Event Archive

Women In Justice

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, FRSA

Centre for Law, Crime & Justice 

Monday 14th November 5.30-8pm

In the Chair: Dr Frances McMenamin, QC.

One of the virtues of modern justice systems is legal equality. Yet in a world where women's and men's experience tends to be so different, do (and can) universal notions of justice hold true? How, if at all, are women written into the law, treated by the law, and judged before the law? Are universal standards of behaviour and rationality in reality male standards?  

And in a system traditionally dominated by men and male norms, how do women working in the justice system fare? 

In this John Fitzsimons Memorial Lecture Baroness Helena Kennedy QC will address these and other questions.

Helena Kennedy is one of Britain's most distinguished lawyers and active public figures. She has spent her professional life giving voice to those who have least power within the system, championing civil liberties and promoting human rights.

The Guilt of Innocence

Tuesday 1^st November 2016

In the Chair: Lucy Adams, Political Correspondent, BBC

• Why do wrongful convictions keep happening?
• What should be done?

In what will be an unforgettable evening, hear first-hand the compelling stories of four people wrongly convicted and imprisoned:

Sunny Jacobs: on death row for 17 years .

Peter Pringle: on death row for 14 years

Paddy Hill: imprisoned for 16 years

Robert Brown: imprisoned for 25 years

Join the panel-led discussion to address:

• How does a system based on due process continue to convict the innocent?
• When you are wrongly convicted why is it so difficult to clear your name?
• What is to be done?

Dr Rhonda Wheate, Centre for Law, Crime & Justice and The Law Clinic, Strathclyde Law School.

Paul McLaughlin, MoJo

Sheriff Gerry Sinclair, Chief Executive, Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission

Jimmy Boyle, Exoneree

Professor Cyrus Tata, Centre for Law, Crime & Justice, Strathclyde Law School.

Registration and tea/coffee served from 4.40pm.  Event 5-8.30pm (including refreshments) 

All welcome. The event is free of charge but booking is essential.

4 Hours CPD for most professions 

In association with the Strathclyde Law Clinic, BBC

 

Drug & Alcohol Courts

Thursday 6^th October 2016 6.15-8pm

Glasgow SASO Seminar

Guest Speakers:

Sheriff Frank Crowe, Edinburgh Sheriff Court

Sheriff Lindsay Wood, Glasgow Sheriff Court 

Venue: St George’s Tron, 163 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 2JX. Map

Audience Q&A. Refreshments available from 6.15 pm.

All welcome. To book your place:

e: info@sastudyoffending.org.uk   t: 01796 473556  

Members and Non-Members Welcome 1½ hours of CPD time may be claimed by Advocates, Solicitors, Police, CJSW

Suggested contribution towards cost of event £5 (£1 student/unwaged) 

Conviction and Sentencing: Truth, Legitimacy and Justice

Seminar

Wednesday 3^rd August 2016 10am-5pm

Strathclyde University,

• Welcome & Introductions –Cyrus Tata (Strathclyde University)
• Stewart Field (Cardiff University):  Truth-Finding and the Adversarial Tradition:  what do miscarriage of justice tell us?
• Tom O’Malley (National University of Ireland, Galway): Remedial Sentencing: Penalty Adjustments for Human Rights Violations
• Jay Gormely (Strathclyde University): Guilty Plea Research in Scotland
• Prof Cyrus Tata (Strathclyde University): The Meaning of the Sentence
• Javier Velasquez (Glasgow University and Prosecution Service of Chile):Researching Sentencing and Judicial Culture 

 

‘Radicalisation’: Understanding and Responding to Radicalisation

Thursday 3rd March 2016

6.30 pm – 8.00 pm

St George’s Tron, 163 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 2JX

Glasgow SASO Seminar

How should we understand and respond to 'radicalisation'.  What challenges does it pose?  

The new Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 now places a specific duty, in effect, on a wide range of professionals (within and beyond the justice system) to ‘prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’? How will this work and what will it mean in practice for bodies such as universities, law courts, prisons, and social work? And how are terms like 'radicalisation'  'extremism' to be defined and applied in practice? 

