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Law School and Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School on Improving Environmental Regulation and at Fudan University Law School on the Development of the International Climate Change Regime.
Further information about the visit can be found here:
http://www.law.fudan.edu.cn/cn/index/show/?m=125&d=33)
The Law School is delighted to announce that its team, Mark Leiser and Andrew Ross, won the final of the Alexander Stone Moot Competition on 16 April defeating a team from Glasgow. The final posed the students with a challenging conveyancing law problem, and was heard by Lord Woolman, a Senator of the College of Justice, who praised the standard of mooting shown by both teams. The victory is even more impressive given the tough run to the final, with wins over Aberdeen in the first round and at Edinburgh in the semi-final.
This success caps a successful year for mooting at the Law School, with a win in the Sheriff's Cup and a strong run in the UK-wide ICLR competition. In addition, this continues our excellent run in the Alexander Stone Competition, with Strathclyde now having won five of the last six competitions.
Reflecting on this success, the Head of the Law School, Mark Poustie said, "I would like to congratulate Mark Leiser and Andrew Ross on their impressive victory. Strathclyde’s record in this competition in recent years is truly outstanding and reflects well not only on the mooting skills of our students but also the efforts of my colleagues and the Student Mooting Society to develop these skills. In particular I would like to thank Shaun Alexander, President of the Student Mooting Society and Dr Chris McCorkindale, the Mooting Coordinator for all their efforts in supporting this team and our other external teams this year. It has been an excellent year for mooting at Strathclyde again and I very much hope this success will continue.”
The final date in this year's mooting calendar is Fri 3 May, when the final of our internal competition will be heard at the High Court in Glasgow before Lord Hope. This promises to be an excellent moot and most enjoyable occasion, which will give us a chance to thank Lord Hope for the support that he has given to the Law School and also to celebrate the success of mooting in both the internal and external competitions in 2012-13.
A Strathclyde Law School team of Lauren McGowan and Andrew Ross turned in an excellent performance to defeat Glasgow University to win the Sheriff's Cup on 14 March - an annual mooting competition contested between Glasgow and Strathclyde at the invitation of Glasgow Sheriff Court which Strathclyde now lead 11-10.
The tie was heard before Sheriff John Beckett QC, who saw fit to praise both sides for the quality of legal argument and advocacy skills on display.
Reflecting on the team's success, Head of the Law School, Prof Mark Poustie, said "I am delighted that Strathclyde won the Sheriff’s Cup for Strathclyde this year and would like to congratulate Lauren and Andrew on their efforts. Their success brings credit not only to them but also to the School and University. The School is committed to supporting mooting which helps to develop very valuable professional skills. My thanks also to my colleague, Dr Chris McCorkindale for all his efforts in supporting mooting this year as the School’s Mooting Co-ordinator.”
The Mooting calendar continues with the final of the Alexander Stone competition next week on April 16th, and concludes with the final of the internal Mooting competition which will be heard before Lord Hope at Glasgow High Court on May 3rd.
The Law School's mediation team achieved its highest ever placing in the 12th International Law School Mediation Tournament in March 2013. Held in the beautiful setting of the Law Society of Ireland in Dublin, the Tournament involved 38 teams from Law Schools across the world, including India, Australia, Germany, Ireland, the UK, Canada and the USA. Teams competed against one another using realistic scenarios; judges were drawn from the mediation and legal profession in Ireland and the USA. A huge amount of effort went into preparing for the Tournament, which demonstrated the enthusiasm for alternative dispute resolution among young lawyers. This year the Tournament had to turn down over 30 entries.
The top ten was dominated by US teams, with Strathclyde the highest placed UK team at 9th. The overall winners were Chapman Law School, California. The Law School would like to congratulate James O'Kane, Gordon Richmond and Katie Souter on the result (and trophy!) The team was coached by Professor Charlie Irvine, Course Leader on the MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution. Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said “It is a great result for the School’s team to be placed as the highest UK team in this competition. Many congratulations to our team members on all their hard work and to my colleague, Professor Charlie Irvine, for all his efforts coaching the team. From a standing start just a short time ago, the Law School has made significant strides in the area of mediation and I am delighted that we are both enhancing student employability through mediation education and providing students with an opportunity to excel in the international arena in competitions such as this”.
3 April 2013
Building on a string of recent awards and nominations, the Law School is pleased to announce that the Law Clinic has been shortlisted in two categories at this year's Law Works national pro bono awards. The University itself has been shortlisted for the Best Contribution by a Law School, and our current Student Director Hannah Cosgrove has been shortlisted for the Best Contribution by an Individual Student award.
Professor Donald Nicolson, Clinic Director, notes that "the fact that we have been shortlisted in these two categories, against impressive competition from across the length and breadth of Britain, demonstrates two things: the value that clinics can bring to a host university, and the sheer drive of the individual students involved. All of this is, of course, only possible thanks to the huge amount of work that the student volunteers, and small number of staff members, quietly do every day in helping people who have nowhere else to turn." Commenting on the shortlisting Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said "This is further evidence of the value of the Clinic in legal education and of the energy and enthusiasm of its students volunteers. I am also delighted that the University itself has been shortlisted. We are delighted to support the Clinic and fully appreciate the benefits it brings both for its student members and for the community”.
The award ceremony will take place on 25 March 2013 in the House of Commons.
18 March 2013
Last week saw the conclusion of a series of trials for diploma students on the Advanced Criminal Advocacy elective. A distinctive feature is the collaboration with students from the Centre for Forensic Science who are witnesses in the case. During the ten week elective our students prepare their case, investigate the forensic evidence and then examine or cross examine the witnesses in court. The Trials take place in the main jury courts at Glasgow Sheriff Court before sheriffs and the proceedings are conducted by the law students themselves.
Sheriff Vincent Smith, one of the presiding sheriffs said, “This is an excellent way to learn the ropes before being thrown into the deep end in practice. The standard was very good and some of the students were very impressive indeed.”
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and now I will feel prepared when I go into court as a solicitor. I have a greater understanding of the court process and how things work in practice.” said diploma student Sarah Walker.
Eight Strathclyde Diploma in Professional Legal Practice students took part in the final of the Plea in Mitigation competition sponsored by the Glasgow Bar Association on 6 March 2013. All of the finalists presented their pleas to Sheriff Derek Livingstone and were assessed by a panel of judges comprising the sheriff, Ann Ritchie, President of the GBA, and Gerry Kelly co-ordinating tutor on the course.
The finalists were Gary McMullen, Charles Wyllie, Emma Jackson, Archie Coleman, Kathleen Anne O`Donnell, Simon Morrison, Michael Nicol, and Greig Millar and are all to be congratulated on their efforts. The winner was Simon Morrison, with Greig Millar, runner up and Gary McMullen in third place.
Ann Ritchie said, “The GBA is delighted to be associated with this competition at Strathclyde which is a valuable experience for students preparing to practice in the criminal courts. I was impressed by the standard of all of the finalists and the hard work and presentational skills which they all displayed.”
On 7 February 2013, John Bowers QC addressed a large audience of Diploma students and practising lawyers at the Law School. His subject was advocacy in Employment Tribunals, one of the skills taught to Diploma students on the Employment Law elective during the Strathclyde Diploma in Professional Legal Practice. Commanding the respect of judges for many years John Bowers QC is one of the premier employment barristers in the UK lauded by legal directories and the legal press for his intellectual and technical abilities. In 2010 he was Chambers Directory’s Employment Silk of the Year. A frequent lecturer on employment law, John has written 15 books including Bowers on Employment Law, now in its Seventh Edition, The Law of Industrial Action and Trade Union Recognition and Whistleblowing. He is a former Chair of the Employment Law Bar Association, and now sits as a Recorder on the Midlands Circuit and a Deputy High Court Judge with an Administrative Court and Queens Bench Division “ticket”. The students were given the benefit of his experience and knowledge and he offered a number of simple and practical tips on effective oral presentation before Tribunals.
The event was attended by solicitor members of the Employment Lawyers Association in Scotland and by Shona Simon, the President of the Employment Tribunals in Scotland, who has encouraged and supported the practical training offered to our students on the Diploma by making the Tribunal judges and offices readily available to our students for their course work.
Charles Hennessy, Academic Director of the Diploma said “This was an invaluable opportunity for our students to hear from a leading exponent of employment law and practice, and to network with so many lawyers practising in this particular area of law. Our course provides them with a thorough training in employment law and prepares them very well for practice, as could be seen by the number of lawyers in attendance who were former Diplomates of this University. ”
A Strathclyde Law School team consisting of Andrew Ross and Mark Leiser have won through to the final of the prestigious Alexander Stone Moot Competition after edging out their hosts, Edinburgh Law School, in the semi-final. The team will face the winners of the second semi-final between Glasgow University and Glasgow Caledonian. This win ensures that Strathclyde will be represented in the final of the competition for a fourth time in five years, and Andrew and Mark will be keen to repeat the success of predecessors Erica Dickson and Frances Garratt who won the competititon for Strathclyde last time out.
In other Mooting news, a team consisting of Shaun Alexander and Andrew Ross lost by the thinnest of margins to holders Leeds in the quarter-final of the ICLR competition, having defeated both Sunderland and Glasgow en route.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said: 'I would like to congratulate our Alexander Stone team, Andrew Ross and Mark Leiser on their win over Edinburgh and to express my thanks to our ICLR team for their valiant efforts in reaching the third round of that competition. Mooting is a very valuable activity in terms of developing student skills and it is gratifying that our teams have put in such a strong performance over recent years in Scottish, UK and international competitions. It has brought credit to the mooters themselves, to the Law School and to the wider University. It shows our students are not only capable of taking on the best in the country and beyond but that they can and do succeed at the highest level. Much credit must go to the very strong student Mooting Society at Strathclyde and also to our staff mooting coordinators, this year, Dr Chris McCorkindale. Finally, I would like to wish Andrew Ross and Mark Leiser every success in the forthcoming Alexander Stone final."
5 February 2013
Dr Laura Piacentini’ s new book, Gender, Geography and Punishment: the Experience of Women in Carceral Russia, published by Oxford University Press, is to be the subject of analysis and discussion on the BBC’s Academic Research programme, Thinking Allowed to be broadcast on 30/01/13. The programme features discussion from Criminologists alongside Laura’s co-author Professor Judith Pallot who will be discussing the book’s research findings in light of the recent Pussy Riot case. The programme details are: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q8qq5
Professor Rodger has published an edited collection entitled Landmark cases in Competition Law: Around the World in Fourteen Stories, for more information please see attached document.
