Research News
AWARDS:
Neville Harris has been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Research Fellowship for twelve months to pursue research on ‘Complexity in the Law and Structure of Welfare’, which he will take up in February 2012. The research aims to examine the nature and implications of complexity and will include a comparative element looking at how several states approach this issue.
Bethan Loftus has been awarded a Simon Research Fellowship, from 1st October 2011 to 30th September 2014.
Robin Robinson has been awarded a Simon Visiting Professorship for visits to the School, scheduled for January and July 2012.
Margot Brazier, Danielle Griffiths, Sarah Devaney, Hannah Quirk and Melinee Kazarian have been awarded follow-on funding for the AHRC project entitled ‘The Impact of the Criminal Process on Health Care Ethics and Practice’ (October 2011-September 2012). Research findings from the original AHRC project are being applied and disseminated as part of this new project. The original project investigated the involvement of the criminal justice system in the form of 'medical manslaughter' (MM) in cases where a patient's death could be attributed to the grossly negligent conduct of their doctor. The results of this research indicated a clear public and policy need for improvements in how the criminal process treats medical deaths. In particular, inconsistencies and poor organisation pervade the investigation of many of these cases, resulting in costly, lengthy and poor quality investigations. This is to the detriment of the families, those under investigation, to the NHS (as the professionals may be suspended from practice during this time) and the improvement of patient safety. Furthermore, the constraints of the criminal law often make it impossible to establish criminal liability for MM, raising questions about the extent to which the criminal process is effective in these cases.
The follow on project seeks to consult with project partners (Association of Chief Police Officers, Crown Prosecution Service, Health and Safety Executive, HM Coroner for Manchester and INQUEST) about our research findings in order to (co) produce case management guidance enabling a more consistent and effective treatment of cases of medical error in the criminal justice system. Also compared will be the experience of England and Wales with colleagues in Scotland in order to discover what both jurisdictions can learn from each other. The case management guidance and findings from Scotland will be disseminated through seminars to be held in Manchester and Edinburgh with academic and non-academic organisations involved in addressing medical error. A meeting will also be held in London with MPs and policymakers. Ultimately a handbook aimed at medical and legal practitioners and students will be produced, outlining the guidance recommendations and protocols surrounding medical error and the criminal process produced as part of the project.
Congratulations to John Harris for his elevation to the very prestigious Academia Europaea (The Academy of Europe). This is a European Academy of Humanities, Letters and Sciences and members have to be invited to join. There are only 2,300 members – amongst them 38 Nobel Laureates – several of whom were elected to the Academia before they received the Prize.
NEW BOOKS BY SCHOOL OF LAW STAFF:
Judith Aldridge, J. F. Measham and Lisa Williams, Illegal Leisure Revisited. (London, Routledge, 2011) – Judith has been interviewed on Radio 4’s Today Programme about the book.
Nuno Ferreira, Fundamental Rights and Private Law in Europe - the Case of Tort Law and Children (Routledge, 2011)
Pierre Schammo, EU Prospectus Law - New Perspectives on Regulatory Competition in Securities Markets (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
Robert Thomas, Administrative Justice and Asylum Appeals: A Study of Tribunal Adjudication (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2011) - the book received judicial praise in the Court of Appeal. In PO (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 132, para.48 Carnwath LJ stated that “for an up-to-date review of the development of the system and of the modern practice it is unnecessary to do more than refer to Robert Thomas' comprehensive study: Administrative Justice and Asylum Appeals (2011)”.
Robert Thomas (co-authored with Mark Elliott), Public Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Neville Harris is one of the two lead authors of Resolving Disputes about Educational Provision: A Comparative Perspective on Special Educational Needs, recently published by Ashgate. This book is a comparative study of the resolution of special education disputes, with a special emphasis on the use of mediation. It analyses the varying approaches in England, Scotland, the US and the Netherlands and addresses major questions of dispute resolution, redress, judicial and non-judicial approaches and the protection of citizens' rights. It is the first review of mediation in citizen v. state disputes outside the context of the courts. It incorporates findings from a recent ESRC study into dispute resolution in special educational needs cases.
