One-day conferences

The SLSA is keen to sponsor one-day conferences of interest to the socio-legal community. One-day conferences should be self-funding, although the SLSA is prepared to underwrite them to a limited extent and provide endorsement. We would like to hear from you if you have an idea for a one-day conference. Please contact the SLSA chair or a member of the SLSA Executive Committee for an informal discussion.

There are four one-day conferences planned for 2012.

Details of past events can be found below.

 

 

Past one-day conferences

Exploring the 'socio' of socio-legal studies

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London, 3 November 2010

The conference provided an opportunity to explore the meanings and implications of the ‘socio’ aspect of socio-legal studies, and to lay out potential pathways for future study.

Dermot Feenan and Susan Silbey

The conference offered an opportunity to consider a range of questions. Does the ‘socio’ connote the ‘social’ or ‘society’, and what are the implications of those connotations in an era of rapid change? Which social groups or societies have been privileged (and which subordinated), and what are implications for the preoccupation with the human individual or group for contextual legal analysis of inter-species relations or ecology? Does the ‘socio’ abbreviate the word ‘sociological’ or stand in, more broadly, for the phrase ‘social sciences’, and what are the effects of adopting either approach?

How might social theory, sociology or other aspects of social sciences inform, or better inform, analysis of law, legal institutions and other objects of legal studies? What is the relationship between the ‘socio’ and the ‘legal’? Why are these issues important conceptually, theoretically, and empirically to socio-legal scholarship? Do developments in late modernity, such as consumerism, globalisation, or neo-liberalism, pose fresh challenges that the ‘socio’ must address?

How, if at all, do themes abounding the ‘socio’ in early twenty-first-century scholarship, such as terrorism or security, create opportunities for new perspectives on the ‘legal’? What are implications for the outputs and impacts of socio-legal scholarship in addressing these questions? In what ways do socio-legal researchers communicate beyond their readers to a broader audience, and should a commitment to the ‘socio’ entail an obligation to make social impact and if so how?

Speakers

  • Susan S Silbey, MIT, USA
  • Professor John Clarke, Open University
  • ProfessorNicola Lacey, LSE
  • Professor Sally Munt, University of Sussex
  • Professor Reza Banakar, University of Westminster
  • Professor Panu Minkkinen, University of Leicester
  • Professor David Nelken, University of Macerata and Cardiff University
  • Professor Alan Norrie, University of Warwick
  • Dr Julia JA Shaw, De Montfort University
  • Professor Hilary Sommerlad, University of Leicester
  • Dr Jacqueline Vel and Adriaan Bedner, Leiden University

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Equality, human rights and good relations: evidence-based interventions and policy making

Liverpool Law School, 21 May 2009

This one-day conference was hosted by the SLSA and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). It took place on 21 May at the Foresight Centre, University of Liverpool.

The aims of the conference were:

  • to act as a sounding board for the commission and the wider research and policy community on the implications of the commission’s three-year strategy from a research perspective
  • to explore what the research community can deliver in areas which will assist the work of the commission
  • to explore what the research strategy and contribution of the commission itself will/should be given the EHRC objective to become a centre of excellence in evidence-based policy making and research.

For more information, the conference details and programme are still available for downloading.

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Socio-legal studies and the humanities

In 2006 the Socio-Legal Studies Association adopted a new strap-line for the association: ‘Where law meets the social sciences and humanities’. This conference, held on 5 November 2008 at the Insitute for Advanced Legal Studies, London, provided a forum for discussion and exchange of information specifically on the relationship between the humanities and socio-legal studies.

Keynote Speaker: Melanie L Williams, Professor of Literary Jurisprudence, School of Law, Exeter University, author of Secrets and Laws – Collected essays: true tales of law, lives and literature.

The conference abstracts and final programme are available:

Academic Coordinator: Dermot Feenan, University of Ulster, School of Law: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , tel +44 (0) 8 9036 6374.

A full report was published in the Socio-Legal Newsletter (SLN 57:2, spring 2009).

SLSA grant-writing workshop

Led by Professor Sally Wheeler and Professor John Morrison of Queen's University Belfast

This one-day conference on 6 February 2008 at Birkbeck, London, provided an overview of the ESRC large and small grants application process and was also an opportunity for some discussion of AHRC study leave applications. It took the form of a guided discussion using the ESRC application forms as its starting point and was intended for those yet to apply for funding or who had previoulsy applied without success.

The conference organiser was This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Exeter University.

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Justice, power and law: in pursuit of development

This event took place at Birkbeck, London, on 10 December 2007. The theory and practice of global law and development have changed dramatically in recent years.  The aim of this one-day conference was to start mapping the emerging scholarly landscape of 21st century 'law and development' and to bring the members of its community together.