In the Chair: John Cuddihy ( Former Detective Chief Superintendent and Head of Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism, Police Scotland)

Dr Nasar Meer (Reader in Comparative Social Policy and Citizenship, Strathclyde University)

The Power of Apology: the Future of Apology in Civil & Criminal Justice

Wednesday 24^th February 2016 5.30 for 6pm Strathclyde University

In the Chair: Sheriff WS Ireland

Professor Prue Vines, University of New South Wales Law School, Australia

Mary Munro, Senior Visiting Fellow, Centre for Law, Crime & Justice, Strathclyde Law School

Apologising for wrongs is a normal part of healthy social interaction.  Yet does the legal system tend to obstruct apology? If so, what are the implications for all parties?

Recent legislation in both the civil and criminal justice spheres has led to new interest in how apology can be facilitated. What will this new legislation mean and where should Scotland go from here?

When legislators protect such apologies in an attempt to maintain normal social civility in the hope of preventing litigation we must ask whether the apology is affected by law in such a way as to merely become a cynical PR device. Apology is also used as a remedy in criminal law (e.g. Restorative Justice), but is this also a cynical PR exercise? Is there something of value in any apology, even in a court-ordered apology? What does and should the future hold for the role of apology in civil and criminal justice?

Prue Vines is Professor of Law at University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia , where she is Co-Director of the Private Law Research and Policy Group. She has also been Visiting Professor at Strathclyde University Law School since 2006. She is a leading expert on the role of apology in the justice system, as well as in tort and succession law. She has advised Law Reform Commissions and Governments in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand. The author most recently of Law & Justice in Australia (OUP) she is also the author of numerous books and articles on torts and succession and co-editor of the latest edition of Fleming on Tort Law.  Her work on apology draws on a range of disciplinary perspectives, including psychology (in which she originally studied and worked), sociology and philosophy. 

Mary Munro is Senior Visiting Fellow at CLCJ, Law School. She is a founder member of the RJ Forum Scotland and teaches RJ on the LLM / MSc in Criminal Justice & Penal Change at Strathclyde.  She is also editor of Scottish Justice Matters. Before moving to Scotland in 1992 she was a probation officer having originally qualified and practised as a solicitor.

The End of Short Prison Sentences?

The End of Short Prison Sentences?

Thursday 3^rd December 2015 6.15-8pm

Glasgow SASO

• In the Chair: The Hon Lady Rae, QC, High Court of Justiciary 

• Professor Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology & Social Work, Glasgow University
• Bruce Milne / Sean McKendrick, Social Work Scotland
• Professor Cyrus Tata, Professor of Law & Criminal Justice, Strathclyde University
• Speaker on Victims’ Perspectives

The Panel will lead a discussion with the audience about the Scottish Government’s current consultation about extending the presumption against short prison sentences from three to 12 months.  The consultation closes on 16^th December.

Issues are expected to include: sentencing practice, public safety, public confidence, reducing reoffending, community penalties

Venue: St George’s Tron, 163 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 2JX. Map

Audience Q&A. CPD. SASO Meeting.  Suggested voluntary contribution towards cost of event £5 (£1 student/unwaged). Refreshments available from 6.15 pm  

All welcome. To book your place:

e: info@sastudyoffending.org.uk   t: 01796 473556

Sentencing Cultures Research Workshop

Strathclyde University Centre for Law, Crime & Justice

Sentencing Cultures Research Workshop

Wednesday 4^th November 2015

Strathclyde University 

11.00-11.10	Welcome & Introductions – Prof Cyrus Tata (Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice)
11.10-11.50	Dr Fiona Jamieson (Edinburgh University): New Directions in Judicial Culture: the evolving role of Scottish Sheriffs
11.55-12.50	Jay Gormley (Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice): Sentencing and Guilty Pleas
12.50-14.15	Lunch
14.15-14.55	Javier Velasquez (Glasgow University and Prosecution Service of Chile):  Exploring Sentencing Patterns within Scottish Sheriffdoms
1500-1555	Judge Supakit Yampracha (Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice and Judiciary of Thailand): Why do Thai Judges Use Imprisonment so Much?
1600	Close

Restorative Justice Seminar

Tuesday 6th October 2-3.45pm

Restorative Justice Options for Victims of Sexual Violence

Dr Bronwyn Naylor, Law Faculty, Monash University, Australia

Venue: Strathclyde University Lord Hope Building 227A

Most victims of sexual violence choose not to participate in the formal criminal justice system. Despite years of important reforms to law and evidence it seems unlikely that the criminal justice system will be able to offer an effective response to many cases of sexual violence, particularly where the case relies primarily on the victim’s own report. In this seminar I will outline the development of a community-based restorative justice intervention by a major Australian Centre Against Sexual Assault and its planned evaluation by Monash University academics.  

