News: socio-legal publications
This page contains details of socio-legal publications including books, journals, reports, papers and newsletters/bulletins.
If you would like your publication included on this page, please contact
Latest publications ...
NILQ Reflections on Writing: Professor Niamh Nic Shuibhne, University of Edinburgh
Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies Report 2023–2024 published
Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly: call for papers
Books
New book: Immediate and Progressive Realisation in International Human Rights Law, by Tobias Wirthle – 20% discount
This book makes a new and original contribution to the old debate about differences between socio-economic and civil and political rights, which has engaged human rights discourse over several decades. Although scholars and practitioners now agree that these categories are more alike than originally assumed, they continue to delineate them based on the alleged difference between immediate and progressive realisation. The book asks whether this differentiation is still valid by exploring the historical and theoretical background, the text of relevant UN human rights treaties, and the practice of the UN human rights committees. By so doing, it shows that the standards of realisation converge more than diverge and that this last remaining distinction should be abandoned. Published by Hart. See website for details. Use code GLR BD8 at checkout.
New Book: Pseudolaw and Sovereign Citizens, edited by Harry Hobbs, Stephen Young and Joe McIntyre – 20% discount
This book examines the perplexing and demanding growth of pseudolaw. This is the first-ever edited volume solely dedicated to examining pseudolaw and its most prominent adherents, sovereign citizens. Drawing on the expertise of judges, criminologists, legal theorists and political sociologists, this collection offers insights into the global growth and alarming adaptability of pseudolaw. Can you avoid any law you do not consent to? Can you avoid paying taxes by declaring yourself sovereign? Do courts operate under admiralty or maritime law? No. But welcome to the strange world of pseudolaw. Published by Hart. See website for details. Use code GLR BD8 at checkout.
New book: Investment Arbitration’s Tightrope: Ethics, power and responsibility by Paolo Vargiu
This book examines the role of arbitrators vis-à-vis the systemic inequities of investment law, advocating for the reform of its treaty framework, which currently binds arbitrators to apply rules that disproportionately safeguard foreign investors and overlook the impact of arbitral decisions on host states’ economic and regulatory frameworks. See website for details.
Call for contributions to a new Women’s Legal Landmarks project
The editors of the Women’s Legal Landmarks project invite contributions for a new volume Women’s Legal Landmarks in the Postwar Years, to be published, like the others, by Hart (Bloomsbury). See announcement for details. Closing date for submission of proposals: 31 May 2025.
New book: Judicial Individuality on the UK Supreme Court by Lewis Graham
This book presents an empirical analysis of the UK Supreme Court's output over its first ten years, with a specific focus on each individual judge's contribution to each case. It shows that judges, like all of us, are human; it would be difficult to imagine that any of us, even in our most professional capacity, could act completely independently of our predilections, motivations and biases. The same is true for the judges sitting on the UK's highest court. See website for details. The author has also written a short overview on the JLS Blog. SLSA members can claim a 20% discount from Hart with code: SLSADIS.
The Effectiveness of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: The Case of Indigenous Territorial Rights by Gabriela CB Navarro – 20% discount
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has the most developed jurisprudence on Indigenous rights, yet this case law is understudied. This book addresses this gap by exploring the Court and its cases from both the perspective of international law and the legal protection of Indigenous territories. Setting out the network of actors and institutions involved in such litigation, it examines the motivations and constraints in domestic politics affecting international orders (and by extension the impact of the Court). It provides both an important statement on the effectiveness of international tribunals and a fascinating insight into the evolution of Indigenous rights. See Hart website for details. Use code GLR BD8 at checkout.
National Security Constitutionalism in the Commonwealth Five Eyes States, Paul F Scott – 20% discount
This book examines the constitutional treatment of national security in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These four states share their Commonwealth heritage and are also members, alongside the United States, of the Five-Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance. The books uses the tools of comparative constitutional law in order to shed light on the institutions through which, and tools with which, these four states seek to protect their national security against the threats of both terrorism and hostile state activity. See Hart website for details. Use code GLR BD8 at checkout.
New book: Law and War in Popular Culture by Stefan Machura
Leading international scholars are providing fresh perspectives on law and war in popular culture. They analyse works of popular culture, place them into their context at the time of origin and discuss their meaning for today’s audiences. Law and war in film, television series, opera and pop music are investigated in the 10 chapters of the book by authors coming from the subjects of media studies, political science, sociology, law and criminology as well as music. Wars not only produce war crimes, law is also deeply involved on a wider scale: by enabling warfare, regulating or failing to regulate its conduct and in the aftermath of wars. Readers are gaining from a range of perspectives and approaches to depictions of law and war. See website for details. The flyer gives details of the book's launch in English and Welsh.