The theme stressed justice and power, for the legitimacy of the transnational institutions that shape development policy, of struggles over natural resources, and of the private sector's role in generating the public interest are ever more to the forefront.  Moreover, the issues at the heart of the three sessions have over the last 15 years become more and more legally embedded, whether through transnational regulation, international human rights, global administrative law, competing international treaty regimes or codes of conduct.  The time is ripe for legal scholars interested in this field to build on empirical work, and for social scientists to delve more deeply into the legal dimensions of economic and social development worldwide.

Documents

Some of the papers presented at the conference are available as Powerpoint presentations.

  • Julio Faundez, The World Bank's Dilemma: Rule of law promotion or doing business
    Powerpoint
  • Andreas Kotsakis, Locality of Tension: The entry of community into biodiversity
    Powerpoint
  • Fiona Macmillan, Development, Cultural Self-Determination and the World Trade Organization
    Powerpoint
  • June McLauglin, Dispute Resolution at African Stock Exchanges
    Powerpoint
  • Valentina Sara Vadi, International Knowledge Governance and Investment Agreements: The case of access to medicines
    pdf of article published in the Journal of World Investment and Trade

Examining text books

This conference took place on 3 October 2007 at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London. It provided an opportunity for discussion by participants of a number of important topics relating to the production and use of law textbooks. Sessions included:

  • What are textbooks for?
  • Should we write textbooks?
  • Do we need textbooks?
  • Textbooks and the RAE
  • Different kinds of textbooks (interactive textbooks, cases and materials, textbooks for non-lawyers)

A number of textbook writers attended to act as facilitators, including:

Anthony Bradney (Keele University)
Helen Carr (University of Kent)
Fiona Cownie (Keele University)
Kate Malleson (Queen Mary, University of London)
Linda Mulcahy (Birkbeck, University of London)
Sally Wheeler (Queen’s University Belfast)

Representatives of all the major textbook publishers also participated.

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New ethical challenges in socio-legal research

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , University of Exeter, summarises the complex issues, of great relevance to active socio-legal researchers, covered at this important and timely conference. This report was first published in SLN 44:7–8.

The SLSA one-day conference on new ethical challenges in socio-legal research at the University of Westminster in September certainly provided delegates with much to think about. The conference, opened by Andy Boon (Westminster), explored a range of ethical issues which are changing the parameters within which socio-legal research can be conducted. Rosemary Jay, of Masons and former Chief Advisor to the Data Protection Registrar, considered the impact of the Data Protection Act 1998 which, as she pointed out, is human rights legislation and ‘is based on the fundamental assumption that to hold and use personal information about another living individual is to invade, in however slight a way, that individual’s autonomy and privacy and must thus be justified in the first instance and conducted with due regard for fairness and the rights of that individual’. Individuals have a basic right to control information about themselves. The Act, operating in conjunction with the Article 8 convention right to respect for private and family life, and a right to confidence, raises some serious issues for researchers who collect and hold in a structured filing system personal data – that is information relating to a living individual – particularly if that information is considered ‘sensitive’ and/or collected covertly. Researchers need to be aware of the implications of the Act and, as a general rule, notice that personal data is being collected must be given to all research subjects who can then object. Where the personal data is sensitive – which includes information on ethnic or racial origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, physical or mental health, trade union membership and sexual health – informed consent is needed unless an exemption can be claimed. There are some exemptions which assist socio-legal research. Where there is anonomysation of sensitive personal data by researchers in a way that prevents re-identification of the individual (which is of course good research practice), the research subject may not have to be given access to the data, but this process may not avoid other requirements of the Act. A data protection checklist for researchers has been devised by Rosemary Jay and is now on the SLSA website as an appendix to her paper. What became clear in the discussion was that, whilst investigative journalism is considered a special purpose (s 3) which escapes the rigours of the Act, academic research has no such special treatment and, on a strict interpretation, covert research – arguably in some circumstances the only possible way to pursue a legitimate research idea (see for example Holdaway 1982)* – may be unlawful. Examples of where covert research may arise without having been part of an original research plan and the ethical challenges which ensue for researchers (and their supervisors) were provided by Brian Fielding (De Montfort) and John Flood (Westminster). Ray Lee (Royal Holloway) put the issue in its historical context and demonstrated how the current global trend towards greater protection of individual research subjects assumes we always research ‘down’ rather than ‘up’ which may be to empower further the already powerful.