17 January 2013
Donnie Munro of Harper Macleod, a senior tutor on the University of Strathclyde postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Practice, has received significant recognition at the Scottish Family Business Awards. Donnie received the Chairman's Award for his contribution to family businesses. Professor Leo Martin, Director of Professional Legal Practice Courses commented "We are delighted that Donnie has received this award not least because it was in no small part a recognition of the first ever Family Business focused course for lawyers in the United Kingdom that Donnie authored and leads for the new Diploma. All of our students who elected to take the course were impressed by the breadth of legal skills intertwined in the course which came about through Donnie's vision. Well done!" Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said "Our Diploma stands out considerably through the breadth of areas that our students can study in their second semester electives. It is right that Donnie should be honoured for his personal achievement and his considerable contribution to teaching and learning in practical legal education".
8 January 2013
The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Tony McGrew and the Head of the Law School, Professor Mark Poustie, recently visited China to begin building links with leading Chinese Law Schools. The visit took place as part of Strathclyde’s drive to internationalise in an increasingly globalised market for legal education and legal services. The delegation visited the Law Schools at Peking (for details of the visit see http://en.law.pku.edu.cn) and Tsinghua Universities in Beijing, Fudan University and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in Shanghai, Zheijiang Guanghua Law School in Hangzhou and Nankai Law School in Tianjin. The intention is to develop cooperation and collaboration at a variety of levels including the promotion of existing postgraduate courses (including LLMs in Chinese Law and Chinese Business Law taught in English in China) to each other’s graduates, exchanges of staff and exchanges of postgraduate students both on taught and research courses and, in the longer term, the possible development of joint programmes.
Professor Mark Poustie Head of the Law School said, ‘The Dean and I were honoured to be the guests of a number of the top law schools in China. There is a strong desire on both sides to collaborate because of the benefits this would bring in terms of enhancing the employability of our respective students, the possibility of developing leading edge collaborative and comparative research and in enhancing our understanding of different legal systems and cultures. We look forward to building further on the positive foundations laid by this initial visit’.
18 December 2012
The first Paul McBride QC Memorial Scholarship to support a student undertaking the LLM in Advocacy has been awarded to Sarah Combe. Sarah, a graduate of Glasgow University, has a first class LLB Honours degree and a Diploma in Professional Legal Practice with distinction fully met the criteria for the award in terms of her outstanding record of academic achievement and her deserving background.
The Paul McBride QC Memorial Scholarship was set up in memory of Paul McBride QC, an alumnus of Strathclyde University Law School and the youngest ever QC appointed in the UK who was to return to the University to teach on the LLM in Advocacy but who tragically died in March 2012. The Scholarship is generously sponsored by the Celtic Charity Foundation.
For more information on the LLM in Advocacy, visit
http://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/courses/law/courses/advocacy/
5 December 2012
Strathclyde Law School’s team produced an outstanding performance at the UK's annual Law School Mediation Competition at Kingston University last weekend coming second overall while individual team members also secured Best Mediator and Best Client awards. Strathclyde’s team (Victoria Marshall, James O’Kane, Gordon Richmond and Katie Souter) competed against 12 teams from around the UK. University of Winchester were the overall winning team. James O’Kane won Best Mediator and Victoria Marshall won Best Client. The competition, which was judged by experienced mediators, involved each team of taking part in four mediations in one intensive day.
Head of the Law School, Professor Mark Poustie said: ‘I would like to congratulate our team members on their excellent team and individual performances in this competition and I would like to thank my colleagues Professor Charlie Irvine and Professor Bryan Clark who coached the team so effectively. Strathclyde has only recently started taking part in mediation competitions and it is a real tribute to the efforts of our students that we have achieved so much this year. Competitions such as this provide huge encouragement to law students, developing their capacities as mediators and effective representatives. More generally, the Law School is endeavouring to enhance the employability of our graduates by providing opportunities for them to learn about mediation through an elective on the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice and the recently launched MSc in Mediation and Conflict Studies as well as through opportunities to participate in competitions such as this’.
28 November 2012
For details of the MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution see http://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/courses/law/courses/mediation.
Dr Laura Piacentini, (CLCJ and Reader in Law), has just published a new book with Oxford University Press which breaks new theoretical ground in the study Russian prisons.
Gender, Geography and Punishment: The Experience of Women in Carceral Russia,co-authored with Professor Judith Pallot (Oxford University), explores why penal and legal reform is proving so difficult to achieve in Russia.
Dr Piacentini explains: “The book is the first of its kind to bring together human geography and the sociology of imprisonment to explore the relationship between distance and punishment in modern day Russia.”
Employing a unique methodology, the authors conducted empirical research with over 200 people involved in Russian prisons (including prison personnel, adult and juvenile female prisoners, NGOs and many others).
And Laura points out that the book's key strength is the strong inter-disciplinary dialogue between the authors. “Using new theoretical frameworks, the book argues that Russia's inherited geography of penality, coupled with Russian culture's traditional ideas about womanhood are constraining Russia's ability to fully implement penal and legal reform.”
Gender, Geography and Punishment: The Experience of Women in Carceral Russia is published by Oxford University Press
30 October 2012
The Law School is delighted to announce that Charles Hennessy has been appointed as Academic Director of the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice from January 2013. Charles has been intimately involved in the design and delivery of the DPLP and its predecessor the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Strathclyde and the former Glasgow Graduate School of Law since 1999.
Charles qualified with Shaughnessy, Quigley & McColl, becoming a partner in 1978. In 1984 he left to found the firm of Hennessy Bowie & Co, a general practice in which he dealt with all forms of civil litigation, retiring in 2008 to set up his own firm, Charles Hennessy & Co, a specialist civil litigation and dispute resolution firm. He qualified as a solicitor advocate in 1999. Charles was a senior tutor on the Glasgow University Diploma in Legal Practice before becoming a Visiting Professor with the Glasgow Graduate School of Law in 1999. In 1995 Charles obtained a Diploma in Teaching Advocacy Skills from the NITA course at Harvard.
Charles authored the first edition of Civil Procedure and Practice (W Green) in 2000 and this work, now in its 3rd edition, remains the recommended text for students on the DPLP at a number of Scottish Law Schools. He also authored Practical Advocacy in the Sheriff Court (W Green, 2006). Charles also designed, wrote and delivered the PCC course on Civil Court Practice at the former Glasgow Graduate School of Law.
Commenting on the appointment, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said, ‘I am delighted at Charles’ appointment. He is a hugely experienced practitioner with very considerable experience of designing and delivering professional legal education. Charles has had a long association with the Strathclyde Diploma and his appointment will ensure that the highly successful Strathclyde model will continue and will be developed further. Our model is very much focused on enhancing employability both through the use of simulation and through the range of electives offered which include Work-based Learning, Family Business Law and Mediation. Everything we can do to enhance employability is vital at a difficult time for students seeking traineeships. Charles will be working with a strong team including Prof Leo Martin, Practice Director of the course and Frances Murray, Deputy Director of the DPLP. I look forward to working with Charles in his new role from January and look forward to the further success of the Strathclyde Diploma.’
12 November 2012
The Law School’s Dr Hakeem Yusuf was recently interviewed on Al-Jazeera’s Inside Story item, ‘Where is the rule of law in Nigeria?’ Interviewed along with correspondents from the US and Nigeria, Dr Yusuf, an expert on transitional justice issues, spoke on the recent report by Amnesty International which criticises the Nigerian Government's response to the Boko Haram insurgency, suggesting that dialogue and peaceful engagement were the only means to end the violence.
See: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2012/11/201211218443135736.html
For the Amnesty International Report, Nigeria: Trapped in a Cycle of Violence (November 2012), see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR44/043/2012/en/04ab8b67-8969-4c86-bdea-0f82059dff28/afr440432012en.pdf.
12 November 2012
This 3 year full-time PhD studentship is offered with a start date of January 2013 or as soon as possible thereafter. The successful candidate will receive an annual stipend of £13,590 and a fee-waiver for those eligible for Home/EU fees (2011/12 rates).
This studentship will be co-supervised at Strathclyde University between the School of Law and School of Business. The research topic forms part of the work programme of a large four-year £8m Centre, CREATe, the Centre for Creativity, Regulation, Enterprise and Technology, which is a consortium consisting of the Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Edinburgh, Nottingham, St Andrews UEA and Goldsmiths, alongside over 80 industry and public sector arts partners. The studentship will be co-supervised by Professor Lilian Edwards (Law) and Dr Stephen Tagg (Business). Profesor Edwards is also Deputy Director of CREATe, whose lead institution is Glasgow. It is expected the successful candidate will be given opportunities to interact with the rest of the CREATe team and its activities. The student will have access to facilities in both Faculties and be based physically at Strathclyde.
The project to which the studentship is attached is shared between Strathclyde and the Horizon Digital Economy Hub at Nottingham, and deals with the legal, technical and social issues around data mining and the cultural industries. Data mining allows new data to be extracted from old by automated means, ie, from existing large sets of texts or data. Examples include mining existing databases to create profiles about data subjects for use in targeted advertising; police use of data-mining of social networks for law enforcement and surveillance; and research use of datasets, eg, comparing incidences of words in variant texts of Shakespeare plays, or looking for new drugs by analysing existing papers on drug formulae. The recent Hargreaves report on copyright reform recommended a limited new exception to copyright for data mining, but this is opposed by industry players such as the publishers’ association. The PhD candidate recruited will be expected to work on the copyright and other legal as well as business and cultural implications of data mining.
Applicants can come from any relevant background including science, technology, law or business, but a basic understanding of and interest in intellectual property law is desirable. Candidates should have at least a good 2:1 Honours first degree and a relevant Masters is desirable though not essential.
Deadline for receipt of completed applications: Monday 17th December 2012.
Informal enquires: Please contact Professor Lilian Edwards (lilian.edwards@strath.ac.uk)
For further project details and information on how to apply please contact:
Patricia Bunce, Graduate School Manager, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Room LH128, Lord Hope building, 141 St. James Road, Glasgow
G4 OLT
Email: patricia.bunce@strath.ac.uk. Tel: +44 (0)141 444 8452
The Law School is delighted to announce that Strathclyde Law Clinic has won the Herald Society Team of the Year Award 2012. The award was given to the Clinic in recognition of our public service values, outstanding drive and commitment that have made a difference in improving the lives of people in Scotland.
Commenting on the award, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said, ‘I would like to congratulate the Law Clinic on winning this award. The Law Clinic does provide a very significant community service – as well as enhancing student employability - and it is excellent that the Herald Society Awards have recognised this.’
For details of the Herald Society Awards see http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/news/home-news/celebrations-at-herald-society-awards.19318932. For the Strathclyde Law Clinic see: http://www.lawclinic.org.uk.
5 November 2012
The Law School is delighted to announce that Jane Scoular has been promoted professor. Jane, who is an alumna of the Law School, joined the Law School staff in 1995 after completing a LLM at the University of London. She was promoted senior lecturer in 2001 and reader in 2008.