Dr Bronwyn Naylor is an Associate Professor in the Law Faculty at Monash University, Victoria, Australia, with degrees in Arts and Law from Monash University and a doctorate in Criminology from Cambridge University. She has been teaching, researching and publishing in criminal law, corrections, regulation, and criminal justice and gender for over 20 years.

Disclosure of Criminal History Debate Thursday 8th October 6.15-8pm

Debate Motion: This House Believes that the Increased Use of Disclosure of Criminal History is in the Public Interest

In the Chair: Rosemary Agnew, Scottish Information Commissioner

Proposing the Motion: 

Graeme Person MSP Justice Spokesperson (Lab)

Dr Marsha Scott, Chief Executive of Scottish Women’s Aid

Against the Motion:

Chris Stacey (Unlock, England & Wales)

Maggie Mellon (Independent Consultant and Vice-Chair British Association of Social Workers)

Issues of public safety, employment, reintegration, human rights will be debated in this public debate. It also coincides with an on-going review by the Government into the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act

Venue: St George’s Tron, 163 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 2JX. Map

Audience Q&A. CPD. SASO Debate.  Suggested contribution towards cost of event £5 (£1 student/unwaged). Refreshments available from 6.15 pm  

All welcome. To book your place:

e: info@sastudyoffending.org.uk   t: 01796 473556   w: www.sastudyoffending.org.uk

Research into the Dynamics and Regulation of Compliance within a Criminal Justice Context

Monica Barry, Beth Weaver, Kristina Moodie and Laura Piacentini of the Centre for Law, Crime and Justice undertook research into the dynamics and regulation of compliance within a criminal justice context, with a grant from ESRC of £260,000 (ES/J02340X/1).  The study involved face to face 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 were to 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. 

As part of the dissemination activities for this ESRC funded research, the Centre for Law, Crime and Justice hosted three workshops and a conference which explored the dynamics of compliance and breach from the perspective of both service users involved in the Criminal Justice system in Scotland and the professionals tasked with their management, rehabilitation and reintegration. These events were well attended by policy makers, practitioners, service users and academics from a wide variety of disciplines other than criminal justice social work, such as the legal profession, Police Scotland, Parole Board for Scotland, Department of Work and Pensions, third sector homelessness and employment organisations and Audit Scotland.

As well as the four conference presentations accessible below, the events enabled this broad range of stakeholders to come together to discuss and resolve common concerns around compliance, punishment, risk management, desistance, rehabilitation and reintegration.

The presentations below include Professor Tony Bottoms talking about the mechanisms of compliance, Dr Beth Weaver exploring the similarities and differences between professionals tasked with regulating compliance, Dr Monica Barry highlighting the hopes and concerns of offenders subject to social work supervision as part of their sentence, and Professor Fergus McNeill drawing the key themes of the conference together and suggesting new ways of understanding compliance in future policy, practice and research. 

The exploitation of the vulnerable - how the law protects the dignity of vulnerable individuals

Conference

Thursday 14^th May 2015 1-7.30pm, Strathclyde University

The Conference Chair:  Kirsty Wark, Broadcaster, Journalist and Writer

Kirsty Wark is one of Britain's most experienced television journalists. She has presented a wide range of programmes over the past twenty seven years - from the ground breaking Late Show to Election specials, live stadium events and, since 1993, the BBC's flagship nightly current affairs TV show Newsnight.

The Speakers Include:

• Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, Police Scotland : Major Crime and Public Protection
• Robert Fyfe, Social Work Practice Teacher and former senior Social Work Manager:  Appropriate Adults and Child Protection
• Katy McFarlane, Solicitor, former Head of Child Law Centre & University of Edinburgh:  Child Protection, Child & Family Law
• Iain Logan, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service:  Human Trafficking & Exploitation (Scotland) Bill
• Mhairi McGowan, Head of Service for ASSIST & Domestic Abuse Services within Community Safety Glasgow: Dignity and Protection – Equally Safe? Domestic Abuse
• Doosuur Zasha, Dignity Alert & Research Forum (DARF) Board: Awareness of Female Genital Mutilation

Q&A and Audience Discussion.

Glasgow SASO 2015 Annual Conference.   Delegate Rates: £90.  £25 (students/unwaged)

Conference Venue: Strathclyde University, Glasgow City Centre.

