Warwick Law School News

In response to the growing demand for energy infrastructure investment in both developed and developing countries, experts convened at Queen Mary’s Centre for Commercial Law Studies, University of London, 26 January, to deliberate the commercial and political risks and mechanisms for mitigation.

The conference, titled “Law risk, & finance: time to rethink for the energy sector”, attracted over 75 attendees, comprising students, policy-makers and practitioners in a session that illustrated the growing importance of risk mitigation through political risk insurance instruments and contributed to greater global awareness of the benefits of such risk mitigation tools in promoting foreign investment in infrastructure development

Shaheen Ali was invited speaker at the 111th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools in San Francisco (3-6 January 2017).

Under the theme of “Why Law Matters,” the meeting provided a forum for novel thinking and fresh perspectives on the role of law in society and legal education along with an opportunity to connect and collaborate with colleagues and discuss critical and emerging legal issues.

Shaheen presented on the matter of Islamic Law teaching in the 21st century global law school.

Dr Alison Struthers' article 'The Underdeveloped Transformative Potential of Human Rights Education: English primary education as a case study' has been published by the Journal of Human Rights Practice (DOI:10.1093/jhuman/huw023).

The article argues that in order for learners to become empowered human rights activitists, they must be equipped with relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes. It draws upon empirical research conducted with teachers from primary schools across England to argue that whilst empowerment-related concepts may be encouraged to a certain extent, learners are unlikely to be emerging from formal schooling with the means to contribute significantly to transformation of the broader human rights culture.

Access Dr Giuliano Castellano's recently published paper 'Shedding Light on EU Financial Regulators: A Sociological and Psychological Perspective'.

Co-authored with Geneviève Helleringer (ESSEC Business School; University of Oxford - Institute of European and Comparative Law) and published by Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, the article adopts a socio-psychological perspective to approach financial regulation in the European Union.

Tomaso Ferrando's blog on the Right to Food has been published by the British Medical Journal.

Together with Jose Luis Vivero Pol (Louvain University and International University College of Turin), Tomaso Ferrando launched a blog series on the notion, implementation and future of the right to food, that ill be hosted by the British Medical Journal.

The next blog will be on the Regional Law of Lombardia (written by Tomaso and Roberto Sensi from ActionAid Italy). Future contributions are expected from the current and former UN Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Food, along with academic and non-academics who are leading experts in the area.

Tomaso is also involved in the Feeding Coventry Projct, the aim of which is the establishment of the Coventry Food Charter and the recognition of the right to food.

Dr Andreas Kokkinis visited Colombia from the 21^st to the 27^th of November 2016.

He was invited by the Universidad del Rosario, School of Law to convene jointly and present at a workshop titled ‘Multinational Corporations (MNCs), foreign investment and development International Economic Law and beyond’ on the 23rd and 24th of November. The workshop was convened jointly with Dr Enrique Prieto Rios from Rosario and was attended by around 15 academics from Colombia, Brazil and the United States.

Andreas also delivered a talk to students on the Commercial Law Postgraduate Course of the Externado University Law School on Friday 25 November titled: ‘The wrong reform: the failure of the EU bank bonus cap rule to enhance financial stability’. The talk was followed by a general introduction to reading LLMs and PhDs at Warwick Law School.

In addition, Andreas delivered a paper titled ‘Persistent challenges in modern corporate governance: directors’ expertise, the monitoring role of the board and executive remuneration’ at a research seminar at the Univeridad de la Sabana, Business School on Friday 25 November. The seminar was attended by academics and Masters students.

Finally, Andreas participated in the University’s delegation at a major European Universities Exhibition in Bogota on Saturday 26 November. There was a significant number of potential applicant enquiring about the new International Commercial Law LLM course.

Fiona Smith is Professor of International Economic Law at Warwick Law School and has a specialist interest in international agricultural trade. She is working on the impact of BREXIT on UK agricultural policy, specifically how the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) rules will affect the UK’s trade in food and agricultural policy after BREXIT.

Fiona was a member of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Farmers Scientist Network expert group that produced the influential ‘The Implications of BREXIT for UK Agriculture’ (2016). Following the June 2016 Referendum, Fiona has given written evidence to the Welsh Assembly, and the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly on BREXIT and agriculture. Find out more. In December 2016, she also gave oral evidence to the House of Commons’ International Trade Committee.

Fiona was also interviewed by Jonty Bloom for the Radio 4 programme, ‘In Business: BREXIT and the Future of British Farming.’

Rebecca Limb, currently studying for her MPhil/PhD in Law, at the University of Warwick has been awarded a student bursary from Postgrad Solutions.

“I felt a huge sense of relief and confidence that I can be successful in gaining the funding I need. I am incredibly grateful for the support.”

22-year-old Rebecca Limb is a British student studying an MPhil/PhD in Law at the University of Warwick. She says, “The idea of studying for a PhD came from developing my research proposal that I am really passionate about. My research topic is a legal investigation into the rights of competent paediatric patients to express their autonomy and refuse medical treatment.”

Congratulations Rebecca!!

Professor Alan Norrie visited Colombia and Chile in November 2016, giving lectures and classes at Universidad Libre, Bogota and the Pontifical University, Valparaiso.

In Bogota he gave a lecture entitled ‘Feeling Guilty In and Beyond the Law’, and in Valparaiso he participated in a seminar ‘Justicia Transicional’ presenting a paper entitled ‘’Working Through to the Polis’: Transitional Justice and Psychoanalytic Method’. The papers represent developments of his research project (‘Criminal Justice: the Blaming Relation’) as a Leverhulme Senior Research Fellow.

Professor Dalvinder Singh presented part of his ongoing project with the World Bank at the recent Finsac Bank Resolution Conference, on December 12th 2016. The conference took place at the Ministry of Finance in Vienna, Austria, at the World Bank Group, Financial Sector Advisory Center (FinSAC).

The talk covered the topic of 'Cross-Border Bank Supervision and Resolution: The Home-Host Dilemma for Significant-Material Subsidiaries from a ‘Small’ Host State Perspective'

More information.

Dr Ania Zbyszewska has co-organized an international workshop “Theorising Labour Law in a Changing World: New Perspectives and Approaches”, which will be held on 13-14 December 2016 at the Maastricht University in Netherlands. Organized in collaboration with Dr Miriam Kullmann (Maastricht) and Dr Alysia Blackham (Melbourne) and with funding support from Warwick, Maastricht and Melbourne Law Schools/Faculties, and Hart Publishing, this two-day event will feature the work of early-career labour law scholars who seek to pushe the conceptual boundaries of labour law. A number of established scholars have been invited to comment on these contributions, with our key objective being to promote a broader, more inclusive and critical dialogue on an issues of fundamental contemporary importance. https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/events/theorising-labour-law

Prof Jackie Hodgson and Asher Flynn from Monash have a new edited collection on 'Access to Justice and Legal Aid: Comparative Perspectives on Unmet Legal Need' published by Hart.

This book considers how access to justice is affected by restrictions to legal aid budgets and increasingly prescriptive service guidelines.