Jane’s research is concerned with the intersection of theories of law and gender. Most notably she has brought insights from her work on feminist theory and critical legal studies to bear on the topic of the legal regulation of prostitution where she has developed a body of work which is widely regarded as world leading. Key works include: The Subject of Prostitution: Sex/work, Law and Social Theory (Routledge 2013), ‘What’s law got to do with it? How and why law matters in the regulation of sex work’ 2010 37(1) Joournal of Law and Society 12-39 and ‘Regulating Prostitution: social inclusion, responsibilisation and the politics of prostitution reform’ 2007 British Journal of Criminology 47(5) 764-778 (with O’Neill). Jane has secured extensive external research funding from sources including the ESRC, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the former Scottish Executive.
Jane’s work has had considerable impact. Her work in Sweden and her ESRC-funded comparative European study have been widely influential in legislative and policy change in relating to prostitution. Her extensive input as a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Expert Panel on Prostitution (2003-2005) influenced the Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007. In addition her work on domestic violence, An Evaluation of the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 (Scottish Executive, Central Research Unit with Cavanagh and Connelly) directly informed the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2011.
Further marks of the esteem in which Jane is held include periods as a visiting scholar at the Universities of New York (1999) and Stockholm (2003) and her election to the Executive of the Socio-Legal Studies Association in 2011.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said, ‘I am delighted that Jane’s promotion case has been successful and I would like to congratulate Jane on her achievement. Jane is a really top quality academic. Her research is world leading and it has had very considerable impact on policy and legislation. Jane is also an excellent teacher and her teaching is informed by her research. Jane’s promotion is good evidence that the Law School provides an environment which enables home-grown academic talent to flourish. Jane is an excellent colleague and I would like to wish her well for the future.’
November 2012
What should the criminal justice system do to confront crime? Is it doomed simply to manage the revolving door of re-offending? Is there a better alternative?
In a fascinating public lecture and discussion, a packed house heard from three distinguished American Judges who set out their experiences of problem-solving justice.
The main speakers:
Judge Gail Prudenti (Chief Administrative Judge of the State of New York)
Judge Russell Canan (Superior Court, Washington DC)
Judge Matthew D’Emic (Brooklyn Mental Health and Domestic Violence Courts).
The event was chaired by Sheriff Tom Welsh QC, Director of Judicial Studies
Dr Cyrus Tata, Director of the Centre for Law, Crime & Justice explained the rationale behind the event:
“In recent years, some judges and others have argued for a radical new alternative. With its emphasis on specialisation, judicial monitoring, and partnership with social services, Problem-Solving Courts aim to tackle some of the underlying factors (such as addiction) in offending. Should Scotland pursue Problem Solving Courts well beyond the existing pilot drug courts? What opportunities and challenges does it present?”
For more information about the lecture click here
The event complements the LLM /MSc in Criminal Justice and Penal Change
To watch the video of the lecture and the discussion with the audience click here or see below
A Strathclyde Law School Centre for Law, Crime & Justice Event
Click here to watch more events of The Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice
Strathclyde Law School is pleased to be involved in the establishment of the Scottish Constitutional Futures Forum (SCFF). The Forum is a joint initiative of five university law schools: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Strathclyde. It aims to bring the collective expertise of Scotland’s law schools to bear on the many legal and constitutional issues that arise out of the current debate on Scotland’s constitutional future. The Forum will provide a non-partisan and inclusive arena for discussion via a series of public events to be held across Scotland in the period up to the Autumn 2014 referendum, and will be a source of information and expert commentary through its website: http://www.scottishconstitutionalfutures.org. Strathclyde Law School will host an event entitled Energy Policy and Constitutional Change on 18 January 2013. For further details of this and other events, please visit the SCFF website.
Professor Aileen McHarg, one of the founding members of the Forum, said ‘We think that the Scottish universities and the Law schools in particular, have an important role in ensuring that our debate is worthy of the constitutional moment. We welcome the participation of all who share our commitment to an open and non-partisan process.’
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said, ‘I am delighted that the Scottish Law Schools have taken this timely initiative and look forward to Strathclyde Law School playing a full part in the Forum.’
2 October 2012
Lilian Edwards spoke in September 2012 at the launch of the Lisbon Council’s new publication on Intellectual Property and Innovation: A Framework for 21st Century Growth and Jobs, to which she also contributed. The collection is co-edited by Ian Hargreaves writer of the Hargreaves Report, the current major blueprint for UK copyright reform, and the keynote speaker was Nellie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission (her speech can be found at www.lisboncouncil.net/component/downloads/?id=696 ) . The collection can be downloaded at http://www.lisboncouncil.net/publication/publication/84-intellectual-property-and-innovation-a-framework-for-21st-century-growth-and-jobs-.html and photos of the event are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisboncouncil/sets/72157631634633336/ .
LSE, London, 15th September 2012
Professor Barry Rodger organised and hosted an AHRC funded conference at the LSE, London on Saturday, 15th September 2012. The conference was based on his AHRC project on Comparative private Enforcement and Collective Redress in the EU. The conference was attended by over 35 delegates, and initial sessions allowed national rapporteurs (from 24 of the 27 EU Member States) to outline their national reports on the legal and institutional background to private enforcement and collective redress in their home State, together with a brief summary of the empirical data on private enforcement case-law- the first time such a comprehensive study has been undertaken. Later sessions allowed firstly for cross-analysis of the data, with a broad review of the reports and comparative work on the economic and legal incentives in relation to competition litigation; and secondly for a range of stakeholders from academia, the OFT and European Commission, the judiciary and consumer organisations (Which? and BEUC (the European Consumer Organisation)) to provide their input and views on the project and the way forward in this field.
The Law School is delighted to announce that the Law Clinic has been shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Awards 2012 in the Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community category. The Law Clinic has never been shortlisted for these awards before, so it is a great privilege to be recognised alongside all of the other universities across the UK. The University has also been shortlisted in three other categories, including University of the Year. The winners will be announced at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London on 29th November. The Law Clinic Director, Professor Donald Nicolson, commented: "Given how many UK universities there are and how many community projects each has, this is an achievement of which we can be very proud. Hopefully we can follow in the footsteps of Kent University Law Clinic, the oldest UK university law clinic which won it a while ago."
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School commented, “I would like to congratulate the student members and staff of the Law Clinic for their very considerable achievement in being shortlisted for this award. The shortlisting is a recognition of the sterling work done by the Clinic. The Law School is very proud of the Law Clinic which continues to go from strength to strength. I would like to wish the Clinic success at the Times Higher Education Awards and indeed the University in the other categories in which Strathclyde has been shortlisted.”
17 September 2012
Dr Ana Lucia Desenzi Gesicki has recently joined the University of Strathclyde Law School as a Visiting Researcher. Ana works at the Brazilian Government’s Departamento de Producao Mineral (National Department of Mineral Production) in Sao Paulo where she will return after her research stay in Scotland. Ana's work will focus on the regulation of mineral water in Brazil. Mineral water is defined as groundwater that is either bottled for drinking purposes or used for SPA purposes. Groundwater used for other purposes relies on different legal frameworks and is managed by different institutions. Ana's project will look at ways to enhance Brazil's regulation of mineral waters through a comparative study of current regulation of mineral waters at European level and in selected European countries. During her stay at the University of Strathclyde Ana will work together with Dr Francesco Sindico, Reader in International Environmental Law at the Law School, and will join a team of environmental law experts within the School of Law that comprises also Prof. Mark Poustie, Prof. Aileen McHarg and Dr Stephanie Switzer. Ana’s research visit is jointly funded by Brazilian Government through the Ministry of Mines and Energy and CAPES -- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel).
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, commented: ‘I am delighted to welcome Ana to the Law School for the coming year. She joins the School at an exciting team as our environmental law team has expanded considerably and a number of significant opportunities for developing research initiatives and postgraduate education have arisen as a result of this. I am also pleased that the School’s efforts to drive forward the University’s internationalisation agenda in research and teaching are paying off since we are attracting top quality researchers such as Ana from overseas.’
4 September 2012
Three members of the School of Law’s Centre for Law, Crime and Justice – Monica Barry, Laura Piacentini and Beth Weaver - have been successful in securing a two-year research grant for £260,000 from the Economic and Social Research Council which will start in April 2013. The project is entitled ‘Regulating Justice: The Dynamics of Compliance and Breach in Criminal Justice Social Work in Scotland’ and will involve over 500 interviews, not only with offenders (both those who comply with parole and community-based sentences and those who do not), but also with judges/sheriffs, defence agents, social work practitioners, social work managers, Community Justice Authority chief officers, police officers, prison personnel and parole board members. The key research questions will explore how offenders, policy makers and practitioners interpret compliance and breach; what factors affect compliance and breach; and how breach policy and practice can be enhanced so as to maximise compliance and encourage desistance.
Commenting on the ESRC grant, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School stated: ‘This is a prestigious grant for the newly formed interdisciplinary Centre for Law, Crime and Justice and I would like to congratulate the team involved in the successful grant application. The methods and findings from the study will feed into the wider teaching and research of the Law School, including the newly launched LLM/MSc in Criminal Justice and Penal Change. This award, taken together with the Law School’s recent successes in research grant applications including participation in the £8m AHRC-funded Centre for Creativity, Regulation, Enterprise and Technology (CREATe) consortium, and further awards from funders including the AHRC, the European Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust Foundation and Nuffield Foundation, provides evidence of a very positive trajectory in terms of research funding in the run up to the REF2013.’
27 August 2012
Strathclyde key partner in new CREATe centre
The University of Strathclyde is a partner in a UK-wide centre launched today (Thursday 9 August) to maintain the country’s position as a world leader in culture and the creative industries.
The Centre for Creativity, Regulation, Enterprise and Technology (CREATe) will carry out research into the business models and regulation of industries such as music, film, TV, computer games and publishing. It will bring together for the first time researchers from the fields of law, business, economics, technology, psychology and cultural analysis. Together they will develop solutions to the challenges of business practice and copyright in the creative industries.
The CREATe consortium comprises seven UK universities and more than 80 industry and arts sector partners. Led at and hosted by the University of Glasgow, the partners include the Universities of Strathclyde, East Anglia, Edinburgh, Nottingham and St Andrews and Goldsmiths, University of London.
Lilian Edwards, Professor of E-Governance Law at the University of Strathclyde and Deputy Director of CREATe, said: “One of the key parts of our strategy is to work closely with industry and individual creators and artists. We already have more than 80 industry partners, ranging from bestselling authors like Neil Gaiman and Charles Stross to national events like the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Edinburgh International Festival, and international collaborators like the Universities of Stanford and Berkeley.
“We are genuinely multidisciplinary as a team, and will be building innovative technological solutions. Creativity is one of the UK’s major success stories, even in the recession; we want to help creators, policy makers and businesses build a UK cultural, business and regulatory infrastructure that might produce the next Google, Apple or Facebook.”
CREATe will train the next generation of interdisciplinary researchers for the creative economy – the first major UK effort to systematically build such research capacity. It plans to help legislators by providing evidence for key policy decisions on controversial issues such as file sharing and infringement, and will also look at how user rights to privacy are guaranteed in the digital age.