Legal Temporalities of Sexual Consent by Caroline Derry – 30% discount
This book offers new perspectives on two key themes: the criminal law of sexual consent and the temporalities of law. It uses detailed feminist analysis to investigate how the kinds of time produced by statutes and court decisions are vital to constructing the gendered, liberal, legal subject. By shedding light upon a contested and multi-faceted legal issue, it demonstrates that more expansive temporalities are the precondition for a richer, relational understanding of consent. See website for details. Use discount code at checkout: NEW30.
Constructing Modern Slavery: Law, Capitalism, and Unfree Labour, by Judy Fudge
Modern slavery laws are a response to global capitalism, which undermines the distinction between free and unfree labour and poses intense challenges to state sovereignty. Instead of being a solution, Constructing Modern Slavery argues that modern slavery laws divert attention from the underlying structures and processes that generate exploitation. Focusing on unfree labour associated international immigration and global supply chains, it provides a novel socio-legal genealogy of the concept ‘modern slavery’ through a series of linked case studies of influential actors associated with key legal instruments: the United Nations, the United States, the International Labour Organization, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Walk Free Foundation. Constructing Modern Slavery demonstrates that despite the best efforts of academics, advocates, and policymakers to develop a truly multifaceted approach to modern slavery, it is difficult to uncouple antislavery initiatives from the conservative moral and economic agendas with which they are aligned. See website for details. For 20% discount use code SLSAMembers at checkout.
Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Legal Education, edited by Fiona Cownie, Anthony Bradney & Emma Jones
Published by Edward Elgar, this concise encyclopedia provides a carefully curated overview of legal education, with more than 100 contributions from experts around the world. Entries dissect the contemporary situation, regulation and history of legal education in different jurisdictions, from Argentina to the USA, allowing the reader to make informed comparisons (and surprising discoveries). Key perspectives and approaches are explored, from the more familiar (doctrinal, socio-legal, feminist, clinical) to the experimental and innovative (contemplative practices, game-based learning). From legal education in different settings (prisons, schools, universities) to entries on curriculum-related issues (values and ethics, decolonising, sustainability, emotions) and on law students, legal academics and professional support staff, the carefully referenced entries also allow readers to explore topics in more depth. See website for details. Use discount code SLSA25 at checkout.
Global Lawmaking and Social Change, by Gregor Novak – 20% discount
Customary international law is a widely recognised modality of international lawmaking. It underpins all norms of international law and shapes all aspects of global society. Yet familiar approaches to customary international law struggle to answer basic questions about its role, operation and prospects. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach, this book offers an alternative perspective on customary international law as a dynamic and multifaceted social phenomenon and idea. It explores customary international lawmaking in different social contexts, including the regulation of armed conflict, the treatment of the 'other' and the management of global environmental risks. Focusing on the 'varieties' of customary international law, it identifies four types of customary international law norms and explores their roles and implications. Critically revisiting a classic topic of international law, the book provides a tool for understanding and shaping global lawmaking and social change in a rapidly changing international legal order. See website for details. Use code GLR BD8 at checkout.
The Origins of Company Law, edited by Victoria Barnes and Jonathan Hardman – 20% discount
This book provides histories of company law, uniting a variety of approaches from law, business and management, economics and history. It brings together Anglo-American scholarship that will not only shed greater light on the history of company law, but also influence contemporary debates about our ability to return to, or learn from, the past. The book showcases antecedents of present debates, reveals regulatory lessons from previous legal regimes, identifies instances of path dependency, unpicks pivotal legal events, and explains drivers for legal change. The chapters reevaluate the history of company law, and will inform the lawmaking and policymaking agenda. See website for details. Use code GLR BD8 at checkout.
Springer Nature: call for human rights book proposals on SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
How can you amplify your research on human rights so that it can support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and specifically SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions? Springer Nature is inviting proposals on this topic. Authors are invited to submit even if their research is in the very early stages and they will be contacted by an experienced book publishing editor. See webpage for details.
Springer Nature also offers a Book Publishing Essentials: free mini-course.
Journals
Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly: call for papers
The Chief Editor of the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, Professor Mark Flear, Queen's University Belfast, invites submissions of articles, commentaries, case notes and book reviews for inclusion in volumes 76 and 77. Submissions in all areas of law and from methodologies including doctrinal, theoretical and socio-legal are all welcome. See the submissions page for details. The journal is also open to proposals for special issues. If you would like to discuss a future special issue, please contact
‘We Could Not Imagine their Home Could Be our Home’: Towards a Feminist Legaare welcome l Geography of home, by Beverley Clough and Henrietta Zeffert
New article in Social & Legal Studies introducing a feminist legal geographic approach to home through three case studies: see website for details.