Who will participate in the conference?   Judiciary, Police, Prosecutors, Advocates, Solicitors, Academics, Students, CJAs, Prison Service Managers, Social Workers, Psychologists, Children’s Panel Members, Scottish Government, Third Sector, etc.

CPD for most professionals including: Advocates, Solicitors, Police, Children’s Panel & Social Work 

ALL WELCOME but booking is essential.

To book your place contact: Irene Cameron

E: info@sastudyoffending.org.uk

t:  01796 473556

Media: Shaping Perceptions, Politics and Punishment

5.30pm on Tuesday 21 April 2015

A Howard League Scotland and Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice Event

Collins Building, University of Strathclyde

Chair: Sheriff Alistair Duff, Director, Judicial Institute for Scotland

Speakers:

Professor Yvonne Jewkes, University of Leicester

Rt Hon Henry McLeish, former First Minister

Stephen Naysmith, social affairs correspondent at The Herald

Co-sponsored by the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for the Study of Law, Crime and Justice, this event is free of charge to attend and open to all. 

 

Soft Vengeance: Justice Albie Sachs in Conversation

Tuesday 2nd December 2014 

Strathclyde Centre for Law, Crime & Justice

This Nelson Mandela-Oliver Tambo lecture also inaugurates Justice Sachs’ appointment as Visiting Professor at Strathclyde University Law School.

By anyone’s standards, Albie Sachs’ life has been truly inspirational.

Born in Johannesburg, Albie Sachs worked as an Advocate defending people charged under racist statutes and repressive security laws under South African Apartheid. Sachs himself was raided by the security police, subject to banning orders restricting his movement, and eventually placed in solitary confinement without trial for two prolonged spells of detention and torture.

In 1988, while in exile in Mozambique, a bomb was placed under his car by South African security agents causing the loss of his right arm and the sight of one eye.

After recovering from the bomb, he devoted himself to preparations for a new democratic Constitution for South Africa. Sachs was one of the chief architects of the widely-admired post-apartheid constitution, and a persuasive advocate for the inclusion of a Bill of Rights and an independent judiciary in the new constitution. 

Following the first democratic election in 1994, Sachs was appointed by President Nelson Mandela to the new Constitutional Court, where he served until 2009. His judgements have been widely admired as among the most progressive and thought-provoking in the world.

An internationally acclaimed author, Albie Sachs is a brilliant speaker.

In this Nelson Mandela-Oliver Tambo Lecture, Albie Sachs discusses the award-winning documentary film Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa.

Refreshments served from 5.15pm. Film Screening and Discussion 5.45-8pm followed by reception

All welcome. The event is free of charge but booking is essential. 

CPD for most professions

Mainstreaming Problem Solving Justice?

Re-thinking Courts, Children’s Hearings, Health and Community Justice

Friday 31^st October 2014

How should multiple and inter-related human problems be addressed? Practitioners have long been aware of the inter-play between health, legal and childcare problems. Should these problems continue to be dealt with in isolation from each other? Or is there a ‘smarter’ way of working?

Advocates of Problem-Solving Justice argue for a multi-disciplinary approach. Is this desirable and can it work? While there have been numerous examples of this model working effectively in small scale pilots, should it be extended? If so, how?

Strathclyde University’s Centre for Law, Crime & Justice invites you to attend this event, which will draw on international and local experience and explore some of the key opportunities and challenges in the fields of the courts, care proceedings, and health and community justice.

In the Chair: Sheriff Brian Kearney  

Speakers include:

• Judge Russell F Canan, Washington DC, USA
• Sheriff Lindsay Wood, Glasgow Drug Court
• Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People
• Sophie Kershaw, Service Manager, Family Drug and Alcohol Court & Coram, London
• Neil Hunter, Chief Executive, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration
• Jackie Robeson, Senior Solicitor, Clan Childlaw
• Phil Bowen, Centre for Justice Innovation, London

4½ CPD hours are available for main professions. 10-4pm. 

Click here for more information

Crime, Justice and the Community SASO Conference

Friday 14th - Saturday 15th November 2014

Dunblane

In the Chair: The Hon Lady Rae, High Court/Court of Session Judge

Speakers include:

• Prof Sir Harry Burns (Strathclyde University and former Chief Medical Officer): 'Is Crime a Health Issue?' 