CREATe is an £8 million research centre supported by £5 million of funding over the next four years from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Economic and Research Council (ESRC).
August 2012
Strathclyde Law School mooters, Shaun Alexander and James McCrone, recently reached the semi-finals of the national ESU moot competition, sponsored by Essex Court Chambers.
Shaun and James successfully came through four prior rounds of mooting to make it to the semis, where they made submissions on equity and constructive trusts. The team were beaten by a team from Queen Mary University, who went on to compete against the eventual overall winners, Oxford Brookes, in the grand final. Shaun and James received £250 each for reaching the semi-finals.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said, ‘Although the School is obviously disappointed not to have won this UK competition, I am delighted that our team performed so well, reaching the semi-finals in a challenging competition. It again shows what our students are capable of on the national stage. The School has again enjoyed considerable mooting success in 2011-12 and I would like to pay tribute to all our mooters and our Mooting Co-ordinator, Emma Boffey, for all their efforts in the past year. They have again brought credit to themselves, the Law School and the University.’
August 2012
In an enthralling public event at Strathclyde Law School, the future of criminal justice and sentencing were examined.
The speakers were:
The Honourable Judge Professor Nancy Gertner (Harvard University Law School USA) and
Professor Arie Freiberg (Monash University Law School).
The event was chaired by Sheriff Tom Welsh,QC, Director of Judicial Studies
The event also launched the interdisciplinary Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice as well as its unique new LLM / MSc in Criminal Justice & Penal Change
Dr Cyrus Tata (Director of Strathclyde Law School’s Centre for Law, Crime & Justice www.strath.ac.uk/clcj ) explained the rationale for the event:
“ Can the criminal justice system command a higher level of public trust? Around the world, levels of public confidence in the criminal justice system appear to be worryingly low and in decline. In an effort to pose as ‘tough on crime’, many countries have responded ever-more punitively, imposing mandatory minimum sentences, and squeezing professional discretion. The result is: spiralling prison populations, inequalities, and a drift to more public money being spent on incarceration than on education. And all of this has been done in the name of the public and yet has failed to improve public confidence – often the reverse.
“Is there be better way, or, should Scotland accept that trust in the justice system is in inevitable decline? Can we find a way to pursue a rational approach to crime and punishment which attracts public confidence, or, at the very least, is not held to ransom by penal populism?”
The New LLM / MSc in Criminal Justice & Penal Change (which includes for example Restorative Justice) Click Here to Learn More and Apply.
Click here to watch more events of The Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice
Please watch the video below
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Strathclyde University Law School is launching a major new Master’s Programme in Criminal Justice & Penal Change. The first of its kind in the UK, the new course examines the effectiveness of a range of legal, political and social responses across the world to what is widely referred to as ‘the penal crisis’. Blending a rigorous understanding of fundamental theory with evidence about real world problems, students analyse recent innovations in theory, policy and practice. Drawing on a range of disciplinary approaches, the course equips students to develop a rational and just response to crime, so as to inform both policy and practice. The new programme, which is available as either an LLM (Master of Law) or an MSc (Master of Science), will run from September 2012 is available a full-time or part-time. Modules include: • Restorative Justice • Childhood & Crime • Justice & Penal Decision-Making • Punishment & Processes of Penal Change • Surveillance, Technology & Control • Offender Supervision & Management • Homicide • Human Rights • Mediation & Conflict Resolution • Advocacy • Dissertation Research Project of own choice. Commenting on the new programme Head of the Law School, Professor Mark Poustie said: “The new Master-level programme in Criminal Justice & Penal Change is a really exciting and important development for the Law School. The new programme will inform policy and practice responses both in Scotland and world-wide in countries which are also facing a crisis in their prisons and criminal justice systems.” Commenting on the quality of teaching and its relevance to real-world problems, Professor Poustie explained: “Students will be taught and supervised by our world-class team of academic experts together with leading policy and practice specialists. This new programme is both academically rigorous and practically relevant.” As well as its excellence, the new Programme is also flexible. Students can study: full-time or part-time; choose to study for either an LLM or an MSc (depends on curriculum choices in semester 2); classes in the early evening so students can combine with paid work; option of early completion with a PgDip/Cert. Based on the strength of The Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice, the internationally-renowned teaching and supervision team includes some of the world’s foremost experts. And the new programme has been endorsed by some of the UK’s leading practitioners. For instance: "I would expect this new course to be of great interest to practitioners in various areas of criminal justice, with the diverse methods of study an essential attraction." John Scott, QC, Solicitor Advocate, Vice President (Crime) of the Society of Solicitor Advocates, Chair of the Howard League for Penal Reform in Scotland and former Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Centre. “This course provides a remarkable opportunity for understanding, learning and growth that will help inform future action.” Tim Newell, former Prison Governor, now working for Restorative Practice with victims of serious crime and co-author of Restorative Justice in Prison. Applications can now be made on-line. The course is already attracting a high of interest and places are limited. To Apply Click Here Or Email Pamela McDaid (Programme Administrator): p.mcdaid@strath.ac.uk |
The Law School is also launching 2 other new Masters programmes in Advocacy and Professional Legal Practice. Details of those programmes and the School’s existing Masters programmes can be found at www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/lawschool/postgraduate/postgraduatecourses/.
In a fascinating public lecture at Strathclyde Law School, the future of apology in both civil and criminal justice was scrutinized. The lecture included both negligence issues and Restorative Justice.
Professor Prue Vines (University of New South Wales, Australia) argued for new ways the role of apology both in private law and in criminal justice.
Niall Kearney (Chair of the European Forum for Restorative Justice) responded to Prof Vines’ (especially restorative justice aspects) lecture before opening up to the audience for discussion. Niall Kearney is also a Tutor on the Restorative Justice module of Strathclyde Law School’s new LLM/MSc in Criminal Justice & Penal Change.
Dr Cyrus Tata (Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice), explained the initiative for the public event: “The role of apology is attracting the increasing interest of policy makers in both civil and criminal justice spheres which is only likely to grow. This raises a number of pressing questions. Can apology work in the law or are they uneasy bedfellows? Should the law require it as a way of settling criminal and civil matters? Or is apology really be used as a cynical cost-cutting device? What is and should be the role of apology in the justice system? These and other questions were addressed by Prof Vines’ public lecture and ensuing discussion.”
The lecture also marks two Strathclyde Master’s programmes which spotlight the increasing prominence of apology in the legal system:
The New LLM / MSc in Criminal Justice & Penal Change (which includes for example Restorative Justice) Click Here to Learn More.
MSc Mediation & Conflict Resolution
Click here to watch more events of The Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice
Video of the lecture can be viewed below.
Law Clinic Shortlisted for Scottish Charity of the Year Award
The Law School is delighted to announce that the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic has been shortlisted for the Charity of the Year award from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. Established in 2003 by Professor Donald Nicolson OBE, the Law Clinic aims to assist people who cannot obtain legal advice through any other means. Since it began, the Law Clinic has helped almost 1000 people gain access to justice and in the last year, the Clinic has assisted 182 people, winning or saving them nearly £220,000. As well as tackling individual cases, students, supported by fully qualified solicitors, carry out education and community work in prisons and schools.
The SCVO itself has 1300 voluntary sector organisation members, indicating how tough the competition was. Professor Nicolson, Director of the Law Clinic said, 'To be shortlisted itself is an honour given the number of worthy voluntary organisations which operate in Scotland. However, it is no more than the hard work and dedication of the students and staff deserve. The fact that the students put together the nomination on their own is an indication of the level of professional which has been engendered in the Clinic.' Hannah Cosgrove, Student Director of the Clinic said, ‘SCVO do an amazing job promoting the great work that goes on in the 3rd sector. To be part of the work that is recognised is a fantastic achievement for the students who make the Clinic what it is today. Access to justice is something which people might not automatically think a charity can help with, but where we can, we will and hopefully this will continue for years to come.’
The Law Clinic was also recently recognised in London, winning the Best Contribution by a Team of Students at the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Awards 2012.
To vote for the Law Clinic for the SCVO award, please visit http://www.scvo.org.uk/scvo-events/charity-of-the-year-2012/
15 May 2012
The international profile of Strathclyde’s mediation academics is increasing rapidly through a number of research, professional engagement and conference activities over the coming months. May is a particularly busy month in which Visiting Professor Charlie Irvine is speaking at the Civil Mediation Council’s Annual Conference in London on the 15th May and both he and Professor Bryan Clark are presenting conference papers at the Law Society of Scotland’s Civil Justice and ADR Conference in Edinburgh on May 16th. Bryan is also travelling to Hong Kong to the Mediate First Conference organised by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre on May 12th providing Scottish and international perspectives on such matters as regulation and training in mediation, confidentiality and mandatory recourse to the process.
In July Charlie is delivering a symposium session on ADR and legal culture at the ICAM Annual Conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa along with Professor John Lande (University of Missouri) and Professor Adrian Borbély (IÉSEG School of Management, Paris). In October he will be hosting an ESRC funded seminar entitled 'Reframing Resolution - Managing Individual Workplace Conflict' in October at Strathclyde as part of a 5 seminar UK-wide project led by Richard Saundry and Paul Latreille.
There are impending publications too. Bryan’s new monograph on Lawyers and Mediation is set to be published by Springer this month. Charlie has two book chapters due for publication in 2012. The first, entitled ‘Working with Emotions in Mediation: a Grid for Practitioners,’ will appear in a volume edited by Michelle LeBaron and published by the American Bar Association. The other is the chapter on Scotland for Nadja Alexander’s forthcoming volume entitled ‘The EU Handbook on Mediation.’
Finally Charlie and Bryan are running the 3rd International Summer School in Mediation and Negotiation with John Marshall Law School, Chicago. The Summer School has proved highly popular, bringing together US and Scottish students from law and other disciplines for an intensive week learning practical skills.
Professor Nicole Busby of the Law School has secured a €187,000 share of a four-year European Research Council-funded project entitled ‘New Sites of legal Consciousness: a case study of UK advice agencies’ worth a total of €1.02 million. The project will be carried out by a team of researchers under the leadership of Principal Investigator, Dr Morag McDermont of the University of Bristol and launches on 1st May
The overall aim is to investigate ways in which third sector advice agencies are becoming new sites for the emergence of legal consciousness. The research will bring together theoretical perspectives on emergent publics and the sociology of translation and will explore the potential use of legal consciousness in developing collective political action through the cultural practices of institutions that mediate between citizens and formal legal institutions.
Professor Busby will share management responsibility for the project ‘Citizens Advice Bureaux and Employment Disputes’ which will examine how clients of CABx pursue employment disputes following their first interaction with the CAB. The research will focus on how potential applicants to the employment tribunal identify issues and make decisions as to which routes to dispute resolution they follow. This project will run for two and a half years employing two dedicated researchers, one based at the University of Bristol and the other at the University of Strathclyde.