Added to these concerns are the new rules governing access to court records by academic researchers which will take effect from January 2005 at a time when government departments, including the DCA, are adopting new ethical scrutiny procedures. Judith Sidaway (DCA), explained how the sensitive personal data contained in court records means that their current gatekeeping practice has been placed under review and it is not yet clear how access to court records for research purposes can be achieved lawfully. For the present, applications for access should be made to the DCA in the normal way and it is hoped further guidance will be forthcoming in due course. Last but not least, delegates were able to share the afternoon panel’s (Gwynn Davis, Bristol, Robert Dingwall, Nottingham and Julian Webb, Westminster) experiences of ethics codes and committees which drew attention to some of the pitfalls and eccentricities to be found in current diversity of practice among academic institutions. There was much debate as to the usefulness of codes and a division in discussion along the lines of the more experienced – who were very sceptical as to the usefulness of codes which by definition could not provide answers to difficult ethical issues and were there to protect the institution rather than researchers – and the less experienced – who felt codes had some value in providing important guidance. Funders were increasingly demanding ethical clearance, a requirement which is set to expand rather than disappear and in this context it was agreed by all that it is important for researchers to make clear to the institutional powers-that-be the very different nature of socio-legal research on human subjects as opposed to more invasive science or medicine-based research.

Conference documents available here are:

*Holdaway, Simon (1982) ‘"An inside job": a case study of covert research on police’ in Bulmer M (ed), Social Research Ethics, Macmillan, Basingstoke

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The Innocence Projects Colloquium: a resounding success!

 

By Michael Naughton, University of Bristol, and Carole McCartney, University of Leeds. This report was first published in SLN 44:7.

 

The Inaugural Innocence Projects Colloquium, underwritten by the SLSA, was held at the University of Bristol, School of Law on 3 September 2004. It attracted international, national and local media interest in the form of television, radio and broadsheet press interviews and articles. It formally launched the Innocence Network UK (INUK), a new university-based initiative to address wrongful conviction. INUK was initiated when we met at the SLSA Annual Conference in Nottingham in 2003 where we found ourselves giving papers on miscarriages of justice to different conference streams. It became clear that others were also undertaking research on miscarriages of justice but had no knowledge of one another. This prompted us to request a dedicated stream at the SLSA Annual Conference in Glasgow in 2004. We were surprised that the stream attracted papers, not only from domestic and international academics, but also from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC, the official body charged with the investigation of alleged or suspected miscarriages of justice), criminal lawyers, forensic scientists and even campaigning organisations. This clearly established a need for a forum for wider discussion, leading to the organisation of the colloquium.

The colloquium was attended by over 80 delegates comprised of prominent academics from the UK, the USA, and Australia, interested parties from the campaigning organisations, leading activists, and criminal appeal lawyers. During the day, members from the Innocence Networks in the USA and Australia shared information on the various models that innocence projects can take, as well as their own personal experiences of their day-to-day running. Victims of wrongful imprisonment such as Paddy Hill (Birmingham Six) and Mike O’Brien (Cardiff Newsagent Three) spoke of the harm that they had endured and their continuing struggle to fit back into society after over a decade of incarceration. Representatives from leading legal organisations, including the Law Society, the Historical Abuse Appeal Panel (HAAP), the Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association (CALA) and important forensic scientists, all expressed their commitment to assisting with Innocence Projects and the Innocence Network in the UK. Even the CCRC welcomed the INUK, conceding that it was often helpless in assisting innocent victims of wrongful conviction if they did not fulfil the criteria laid down under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995. The limits of the appellate system dictate that applicants to the CCRC must present fresh evidence or fresh arguments to have their cases referred to the appeal court. This means that if the CCRC has evidence of innocence that was available at the original trial, it will not constitute grounds for referral.The day was concluded by Sir Ludovic Kennedy, a campaigner against wrongful convictions for almost half a century, with a rousing speech on the necessity of a united movement to bring about meaningful and lasting reform of the criminal justice system. Feedback confirmed that the day was a resounding success and it was firmly established that there is both a need and a desire to establish an Innocence Network in the UK to improve the criminal justice system.

INUK exists to:

  • raise the public awareness of wrongful convictions;
  • undertake research that identifies the causes of wrongful convictions and effect legal reform;
  • encourage the establishment of Innocence Projects in the UK.

INUK is a university-based initiative. It derives from the observation that academic research on the causes of wrongful convictions is an essential part of realising corrective reform of the criminal justice system. Its contribution to the resolution of wrongful convictions will primarily be its work to undertake and deploy evidence-based research into both the causes of and the provisions that exist to remedy wrongful convictions. In tandem with this, the INUK will encourage the establishment of Innocence Projects in universities which could assist those convicted of criminal offences who have exhausted appeal processes, whilst also achieving important pedagogical aims. Wrongful convictions have great educational value, elucidating all aspects of the criminal process as well as sociolegal and criminological concepts. Innocence Projects within universities can educate future lawyers in how wrongful convictions occur – and how to overturn them – developing their skills of investigation and fostering an in-depth understanding of appellate procedures. Innocence Projects should also inject some scepticism into future lawyers and open their eyes to the realities of criminal processes.

Anyone wishing to become involved with the INUK should contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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