• Professor Mike Nellis, Centre for Law, Crime and Justice, Strathclyde Law School ‘The concept of community justice’ 

• Justina Murray, Chief Officer, South West Community Justice Authority 

• Lesley Thomson, QC, Solicitor General for Scotland 

• Hans Dominicus, Head of Federal Unit, Ministry of Justice, Belgium 

• Andrew Bruce, Deputy Director for Community Justice, Scottish Government 

• Sheriff Lindsay Wood (Glasgow Sheriff Court) 

• Sharon Stirrat (Shine Women’s Mentoring Service), 

• Rhona Hotchkiss (Governor, Dumfries Prison) 

• Catherine Dyer, The Crown Agent (Prosecution Service) : ‘Prosecution decisions in the public interest’ – Interactive Session using Hypothetical cases to explore prosecution decision-making 

• The Rt Hon Henry McLeish (former First Minister for Scotland): ‘What next? Justice after the Referendum’

Full rates £80-£365.  Heavily discounted student rate: £38

Policing Public Debate: Stop and Search

Thursday 2nd October 2014 6.15pm

In the Chair: The Rt Hon Lord Bonomy

“This House Believes that Stop and Search Should be Placed on a Statutory Footing”

For the Motion: John Adamson, Scottish Human Rights Commission and Kath Murray, Edinburgh University

Against the Motion: Graeme Pearson MSP and Professor Ross Deuchar, University of West of Scotland

SASO debate.  Attendance is FREE. Refreshments from 6.15pm debate 6.30-8pm.

Venue: Police Scotland, Pitt Street, Glasgow City Centre, G2 4JS

ALL Welcome. CPD for Advocates, Solicitors, Police, CJSWs, Panel Members 

To book a place: Irene.cameron1@ntlworld.com or info@sastudyoffending.org.uk

Children: Offending and Offended Against

8^th May 2014, 1pm -7pm

Glasgow SASO Annual Conference 2014

Conference Chair: The Rt Hon Professor Lord Hope of Craighead KT, Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court (ret), former Lord Justice General and Lord President, Scotland and Strathclyde University Law School

• Professor Sir Harry Burns, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland and Professor of Global Public Health, University of Strathclyde
• Sue Berelowitz, Deputy Commissioner for Children, England & Wales
• Lars Wallinder, Ministry of Justice, Sweden
• Professor Lesley McAra, Chair of Penology, Head of Law School, University of Edinburgh
• Malcolm Schaeffer, Head of Practice and Policy, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration

Glasgow SASO 2014 Annual Conference.   Delegate Rates: £25 (students/unwaged), £60- £90

CPD for most professions  

Members of the following groups will participate: Judiciary; Police; COPFS; Advocates Solicitors; Academics Students; CJAs Prison Service Social Work Clinical Psychologists Children’s Panel Members Scottish Government Third Sector, Students.

ALL WELCOME but places limited

Conference Venue: Police Scotland, Pit Street,  Glasgow City Centre, G2 4JS. Click here for a map

To book your place contact: Irene Cameron, E: info@sastudyoffending.org.uk

t: 0141 560 4092 f: 0141 560 4092. 

Criminal Justice and Electronic Monitoring: Re-Imagining the Future

Community Supervision and GPS Tracking: What Should Scotland Do? Thursday 21st November 2013 6.15pm

Speaker: Judge Silke Eilzer, Germany and Hesse Ministry of Justice

In the Chair: Sheriff Tom Welsh QC, Judicial Institute (tbc)

Rapid advances in technology to monitor and track human movement demand urgent answers to fundamental questions about its use in the criminal justice system.

How should Electronic Monitoring be harnessed? What should, (and should it not), be used for? What does it mean for the future of sentencing and the delivery of community penalties? And above all, can EM be used to support not only ‘efficiency’ but also fairness and humanity?  

The Scottish government is currently undertaking a public consultation on the future direction of electronic monitoring, including the use of GPS tracking for certain categories of people. 

Judge Silke Eilzer is an experienced German Judge. Currently seconded to the Hessian Ministry of Justice as a Section Head for Electronic Monitoring, Judge Eilzer oversees not only the operation of EM in the state of Hesse, but also the implementation of the new nationwide GPS Tracking scheme.  She also has responsibility in Hesse for mutual legal assistance, victim support, narcotics law and law governing sexual offences.

Lecture followed by Q&A and discussion and reception

Collins Building, Strathclyde University 6.15-7.30pm Thursday 21st November. Registration and Refreshments from 5.45pm