Journal of Law and Society: move to new submissions platform
The Editor of the Journal of Law and Society has announced that the journal will no longer be using ScholarOne. All new submissions going forward should be sent via the Research Exchange Platform. See website for further details.
Amicus Curiae 6.2 Spring 2025 edited by Dr Maria Federica Moscati – includes a special section on surrogacy
The latest issue of Amicus Curiae has just been published. Professor Michael Palmer, who has been the journal’s Editor since the successful relaunch of Series 2 in 2019, has handed over editing of the journal to three co-editors, but the AC team is delighted to announce that he is continuing in a new role of Consultant Editor to oversee future issues and offer his considerable expertise and knowledge to the team.
The journal’s new Co-editors are Professor Pablo Cortes, University of Leicester, Dr Amy Kellam, School of Advanced Study University of London, and Dr Maria Federica Moscati, University of Sussex. This issue has been edited by Dr Moscati.
See announcement for details. The complete issue is available open access on the journal's home page.
NILQ Reflections on Writing: Professor Niamh Nic Shuibhne, University of Edinburgh
In the eighth article in our series, Professor Niamh Nic Shuibhne, University of Edinburgh, examines how the UK community of academics working in the field of European law have been affected by the shock of Brexit and reflects on how it has had an impact on her own writing – not just at a professional level but also from an emotional and personal perspective.
The Reflections on Writing series aims to give authors an opportunity to think about their own writing practices. To ask, for example, why do I write? How do I write? Where do I write? How do I carve out the time and space to write? How do I improve my writing? How has my approach to writing changed? Who has influenced my writing practices? What is the value of writing in the contemporary scholarly context?
Amicus Curiae: call for papers
Amicus Curiae, the journal of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies, is a free-access publication for both authors and readers. The Editors invite submissions from scholars, practitioners, and policymakers on a broad range of legal topics, particularly those that engage with contemporary developments in law and legal scholarship. See announcement for details. This is an open call, but please submit your paper by the end of February for consideration for the next forthcoming issue: AC 6.2 Summer 2025. See website for further information about the journal.
Cambridge Forum on AI: Law and Governance – call for papers on The State of Corporate Climate Governance Around the World
The call for papers for the inaugural issue of this new open access journal is open. The theme of the special issue is ‘The State of Corporate Climate Governance Around the World’. See website for details. Closing date: 31 March 2025.
Laws special issue: Repelling Asylum-Seekers in Europe? Asylum-Seekers as an 'Anomaly' in EU and UK Migration Laws and Policies: call for papers
Laws is inviting submissions for a special issue. To find out more please see the website or flyer. Closing date: 30 October 2025.
Legalities: The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Law and Society – call for papers
Legalities is the official journal of the Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand (LSAANZ), and the premier journal for socio-legal studies in the region of Aotearoa, Australasia and the Global South. The editors are seeking submissions for the next general issue of the journal, due to be published in October 2025. See announcement and website for details.
Blogs and other online resources
Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies Report 2023–2024 published
The Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies is delighted to announce the publication of its report of activity for the period January 2023-December 2024. The report provides details of people, research outputs, externally funded projects, visitors, students and more. You can find a copy here. Hard copies are also available on request.
'Bar Council supports American Bar Association': Bar Council press release
The Bar Council of England and Wales has endorsed a new Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) statement that has united the European legal profession, representing more than 1 million lawyers, to offer collective support to the American Bar Association (ABA) and colleagues. See website for details.
UK Consitutional Law Association Blog: David Sugarman – The Politics of Judicial Decision-Making in the UK’s Top Court: Lessons from the Pinochet case
Does the judge who hears a case affect the outcome and, particularly, in the UK’s top court? This is a question that has received increasing attention of late. In this blog post, Professor David Sugarman utilises his research on the behind-the-scenes proceedings in the Pinochet case (1998–1999) to address this question. See website to read the full post.
Leverhulme Trust Newsletter: February 2025
The newsletter is compiled three times a year to give an insight into the most recently funded research projects and list the recipients of grants awarded. If you would like to receive a print copy, please email
Opening up Cyprob Imaginations with an Interspecies Council: podcast about an SLSA-funded workshop
In this episode of the Figure It podcast, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Prof Amanda Perry-Kessaris of Law at Kent Law School to discuss a workshop last November with the Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Centre (CPDC). Funded by the Socio-Legal Studies Association, the workshop ran a small test on two concepts: citizens’ assemblies and interspecies councils. The podcast is hosted by Island Talks, an independent citizen media initiative in Cyprus. See website for details. The workshop was funded with an SLSA impact grant.