Professor Busby, who joined the Law School from the University of Stirling at the beginning of April, said:
“Legal advice and representation are becoming increasingly difficult to access for those involved in employment disputes, particularly those workers engaged in precarious forms of employment. This means that advice agencies provide an often crucial service in enabling individuals to achieve access to justice. This research will identify barriers to justice –administrative, political and cultural - for some of the most vulnerable workers and help in understanding how such barriers can be overcome. Strathclyde’s Law School has excellent links with the legal profession and an established reputation in widening access to justice through its award-winning Student Law Clinic, making it an ideal location in which to undertake this research. “
You are invited to take part in a major conference on prisons and imprisonment held at Strathclyde University. The future of imprisonment is once again under the spotlight following the launch of the official Commission on Women's Offending which calls for radical reform in the ways in which both male and female offending is addressed.
There will be an opportunity for you to put your questions to the renowned speakers. The conference will be attended by leading Scottish criminal law and justice practitioners and policy officials. Interested students are strongly encouraged to take part in this unqiue event being held at Strathclyde.
For more information go to www.strath.ac.uk/clcj and click on ‘events’ or www.sastudyoffending.org.uk/GlasgowconfPrisonsetc2012.pdf
Conference Chair: Brigadier Hugh Monro CBE
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland
Rt Hon Prof Dame Elish Angiolini, DBE QC
formerly Lord Advocate for Scotland, Chair of the Commission on Women
Offenders, Visiting Professor Strathclyde University Law School
“Women’s Offending & Imprisonment”
Dame Anne Owers DBE
formerly HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (England & Wales), Chair of
Clinks, Chair, Independent Police Complaints Commission
“A good prison system: principles and practice”
Joe Duffy
Project Director, Petal Support Limited
Annabel Goldie MSP, former leader of the Scottish Conservatives
“Prisons and the Public Interest”
Chief Executive, Families Outside, and Visiting Professor, Centre for Law,
Crime & Justice, Strathclyde University
“Whose Crime is it Anyway? Rights & experiences when a
family member goes to prison
Audrey Park
Director, HMP Addiewell
“Prisoners’ rights and responsibilities: a prison perspective”
Closely Related: Strathclyde Law School is running the UK's first LLM / MSc in Criminal Justice & Penal Change. To Learn more Click Here or go to www.law.strath.ac.uk/ls-cjpc-e
CPD for Solicitors, Advocates and Panel Members. Reduced rates for students/unwaged.The Law School’s ability to produce sought after graduates is clear as the Complete University Guide 2013 ranks it first equal with UCL for Graduate Prospects, placing it ahead of Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Edinburgh and Glasgow. In the overall rankings the Law School has climbed four places in the last year and is now ranked top ten in the UK.
Commenting on these rankings, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said:
“The School is delighted to achieve a top ten ranking in the UK. Our first equal in graduate prospects in the UK is an outstanding result and demonstrates the quality of our graduates as well as reflecting very positively on the education which they receive in the Law School. We are working hard to enhance our graduates’ employability in a number of ways such as engagement with the Law Clinic and our excellent range of Diploma in Professional Legal Practice electives including Family Business Law, Mediation, Employment and Work-Based Learning. Students are taught by recognised experts in their fields”.
"This ranking builds on our outstanding RAE2008 performance in which we can came 2nd in Scotland and 13th in the UK and on levels of internationally excellent activity were placed 1st in Scotland and 7th equal in the UK. In the last six months the Law School has made seven strategic appointments and launched three new and innovative courses. We are working continuously to improve our performance and I am confident that these developments will help enhance our position further.”
25 April 2012
The official launch of the much-anticipated Report of the Commission on Women Offenders was held at Strathclyde University and can now be viewed on video.
The Commission, which began its work in August 2011, announced its findings about how to improve outcomes for women offenders in the criminal justice system on Tuesday 17th April at an event hosted by Strathclyde Law School’s Centre for Law, Crime & Justice.
The Commission was set up against the background of a doubling of the number of women in custody in Scotland over the past decade.
The Commission was chaired by the Former Lord Advocate for Scotland, the Rt. Hon. Professor Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC, who is now a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde Law School. She was supported by Sheriff Daniel Scullion, Sheriff of South Strathclyde Dumfries and Galloway; and by Dr Linda de Caestecker, Director of Public Health, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
View the Video of the Launch Here
Read the Full Report by the Commission here
The remit of the Commission was to:
- Consider the evidence on how to improve outcomes for women in the criminal justice system;
- Make recommendations for practical measures in this Parliament to reduce reoffending of women and reverse the recent increase in the female prisoner population.
The Rt Hon Professor Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC is directing the UK’s first LLM in Advocacy
Strathclyde University Law School is running a unique new graduate programme (LLM/MSc) in ‘Criminal Justice & Penal Change’ which will equip graduates with in-depth knowledge of world-wide evidence so as to enable a rational and just response to crime. The issues of female offending and the responses by justice systems worldwide is a key part of the curriculum.
The launch event was chaired by Dr Cyrus Tata Director of Strathclyde Law School’s Centre for Law, Crime & Justice
View the Video of the Commission’s Launch Report Here
A team of students from the Law School pitted their mediation skills against students from all over the USA, Canada, India, Germany and the UK in the 11th International Law School Mediation Tournament on March 23rd and 24th (see www.inadr.org ). They finished 14th out of 46 teams, with Andrew Boyd ranked 18th out of 138 individual mediators. The Law School is very grateful to BTO who provided sponsorship for the event.
The tournament was a fantastic experience for the students, Andrew Boyd, Osman Khan, Carol King and Hayley Gibson, and coaches Charlie Irvine and Alison Ebbitt. It was hosted by Loyola University Law School, a state of the art facility in the heart of Chicago's Gold Coast district. The judges were mediators from the Mid-West and provided really useful feedback, making the Tournament a great learning experience as well. The highest placed mediator overall was Sri Carmichael, from BPP Law School, London, and the top team was Hastings School of Law, San Francisco.
The Strathclyde team's achievement is all the more impressive against US postgraduate law schools, many of whom have been teaching mediation for the last decade, and illustrates the Law School's growing expertise in the area of alternative dispute resolution. As well as its MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution (www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/courses/law/courses/mediation ), the Law School now offers a Diploma in Professional Legal Practice elective in Mediation and Mediation Advocacy, giving the next generation of lawyers hands-on experience of this form of dispute resolution. Over 80 students took the elective this year.
Head of the Law School, Professor Mark Poustie, said 'I would like to congratulate the team on all their hard work and on achieving such a creditable result in this challenging international competition. Over the last 3 years the Law School has developed its expertise in this field very considerably and I am delighted that our students are already performing so well in this international competition. I would like to thank the coaches for all their input and also our sponsors, BTO, for supporting our team’s participation this year’.
3 April 2012
The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic have once again been successful at the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Awards 2012 held at the Houses of Parliament. Having won Best Law School in 2009 and Best Contribution by an Individual Student (Alasdair Stewart) in 2011, this year it received the award for the Best Contribution by a Team of Students Award for the work of its student Committee.
The Committee comprises twelve appointed and seven elected students. It currently meets monthly along with the Clinic Director and the supervisors to decide on Clinic policy and direction, and debate ethical issues raised by cases. In this role, it has played a crucial role in upholding and modelling to others the Clinic’s core volunteer and social justice ethos.
The appointed office holders on the Committee are particularly important in ensuring that the Clinic runs effectively and efficiently. Most importantly, the Student Director and her Deputy oversee all Clinic activities, including the various Clinic projects, represent the Clinic to the outside world, and help maintain Clinic morale through social events.
A very conservative estimate suggests that these students volunteer around 7000 hours annually. As a result, the Law Clinic runs at cost of less than a third of the average law clinic affiliated to LawWorks.
Current Student Director, Hannah Cosgrove, said, "We are absolutely delighted that our efforts have been recognised nationally. The standard of competition is always high, with other universities such as BPP Law School, King's College London, Cardiff Law School and Bristol Law School offering equally notable services. The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic's Committee is the driving force behind its continued success and high level of service, and we know this will continue on for years to come."
Professor Donald Nicolson, OBE, founder and Director of Strathclyde Law Clinic, said: “This award is a testament to our students’ dedication to delivering legal services to people who would otherwise find them inaccessible. Without the students’ dedication and enormous effort put into running the Clinic by the student Committee (annually they volunteer around 7000 hours in this regard ), the Law Clinic could simply not operate on anything like the scale it does. Their enthusiasm and commitment to innovation are inspiring and will ensure that the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic will continue to flourish in the future.”
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said, “I am delighted at this further recognition of the Law Clinic and the invaluable role of the Student Committee in ensuring the successful operation of the Clinic in a very cost effective way. I would like to congratulate the Student Director and the other Committee members on their well deserved award. The Law Clinic is one of the most distinctive features of a legal education at Strathclyde and it enables students to enhance their professional skills at the same time as providing a hugely valuable community service.”
3 April 2012
A team from Strathclyde Law School is competing in the 11th Annual International Law School Mediation Tournament in Chicago this week. The students will pit their mediation and advocacy skills against 45 teams, mostly from the USA and Canada, in a three round competition. They will be mediating medical negligence, personal injuries and sports contract disputes in the country that has seen mediation develop more rapidly than anywhere else in the world.
When the Law School hosted the UK competition in November the team performed excellently, with Hayley Gibson, trainee at HBJ Gately Waring, finishing third overall. The US Tournament will stretch their skills even further, and the students will receive training from some of America's most experienced mediators. The team is coached by Alison Ebbitt and Charlie Irvine, Visiting Professor and Course Leader in the MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution. The MSc, now in its second year, is unique in its focus on mediation theory and practice, and has attracted students from throughout the UK - see http://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/courses/law/courses/mediation/
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said, “I am delighted that the Law School is again fielding a team in the 11th Annual International Law School Mediation Tournament in Chicago. My colleagues and I would like to wish the team every success in the Tournament. I would also like to thank the coaches for giving up their valuable time to support our Mediation Team which is much appreciated. The School is fast developing itself as a centre of excellence in mediation alongside its existing strengths in dispute resolution with the launch of the MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution in 2011, the development of a Mediation Honours class on the LLB and a Mediation elective class on the new Diploma in Professional Legal Practice both also launched this academic year and, finally with the joint Mediation Summer School which we offer with John Marshall Law School, Chicago which is taught on our campus and is now entering its third year. These are exciting developments and bode well for the employability of our graduates and the range of skills they will be taking to the jobs market.”
20 March 2012
The official launch of the much-anticipated Report of the Commission on Women Offenders is to be held at Strathclyde University, it has been announced.
The Commission, which began its work in August 2011, will announce its findings into how to improve outcomes for women offenders in the criminal justice system on Tuesday 17th April at an event hosted by Strathclyde Law School’s Centre for Law, Crime & Justice.