RECENT INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL CONFERENCE AND SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS:
The School hosted a Magistrates’ Association series seminar entitled 'Is There a Place for Short-term Custody?' on 6th July 2011. The seminar brought together experts in sentencing, probation, criminology, judges and magistrates to discuss the need for, and use of, short-term custody and whether there are alternatives. Session chairs on the day were Jo Deakin, Imogen Jones and Hannah Quirk, with further contributions from David Gadd and Bill Hebenton.
William Lucy was a plenary speaker at a University of Edinburgh conference in June 2011 entitled 'After Public Law?' (http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/conferences/afterpubliclaw/).
The School hosted a conference on 9th July 2011 with the theme of ‘International Economic Law and Institutions: The Role of the Legal Counsel and Law’. The event was organised by Asif Qureshi, and session chairs on the day were Emilos Avgouleas and Yenkong Hodu.
Robert Thomas: paper at a symposium of the handling of evidence in asylum cases at The University of Edinburgh (April 2011).
Robert Thomas: chair and moderator of a workshop session on country guidance at a conference held in Budapest entitled "Practical Cooperation in the Asylum Field: Evidence and Country Information in the Practice of European Courts", organised by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the European Association of Asylum Law Judges (April 2011).
Robert Thomas presented a paper at an international conference "Inquisitorial Processes in Administrative Regimes: Global Perspectives" held at the University of Windsor, Canada (May 2011). Robert's paper -"From 'Adversarial v Inquisitorial' to 'Active, Enabling, and Investigative': Developments in UK Administrative Tribunals" - will be published as part of an edited collection by University of Toronto Press in 2012.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
Judith Aldridge spoke at the Magistrate's Association in relation to adult recreational drug use and desistance.
Judith Aldridge and Juanjo Medina are co-authors with R. Ralphs of a chapter ‘Collateral damage: gang territory and policing in an English city. Youth in Crisis?’ in a new book ‘Gangs’, Territoriality and Violence’ edited by B. Goldson (London, Routledge), pp.72-88. The research made BBC news, and Judith was interviewed on 'Thinking Allowed' (Radio 4).
Emilios Avgouleas: The regulatory model for separation of 'Utility' from 'Casino' Banking offered in Emilios' working paper ‘The Reform of ‘Too-Big-To-Fail’ Bank: A New Regulatory Model for the Institutional Separation of “Casino” from “Utility” Banking’ was endorsed in the conclusions of the Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Banking Sector in Ireland, Misjudging Risk: Causes of the Systemic Banking Crisis in Ireland, March 2011 available at http://www.irishtimes.com/focus/2011/nyberg/index.pdf. The same paper was cited in the UK Independent Commission on Banking Interim Report (Vickers Commission), published on 11 April 2011, available at http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/htcdn/Interim-Report-110411.pdf. The paper's model is also cited widely and recommended in submissions to the Australian Senate that is holding an enquiry on the same issue.
Rodney Brazier has been the expert witness for the Prince of Wales and Government Departments in a freedom of information case. His 8,000-word witness statement has been published by the Upper Chamber of the Information Tribunal, chaired by Mr Justice Walker. Rodney Brazier’s written and oral evidence, about the constitutional conventions relating to the Queen and to the Prince, was given in Evans v. The Information Commissioner and Others. The Guardian newspaper is seeking disclosure of correspondence between the Prince of Wales and specified Cabinet Ministers. The hearing concluded on 10 June 2011, and the Tribunal has reserved judgement. Given the potential importance of this case both in constitutional and freedom of information terms, then whatever the Tribunal’s decision an appeal to the Court of Appeal is very possible.
Nuno Ferreira is the Portuguese rapporteur for a European comparative project on LGBT refugees (“Fleeing Homophobia”). Reports will be presented at the final conference in September.
Visiting Simon Professor (May-June 2011) Peter Grabosky delivered two seminars in the School : Studying Illicit Organisations, and Lengthening the Arm of the Law: Resourcing Police in the 21st Century . The first seminar also saw the launch of the Quirk/Seddon/Smith book (see below).
Hannah Quirk, Toby Seddon and Graham Smith held a launch for their book (published December 2010), Regulation & Criminal Justice: Developing a New Framework for Research and Policy Development, on 20th June 2011.