AcSS Policy Monitor: latest UK Government consultations
Read the Academy's March policy monitor to see and respond to the summary of latest consultations across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Doing Feminist Legal Work: new blog – 'The Morrigan'
Doing Feminist Legal Work are really delighted to announce that their new blog, "The Morrigan" has launched! Several posts are already up showing a bit of the variety they are hoping to have on the Blog. The editors invite you to share widely on social media (if you use it) and amongst friends and colleagues. Doing Feminist Legal Works is a network funded by the Irish Research Council of Ireland under the New Foundations Shared Island scheme, connecting legal scholars across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain addressing emerging issues of gender and law. The Morrigan is currently welcoming submissions on different legal feminist issues.
Feminist Law: new blog – call for contributions
Feminist Law is an online blog which aims to examine and discuss laws from a feminist perspective, especially as it pertains to how the law and legal systems impact women’s lives. The editors are actively seeking contributions to the blog. Submissions should be approximately 2000 words in length and use OSCOLA referencing. See website for details.
NEW SAFI Blog
From January 2025 the SAFI Blog will be publishing monthly posts. If you would like to contribute a blog post yourself, contact Alma Diamond
A Colonial Legacy: The Disproportionate Removal of Inuit Children from Their Mothers in Denmark
The very first blog post in 2025 is written by Caterina Diotto. See website for details.
Nuffield Foundation Newsletter March 2025
Read the latest updates from the Nuffield Foundation.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation latest newsletter: December 2024
The latest JRF newsletter is now available.
National Centre for Research Methods: Methods News March 2025
Read the latest issue including details of the NCRM's many events and training opportunities.
Public Law Project: latest newsletter
For the latest Public Law Project news, see the full update here.
AcSS ebulletin: April 2025
See the latest AcSS eBulletin for news of all Academy of Social Science's activities.
Judicial Appointments Committee newsletter: Judging your Future, March 2025
The Judicial Appointments Commission has published its latest newsletter. See webpage for details.
Latest from the JLS Blog
Meet the JLS authors –
Latest from Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies
Escribir sobre personas que desprecias: Aversión y empatía en la investigación
En este post de Reflexiones metodológicas, Marianne González Le Saux (Universidad de Chile) reflexiona sobre la aversión y la empatiá en la investigación.
Writing about people you don’t like: On aversion and empathy in research
Marianne González Le Saux (University of Chile) reflects on aversion and empathy in research. Read the full post here, which is published as part of the blog’s Methodological Musings section.
If you would like to receive a summary of all of Frontiers’ latest posts, please sign up to receive our bi-monthly newsletter here.
Other
VRuG: Call for socio-legal book reviews
VRuG (the German Association for Law and Society) is introducing a book review section to its newsletter. The editor invites brief reviews of books within the area of socio-legal studies. This is a great opportunity to highlight new scholarship, share insights with the RCSL community and spark interesting discussions. Reviews should take up to 600 words, summarising key arguments and including critical engagement and reflections. Book suggestions and reviews should be sent to
Sentencing Council: Statement on the revised Imposition of community and custodial sentences guideline
The Council has published a new statement on the revised version of the Imposition of community and custodial sentences guideline. See website for details.
British Academy: Global (Dis)Order – call for discussion papers
The British Academy and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace are inviting applications for the Call for Discussion Papers: Global (Dis)Order – the first call for evidence-based insights to inform a new multi-year international policy programme on Global (Dis)Order during its first year. See website for details. Call closes: 14 April 2025.
Bar Council Submission to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts: press release
In its submission to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, the Bar Council is warning that juryless trials are not the answer to the court crisis. See press release and submission for details.
Sentencing Council: New sentencing guidelines for blackmail, kidnap and false imprisonment offences
The Council has published two new guidelines for sentencing offenders convicted of blackmail, and
kidnap or false imprisonment. See website for details.
Bar Council Press Release: International Day of the Endangered Lawyer
On International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, the Bar Council has condemned targeting of lawyers at home and abroad. See press release for full details.
SAFI Newsletter February
SAFI, an interdisciplinary network for women in legal academia, has published its latest newsletter. See website for further details about the network.
Sentencing Council: Research review of the Overarching principles – domestic abuse sentencing guideline
See website for all the documents relating to this review by resarchers at Nottingham Trent University.
Sentencing Council Submission to Sentencing Review 2024–25
The Sentencing Council has submitted its evidence in response to the call for evidence issued by the Independent Sentencing Review 2024-2025. Led by the Rt Hon David Gauke, the independent review panel is expected to publish its findings in Spring 2025.