The findings and recommendations of the report, which is expected to propose radical reforms, will be kept confidential until that date. Click here for more.
How should the criminal justice system tackle crime? As research repeatedly shows and practitioners know all too well, problems, such as alcohol and drug addiction, play a major role in chronic levels of reoffending. In view of the ‘revolving doors’ of the courts and prisons, this public lecture asks whether it is time for a radically different approach?
The video of the public lecture and the fascinating audience discussion is now available HERE. {This should then link to http://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/research/clcj/events/}
Strathclyde Law School mooters, Erica Dickson and Frances Garratt, have won the final of the Alexander Stone Mooting Competition against a team from Glasgow University in front of Lord Bonomy. The hard fought final involved a challenging problem regarding the extent of the application of the defences of automatism and insanity in criminal law.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said “I would like to congratulate Erica and Frances on their win in the Stone Moot Final. Their performance was outstanding. This is the third time in the last 4 years Strathclyde has won the competition and reflects our strength in mooting. Our students have again demonstrated their qualities on the national stage and I hope this serves as an inspiration to others. Their success brings credit to themselves, to the Law School and the wider University. I would also like to thank Emma Boffey, the Law School’s Mooting Co-ordinator, for all her efforts in supporting the team”
15 March 2012
Professor Alan Paterson OBE, Director of the Centre for Professional Legal Services in the Law School has been awarded £51,500 by the Nuffield Foundation to conduct research into the most cost-effective way to deliver poverty legal services in the future. Utilising arguments from Richard Susskind - especially “The End of Lawyers ?”, Alan and his co-researcher, Roger Smith, Director of JUSTICE will analyse the experience of international programmes to provide advice to governments in the UK and elsewhere regarding the extent to which telephone and internet advice services can provide a form of triage which can effectively replace face to face advice services.
9 March 2012
Jane Scoular, along with Professor Fiona Raitt of Dundee University and other colleagues across Universities in Scotland, has been awarded funding of £19,000, to host a series of workshops on 'Re-thinking Responses to Rape'. The aim of these workshops is to consider the impact of reforms to adversarial justice in this area of rape and to identify new ways of responding to this issue. See http://www.scottishinsight.ac.uk/Programmes/Programmes20112012/Rethinkingresponsestorape.aspx
9 March 2012
University of Strathclyde Visiting Professor and former Lord Advocate, Dame Elish Angiolini, has been elected as the next Principal of St Hugh’s College at the University of Oxford.
One of the most respected figures in the British legal establish, Dame Elish studied at Strathclyde Law School and returned to the University in October last year as a Visiting Professor. She has played a pivotal role in the development of a new Masters course in Advocacy Studies, which will launch this year, and has been involved in the Law School’s award-winning Law Clinic.
Dame Elish will continue her role as Visiting Professor at the University when she takes up her new position with Oxford in September 2012.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School at the University of Strathclyde, said: “I would like to congratulate Dame Elish on her election as the next Principal at St Hugh’s. This is a tremendous achievement and a testament to her leadership qualities. The Law School looks forward to continuing to work with Dame Elish on her unique LLM in Advocacy Studies which launches in Autumn 2012.”
The Masters course in Advocacy is the first masters course of its kind in the UK and students will study major aspects of the discipline from forensic advocacy in criminal and civil law, mediation, as well as the fundamentals of persuasion and negotiation. It will look at advocacy from a range of angles including the construction and presentation of an argument and the psychology of persuasion.
Dame Elish graduated from Strathclyde Law School in 1982. She was Lord Advocate between October 2006 and May 2011, the first woman to hold the post in 500 years and the first to serve two different governments. Prior to that she was Solicitor General and was also the first woman, the first procurator first solicitor to hold that post.
20 February 2012
Professor Donald Nicolson has just been awarded a grant of £13,800 from the University of Strathclyde’s Education Excellence Fund to support his Active Learning Community Legal Engagement project. The project is aimed at setting up a Community Legal Engagement class which allows existing University of Strathclyde Law Clinic members as well as all other law students to reflect and be assessed on either their work in one of the existing or planned Law Clinic public legal education projects or as part of a placement with another legal advice organisation. The class will build on the success of the current Clinical Legal Practice class in which students reflect on issues of ethics and justice raised by their clinical cases, which in turn led to the recently launched and highly innovative Clinical LLB, which enables Law Clinic students to use their experience in taking on cases as a learning and teaching tools throughout the course of the law degree.
Commenting on the award, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said, ‘My congratulations to Donald Nicolson for obtaining this award. It will enable the Law School to provide opportunities for credit-bearing placements involving community engagement to those students who are not members of the Law Clinic thus widening the numbers who will benefit from the enhanced professional skills offered by clinical education. Coupled with the recently launched Diploma in Professional Legal Practice Work-Based Learning Elective which offers credit-bearing placements at Diploma level this development shows the School’s commitment to enhancing the employability of our students as well as providing them with opportunities to make a positive contribution to the community during their legal education’.
21 February 2012
Strathclyde mooters, Erica Dickson and Frances Garratt, have defeated a team from the University of Dundee, to secure their place in the final of the Alexander Stone Mooting Competition. The students made submissions on how Article 70 of the Scottish Parliament (Elections Etc.) Order 2007 is to be properly interpreted and applied, with Sheriff Williamson of Dundee Sheriff Courtholding Strathclyde the winners of the tie.
The team will face the University of Glasgow in the final, to be held on Wednesday 14 March 2012, at 6pm at Glasgow. All staff and students are welcome to attend the moot final and further details will be posted in due course.
Commenting on the Strathclyde win, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said, ‘My congratulations to our team on their win in the Alexander Stone Semi-Final and I wish them well in the Final. Mooting is one of the many areas in which our students excel and brings credit both to the School and to the students involved and assists in developing their professional skills. I would also like to add my thanks to Emma Boffey, this year’s Mooting Coordinator, for all her efforts in supporting mooting at Strathclyde.’
20.02.12
19 January 2012
The UK’s first course teaching legal services and advice for family businesses is being launched today (Thursday, 19 January) at the University of Strathclyde.
The elective class is teaching students the distinctive legal implications for family-run businesses, such as start-up, growth, succession and transfer of ownership. The course is one of many practice focussed electives being pioneered by the University as part of the new Diploma in Professional Legal Practice.
Strathclyde Law School academics will be joined in teaching the course by legal practitioners and members of the Scottish Family Business Association (SFBA). Areas it will cover include:
- resolution of disputes and mediation
- incentives for businesses’ non-family members
- funding of business.
According to SFBA, 45% of the UK's GDP is produced by family enterprises, 50% of Scotland’s private sector workforce is employed by family businesses and 25% of Europe’s 100 largest businesses are family firms.
Professor Leo Martin, Co-Director of Legal Practice Courses at Strathclyde Law School and a partner in the Glasgow law firm Giusti Martin said: “Family enterprise makes a vast contribution to the economy, not only through small-scale businesses but also major names in fields such as food, motoring and haulage.
“However, having a family influence in a business can make it quite different to those which have mainly commercial and corporate considerations- this makes it essential for them to know about how the law can support their interests and about the legal pitfalls they could face.
“We are addressing an unmet need for many businesses which will bring economic gains and will broaden the skills base of the lawyers of the future who are being trained at Strathclyde”
SFBA CEO Martin Stepek said: “I am delighted that the University of Strathclyde’s Law School is pioneering the education of law students about family enterprises. This reflects not only the innovative spirit of the law school and the University of Strathclyde in general, but the steady progress and development of deep-rooted understanding of family enterprises in Scotland.
“The launch of the family business law elective is another significant step to creating in Scotland a culture of highest-level service to family enterprises that I hope one day will be the envy of the world.”
Around 40 students have already signed up to take the class, which forms part of Strathclyde’s Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Practice. It complements a class on family business theory and practice, run by the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship in Strathclyde Business School.
Professor Martin will be joined in teaching on the course by Donnie Munro, Partner and Head of the Business Advisory department of Harper MacLeod LLP, who has written the materials for the course, and by Jamie Millar, partner with law firm Lindsays and past president of the Law Society of Scotland.
Note to Editors:
- Strathclyde’s Humanities and Social Sciences make up the largest Faculty in the University. The Faculty is delivering high quality education and internationally recognised research across a spectrum of disciplines including Law, Government and Public Policy, English, History, Languages, Social Work, Teacher Education and Psychological Sciences & Health. It is set to benefit from 10 new posts in the coming months through a major new investment in areas of strength, in addition to a £25 million package to create a new hub for the Faculty on the University’s city-centre campus. More at: www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/
- Strathclyde Business School has more than 25 years experience of delivering education in over 10 countries across four continents, has a Queen’s Award for Exports and belongs to the 1% of business schools in the world with full accreditation from the three principal international accrediting bodies, AACSB International, EQUIS and AMBA. More at: http://www.strath.ac.uk/business/
Further information:
Paul Gallagher
Communications Officer
Media and Corporate Communications
University of Strathclyde
T: + 44 (0) 141 548 2370
E: paul.gallagher@strath.ac.uk
The Law School will welcome eight new members of academic staff over the next six months as a result of the University’s major investment in strategic appointments.
Following a successful recruitment campaign last year, the Law School has attracted high quality researchers not only from across the UK and Ireland, but internationally from other European destinations. Confirmed appointments include: 2 professors, 1 reader, 1 senior lecturer, 3 lecturers and 1 postdoctoral research fellow.
The appointments are designed to enhance the Law School’s already strong Research Excellence Framework submission as well as strengthening the School’s capacity more generally and providing opportunities for the development of new courses and research groups.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law school said: ‘This is the largest single staffing investment made by the University in any of its schools in recent years. It demonstrates the commitment of the University and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences to the future of the Law School.
‘It’s an exciting time for the Law School. We attracted a very strong field and all are our new colleagues are outstanding scholars. I am delighted to welcome our new colleagues to the School and look forward to working with them in the near future’.
The full list of appointments is as follows:
Professors
Professor Nicole Busby (from University of Stirling) (Employment Law, EU Law, Discrimination Law, Human Rights)
Professor Aileen McHarg (from University of Glasgow) (Public Law, Environmental and Energy Regulation)
Reader
Dr Francesco Sindico (from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee) (International Environmental Law and World Trade Law)
Senior Lecturer
Dr Hakeem Yusuf (from Queens University, Belfast) (Legal Theory, Public Law and Criminal Law)
Lecturers
Dr Benjamin Farrand (from the European University Institute, Florence) (Intellectual Property Law, Competition Law and Contract Law)
Dr Christopher McCorkindale (from Glasgow Caledonian University) (Public Law)
Dr Stephanie Switzer (from the University of Dundee) (EU Law, World Trade Law, Environmental Law and Law of Obligations)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Alex Pastukhov (from High-Tech Law Centre, Ukraine ) (IT Law)
The appointees will take up their posts between April and July 2012.
Strathclyde University Law School was delighted to play host last week 24-26 November to the 4th UK National Mediation Competition for Law Schools. Sixteen teams participated including two from the US and one from Germany. Following a masterclass on 24th November, run by Case Ellis and Tom Valenti, two leading Chicago mediators, and our own Professor Charlie Irvine, the teams conducted three rounds of mediations. Each round was judged by experienced practitioners from throughout the UK. The competition climaxed on Saturday evening with an award ceremony at the closing dinner. There were separate awards for individuals and teams. First prize in the individual competition went to Sri Carmichael of BPP Law School, London, with BPP’s two teams picking up first and second prizes in the team awards. Strathclyde itself performed very well indeed with Hayley Gibson, a Diploma graduate from 2011 and now a trainee with HBJ Gateley Wareing in Edinburgh, being placed third equal. Carol King, Strathclyde’s reserve, was part of the third placed team overall having been asked to stand in by Drake Law School, Iowa as a result of the unavailability of one of their students.
Professor Mark Poustie Head of the Law School commented: ‘Strathclyde has played host to and participated in many mooting competitions with considerable success and I am delighted that we were able to play host to this national mediation competition and that our students performed so well. It is heartening to see the levels of student interest in mediation as a dispute resolution mechanism and the extent to which mediation is now finding its way onto UK law school curricula. This bodes well for clients having access to a wider range of appropriate dispute settlement mechanisms to suit their needs in future. Strathclyde is pleased to be playing a part in these developments not least with the launch of our MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution earlier this year and the launch of a Diploma in Professional Legal Practice elective in mediation. I am particularly grateful to my colleague, Professor Charlie Irvine for taking the initiative to host the event, to the sponsors, Core Solutions and BTO Solicitors without whose generous assistance the event would not have been possible and to the eminent judges from the US and the UK who so generously gave of their time to support the competition. Congratulations to all the participants and particularly those who won prizes.’
The full list of participating teams was as follows: BPP Law School (2 teams); City Law School, City University, London; College of Law, Bloomsbury; Christchurch University, Canterbury; Drake Law School, Iowa (USA); Glasgow Caledonian University; Kingston University, London; Lewis University, Chicago (USA); Liverpool John Moores University; Manchester Metropolitan University; Queens University, Belfast; University of Aberdeen; University of Central Lancashire (2 teams); University of Dundee; University of Edinburgh; University of Munich (Germany); and the University of Strathclyde Law School.
29 November 2011
Strathclyde Law School mooters, Erica Dickson and Frances Garratt, have defeated a team from the University of Glasgow, to win the Sheriffs’ Moot.
Held on 22 November 2011 inGlasgow Sheriff Court, the two teams made submissions on omissions to act under criminal liability before Temporary High Court Judge and Sheriff, Sean Murphy QC. In an evenly contested tie, Strathclyde were announced the winners, with Sheriff Sean Murphy QC praising their skilful handling of authorities and ability to deal with interventions from the bench.
The Sheriffs’ Moot is an annual derby moot, contested byUniversityofGlasgowandUniversityofStrathclydeover the last twenty years. The series is currently even between the two institutions, 10-10.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, commented, ‘I would like to congratulate the Strathclyde team, Erica Dickson and Frances Garratt, on their victory in the Sheriffs’ Moot on behalf of the Law School. I also wish to thank the Mooting Co-ordinator, Emma Boffey, for all her efforts in supporting and coaching the team. A Law School’s reputation comes not only from the efforts of staff but also the achievements of its students and our students have excelled in mooting in recent years in Scottish, UK and international competitions. Their success brings credit not only to themselves but also to the School and the wider University quite apart from the value of mooting in the development of students’ intellectual and professional skills. We look forward to next year’s contest with eager anticipation!’
25 November 2011
The Launch of the Centre for Internet law and Policy with a joint lecture by Lilian Edwards and Alan Winfield of UWE Bristol and noted roboticist on “Rewriting Asimov’s Three Laws? Regulating Robots" was well attended and inspired lively debate. See here for a practitioner view of the emergence of robot law!
18th November 2011.
Emma Boffey was announced as the winner of the inaugural Compass Chambers essay competition for Diploma in Professional Legal Practice students on 14 November.
Emma, a previous winner of the Head of Law School’s Prize at Strathclyde, beat entries from students at Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities to claim the £1,000 prize.
Compass Chambers set the students the task of writing an essay of no more than 2000 words on the topic: "An employer is always liable for the acts and omissions of his employees. Discuss".
Emma was the clear choice of the judging panel and was praised for her practical approach to the issue and her readable style. The panel also felt that the essay was well researched, accurate and to the point.
Emma will be presented with her prize at the Compass Chambers Annual Conference at the Balmoral Hotel, which takes place on Friday 18 November.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, commented: ‘I am delighted that Emma Boffey has won the inaugural Compass Chambers essay competition prize and would like to congratulate her on behalf of the Law School. Coming hard on the heels of recent Law School student successes in the inaugural UK Environmental Law Association Simon Ball Prize in 2010 and the Colin Donald Prize in 2011, Emma’s achievement demonstrates once again the quality of our students and what they are capable of on the national stage. I hope Emma’s achievement will serve as an inspiration to other students in the Law School.’
15 November 2011
The Law School is delighted to announce that Dr Bryan Clark has been promoted to a professorship. Professor Bryan Clark joined the Law School in 2004 as a lecturer and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2006 and reader in 2009. He previously worked as a lecturer at Heriot Watt University from 1998 and had held a number of part-time positions before then. Bryan has a BA in Legal and Administrative Studies from Robert Gordon University (1994), an LLM in Petroleum Law and Policy from the University of Dundee (1998) and a PhD from the University of Glasgow (2005).
Bryan’s current research spans the fields of company law and corporate governance as well as increasingly mediation and dispute resolution. He is co-author of Boyle and Bird’s Company Law (7th edition, Jordans, 2011) and his Mediation and Lawyers: Past Present and Future (Springer/Kluwer) is about to emerge later this year published. He is also working on the inaugural Mediation title for the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia Re-Issue which is due in 2012.
Bryan makes significant teaching contributions at under-graduate and post-graduate level in his fields and is, in his role as Programme Leader within the School, in overall charge of the Law School’s academic programmes. He has also developed a significant community of PhDs in his research fields in the last few years.
Bryan is actively involved in the mediation community and has strong external links ranging from external examining commitments at various universities through to a recent appointment as an Adjunct Professor at John Marshall Law School in Chicago in recognition of the joint Strathclyde – John Marshall Law Schools Summer Mediation School now into its third year of operation.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School commented: ‘My colleagues and I are delighted at Bryan’s promotion to a professorship. Bryan makes a very significant contribution to the life of the School in research, teaching and citizenship and I am delighted that the University has recognised this. Bryan is a very talented academic leader and I look forward to continuing to work with him into the future.’
7 November 2011
The University of Strathclyde and its Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences are making a very significant strategic staffing investment in the highly ranked Strathclyde Law School.
Up to 6 full time academic posts (including up to 2 professors and 2 senior lecturers) and a 2 year postdoctoral research fellow will be appointed as a result of the investment. In addition, part of this investment has also involved the already announced appointment of the former Lord Advocate, Dame Elish Angiolini QC, who joined the Law School as a Visiting Professor from 1 October. Further visiting appointments have also been made to strengthen ties with the legal profession and provide students with access to expertise from leading practitioners. The full-time posts will range across much of the spectrum of subjects taught at the Law School as it seeks to develop its research and teaching capacity further.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, said of the appointments: ‘The School has succeeded on a competitive basis in securing funding for these posts on the strength of its continued top quality performance. I am grateful to both the Faculty and the University for the support our bid received. I am very confident that these appointments will serve to strengthen the School, not least for its REF2014 submission and will also enhance our capacity to deliver new and existing programmes.’
These academic posts are accompanied by two visiting professor appointments. First, the former Lord Advocate, Dame Elish Angiolini QC, is leading the development of a professional masters programme in Advocacy Studies as well as making other contributions to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. The School is particularly delighted by Dame Elish’s decision to join the Law School. Secondly, Charlie Irvine, the Chair of the Scottish Mediation Network and one of Scotland’s leading mediators, is leading the new MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution which has just launched in this new academic year.
However, these new appointments come on top of a number of other key appointments over the past year and together they signify a step change in the Law School’s activities. First, Professor Lilian Edwards joined the School in January 2011 as Professor of E-Governance Law funded through the University’s John Anderson Research Leadership scheme to relaunch its interdisciplinary Centre for Internet Law and Policy and lead research in that field. Secondly, the School’s criminal justice portfolio has been much strengthened by the appointment of Emeritus Professor, Mike Nellis and senior research fellow, Dr Monica Barry who transferred to the School from the Glasgow School of Social Work. Both are highly regarded in their fields of electronic monitoring and youth justice respectively and will - along with Dame Elish Angiolini QC and other existing colleagues - be making significant contributions to the new Centre for Law, Justice and Crime which provides a focus for criminal justice research within the School and the wider University. Thirdly, the School’s connection with the profession – which is invaluable for students’ experience - has been significantly enhanced by the appointment of 3 other visiting professors: Professor Alan Susskind, partner at Harper McLeod, a family law specialist and one of the School’s senior tutors on the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice; Professor David Hoey, partner at BTO, an employment law specialist who makes a very significant contribution to the teaching of employment law at undergraduate and now Diploma level and, finally, Professor Peter Watson, senior partner at Levy & McRae who is bringing his expertise in media law matters to the School as well as supporting student mooting and mediation activities.
Professor Poustie sums up the impact of this investment: ‘Taken together, this programme of appointments is perhaps one of the most significant to occur in recent years in the Law School. My colleagues and I are excited about the opportunities which these appointments will bring. We look forward to working with our new colleagues and to achieving continued success as a top quartile UK Law School and thus enhancing further the standing of the Faculty and the University.’
Application forms and further particulars for the full-time academic posts may be obtained under references JA/147/2011, JA/148/2011, JA/149/2011 and JA/R81/2011 at https://soolin.mis.strath.ac.uk/vacancies/control/vacancyMenu.
Inquiries regarding the full-time academic posts should be directed to the Head of School, Professor Mark Poustie - +44 (0)141-548-3400; mark.poustie@strath.ac.uk.
Inquiries regarding the 2 year postdoctoral research fellow should be directed to Professor Lilian Edwards + 44(0)141-548-3332; lilian.edwards@strath.ac.uk.
The University of Strathclyde Law School has appointed the Right Honourable Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC, the former Lord Advocate, as a Visiting Professor. She will take up her post on 1 October 2011.
One of the most respected figures in the British legal establishment, Dame Elish will develop a Masters course in Advocacy Studies, which is intended to launch in 2012. She will also be involved in the teaching of undergraduate students and will have input into the Law School’s award-wining Law Clinic.
Dame Elish, who graduated from Strathclyde Law School in 1982, said: “I am delighted to be joining a very strong team in the Law School and to be returning to my roots. The opportunity to teach and support students here is very special given the wonderful teaching I experienced here 32 years ago.
“Strathclyde Law School is recognised as one of the best in the country and the cutting edge nature of the research and teaching it is involved in ensures that the graduates it produces are highly sought after. I am delighted to be able to play my part in its continued success.”
The Masters course in Advocacy is the first masters course of its kind in the UK and students will study major aspects of the discipline from forensic advocacy in criminal and civil law, mediation, as well as the fundamentals of persuasion and negotiation. It will look at advocacy from a range of angles including the construction and presentation of an argument and the psychology of persuasion.
The effects of rhetoric, voice, mechanisms for presentation of evidence and the ability of the listener to absorb and be influenced in a number of different contexts will be examined.
Dame Elish said: “Advocacy is a core skill for many professionals and this masters course will take a holistic approach to its study. It has the scope to be an inter-disciplinary course as much of the theory and many of the techniques are as applicable in the business world and boardrooms as in the courts.
“However, as well as working with masters students, it will be a privilege to get the opportunity to spend time with undergraduates and share my experience of the criminal justice system and the wider public law.”
Elish Angiolini was Lord Advocate between October 2006 and May 2011, the first woman to hold the post in 500 years and the first to serve two different governments. Prior to that she was Solicitor General and was also the first woman, the first procurator fiscal and the first solicitor to hold that post.
Among a number of awards and honours, she received an honorary doctorate from Strathclyde in 2007 and was named alumnus of the year in 2002. Earlier this year she received the International Association of Prosecutors Special Achievement Award in Korea in recognition of her achievements in the field of criminal justice both nationally and internationally. She was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Queen in May this year.
Welcoming the appointment, Professor Jim McDonald, Principal of the University of Strathclyde, said: “I am delighted that the University has been able to attract one of its most outstanding and high profile alumni to return to make a significant contribution to legal education within the Law School. The Law School has been consistently ranked as one of the top Law Schools not only in Scotland but also the UK and Dame Elish Angiolini’s appointment will enhance its reputation further. Her experience will bring a new dimension to legal education at Strathclyde.”
Since leaving office as Lord Advocate Dame Elish has joined Terra Firma Chambers and will enter civil practice at the Scots Bar later this year. She has also been appointed by the Justice Secretary to chair a Commission charged with looking at ways to reduce the number of women who re-offend and end up in prison.
The Law School is delighted to announce the appointment of Charlie Irvine, Chair of the Scottish Mediation Network, as a Visiting Professor from 1 September 2011.
Charlie Irvine is already a Visiting Lecturer at Strathclyde Law School and an Adjunct Professor at John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He has played a lead role (along with Dr Bryan Clark) in developing the PgCert and now MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution at Strathclyde. Charlie will lead the new MSc which is about to be launched this autumn. It is an exciting interdisciplinary programme focusing on both the theory and practical skills training in mediation and other forms of alternative (ie non-court) dispute resolution (ADR). Charlie has also been instrumental in developing a joint Strathclyde- John Marshall Law School mediation summer school which has now had two very successful years. He has also published on mediation in both professional and refereed journals and has just been invited to be a regular contributor to the Kluwer International Mediation blog.
Charlie’s role will also encompass lecturing on Alternative Dispute Resolution to LLB students, developing a Mediation elective for the new Diploma in Professional Legal Practice and providing support on mediation for the Law School’s award-winning Clinic.
Welcoming the appointment, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said, ‘I am delighted that the University has appointed Charlie Irvine as a Visiting Professor. This is appropriate recognition for Charlie’s very significant input into the Law School over the last few years and in particular his leading role, along with Dr Bryan Clark, in developing the Pg Certificate and now the MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution. The appointment also recognises Charlie’s status within the mediation profession. My colleagues and I look forward to continuing to work with Charlie in the future.’
1 September 2011
The Law School is delighted to announce that it has secured a PhD studentship endowed by the Horizons Institute based at Nottingham University under the UK Research Councils Digital Economy funding programme. The successful candidate for the studentship will research the area of how the law regulates the transmission of digital assets on death, including notions of access, control, propertisation, and ownership. These assets might include: Facebook profiles, photos on Flickr, tweets, virtual assets in online game worlds such as Second Life, e-money, blog texts, eBay trading accounts, etc. This is a novel area where the student will be expected to research independently into appropriate areas of private law (eg property, succession, probate, contract) as well as intellectual property law, personality law and privacy law. The PhD will be supervised by Lilian Edwards, recently appointed Professor of e-Governance.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, commented, ‘I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of my colleague, Professor Lilian Edwards, in securing this prestigious PhD studentship in an under-researched but very interesting and increasingly significant field. We look forward to receiving suitably qualified applications’. To apply for the studentship, see - http://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/lawschool/news/phdstudentship/. The deadline for applications is 16 September 2011.
15 August 2011
Strathclyde Law School mooting team, Andrew Ross and Mark Leiser, beat both Cambridge and Exeter Universities but narrowly lost to City University in the four-team final of the English Law OUP/BPP UK mooting competition in London on 30 June.
Reflecting on the competition team member Mark Leiser said, ‘The OUP mooting competition has given us the opportunity to compete against the best Universities in the country. While challenging, not least as it involved having to learn English legal principles, it is clear that the skills set taught at Strathclyde which focus on how to research and analyse the law rather than just telling students what the law is proving extremely beneficial. I am grateful for the opportunity and experience and am thrilled that Strathclyde 's mooting programme stands shoulder to shoulder alongside the most elite universities in the UK.’
Commenting on the team’s performance, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School said, ‘This is a splendid achievement by our team and I would like to congratulate both Andrew Ross and Mark Leiser. This is the first time Strathclyde has reached the finals of this competition and although our team lost by the narrowest of margins to City University, it is a credit to them that they bettered no fewer than 62 teams in this UK competition and that they performed so well in English Law. The Law School is very proud of their performance. It again demonstrates the excellence of our students and what they are capable of.’
4 July 2011
Patricia Kerr, a final year LLB Honours student, has won this year’s prestigious Colin Donald Award for Environmental Law 2011which is offered by the National Trust for Scotland.
Patricia won the prize on the basis of an LLB Honours essay which she submitted to the organisers. The Chairman of the National Trust for Scotland, Sir Kenneth Calman, wrote ‘There were a number of strong submissions for the award this year but the judging panel was unanimous in its choice of your essay on a risk based approach to environmental regulation as the winning contribution. The panel was particularly impressed by the lucidity of your presentation and your grasp of principles in this area’.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, commented, ‘Following on the success of Strathclyde graduate Elizabeth Muir in last year’s Simon Ball Environmental Law Essay Competition organised by the UK Environmental Law Association, it is extremely gratifying that one of this year’s Honours students, Patricia Kerr, has won the Colin Donald Award with one of her Environmental Law Honours essays. My congratulations to Patricia. This is a further demonstration of the excellent capabilities of our students and I hope it will serve as an inspiration to others to enter these or similar competitions’.
The annual Colin Donald Award was launched in 2008 by the National Trust for Scotland charity, in partnership with leading law firm McGrigors LLP and The University of Glasgow. The prize is given in honour of the lawyer, the late Colin Donald, who had a distinguished association with the Trust, McGrigors LLP and the University, spanning a period of four decades.
The prize is a 4 week summer placement involving 2 weeks at McGrigors and 2 weeks at the legal department of the National Trust for Scotland.
21 June 2011
Professor Donald Nicolson, the Director of the Law School’s Law Clinic, was made an OBE for his services to the legal profession and leading Law School alumnus and former Lord Advocate, the Right Honourable Elish Angiolini QC, was made a Dame of the British Empire for services to the administration of justice in Scotland in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List announced on 11 June 2011.
Commenting on the Honours, Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, ‘The Law School is absolutely delighted by this double recognition in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Professor Nicolson has been responsible for promoting the whole notion of law clinics in Scotland both in terms of their educational value and their value as an alternative means of providing effective legal services to the community. Strathclyde Law Clinic which Professor Nicolson founded and directs is the first and largest such Clinic in Scotland and has gone from strength to strength under his leadership. It has increasingly begun to be seen as a key feature of legal education at Strathclyde which marks out the Law School from other Law Schools. This will be reinforced by the forthcoming introduction of the Clinical LLB which will be a unique offering in Scotland. Professor Nicolson has inspired a whole generation of students and their perspective and enhanced skills will make a positive impact on the legal profession. The benefits of Professor Nicolson’s contribution to both legal education and the community cannot be overstated.
We are also immensely proud that Elish Angiolini QC, one of our leading alumni, has been honoured for services to the administration of justice in Scotland. Elish was the first woman to hold the posts of Solicitor General and Lord Advocate and in her role did much to modernise the criminal justice system. It is a tribute to her that her abilities were recognised by both the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition and SNP administrations. Elish has remained committed to the Law School throughout her career, notably opening the Law School’s facilities in the Lord Hope Building in 2007 and strongly supporting the Law Clinic. The Law School looks forward to developing further links with Elish in the near future.
The Law School is delighted to announce that its revised LLB programmes and new Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (DPLP, the replacement for the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice) have been accredited by the Law Society of Scotland for 4 years from the start of 2011-12. The revised LLBs and the new DPLP are designed to meet the Law Society’s new legal education requirements. The LLB programmes include the full-time, part-time, Graduate Entry, Law and a Modern Language and the new Clinical LLB. The new DPLP is available from 2011-12 on a full-time or part-time basis with the part-time variant being offered in association with CLT (Scotland). It builds on the award-winning transactional learning-based model developed over the last decade at Strathclyde and contains a wide range of electives which are being offered following extensive consultation with the legal profession as to what employers are looking for.
Professor Mark Poustie, Head of the Law School, stated, ‘I am very pleased with the successful outcome of our accreditation applications. This demonstrates the confidence the Law Society has in our programmes going forward into the future. We will be continuing to offer a distinctive and flexible suite of LLB programmes including the new Clinical LLB which involves credit for work-based reflective learning in the Law Clinic which provides free services for members of the public who are ineligible for Legal Aid and who cannot otherwise afford legal services. In addition our new DPLP has been designed to meet not only the Law Society’s requirements but also the requirements of employers in today’s legal profession. In this context the Complete University Guide ranked the Law School as 14th out of 94 Law Schools in the UK in April 2011 and notably the Law School scored higher on the employability of its graduates than any Law School ranked above it in these rankings bar Oxford. Our newly accredited programmes will help to cement this high graduate employability ranking. Finally, I would particularly like to commend the efforts of Dr Bryan Clark, the Law School Programme Leader and Ms Karen Barton, the Academic Director of our Professional Practice courses for their efforts in leading the accreditation processes.’
