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Fascinating public events at Law on Trial 2015

The university will be on 'trial' at the School of Law’s annual showcase

The university will be on ‘trial’ at the School of Law’s annual week-long programme of free-to-attend public lectures, panel discussions and workshops.

Law on Trial 2015: The University on Trial runs from Monday 15 June to Friday 19 June, and is now open for booking.

The annual showcase, run by the School, brings together academic staff - recognised internationally as authorities in their field - to discuss a different legal theme each year.

This year’s week of lectures and workshops puts the University on Trial. Taking a range of contexts, the series of events will examine the Magna Charta Universitatum - a document which celebrates university traditions and encourages bonds among European universities.

Discussions will focus on how the Charta’s principles are simultaneously challenged and upheld by law; and will explore the special role of the University Law School in upholding the constitutional principles of the University.

The event programme for Law on Trial 2015 is as follows:

The Islamophobic University (Monday 15 June 6pm)

Barring Access: Criminal Convictions, Risk Management and Higher Education (Tuesday 16 June, 6pm)

  • Are universities becoming overly concerned with ‘risk management’ and ‘securitisation’ policies – and at what social, political and ethical cost?... Read more
  • Organiser: Dr Sarah Lamble. Speakers include: Christopher Stacey (UNLOCK & the “Ban the box” campaign) and Sarah Lamble.
  • Malet Street Building, room MAL B34.
  • BOOK

Inaugural Lecture: "Lives That Slide Out of View": Jurisprudence and Poverty  (Wednesday 17 June, 5pm)

  • Although we are all equal in the eyes of the law, modern jurisprudence has been profoundly myopic towards the brute realities of poverty and material inequality... Read more
  • Professor Adam Gearey's Inaugural Lecture. Professor Louis E. Wolcher Charles I. Stone Professor of Law, Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Washington will comment and offer the vote of thanks.
  • Malet Street Building, room MAL B34.
  • BOOK

Scholars, Intellectuals and Research Evaluation Exercises (Thursday 18 June, 6pm)

  • This panel session will debate the effect that research evaluation exercises and consequent research rankings have on the university as a public institution and on the shape and significance of academic research... Read more
  • Organiser: Professor Fiona Macmillan.
  • Malet Street Building, room 421.
  • BOOK

The End(s) of the Legal Academy (Friday 19 June, 1.30pm)

  • The obituaries of academic freedom, the humanities, and indeed the university itself are coming to focus not just on the end of an erstwhile academy but also on what the ends, the purport, of the academy should and could now be. This workshop brings this concern to bear on the role of the legal academy… Read more
  • Organiser: Professor Peter Fitzpatrick.
  • Malet Street Building, Council Room.
  • BOOK

Professor Patricia Tuitt, Executive Dean of the School of Law said: “Now in its sixth year, Law on Trial has become one of the most popular events in the Law School calendar – attracting current and prospective students, legal practitioners, activists and engaged and informed members of the general public.

“Debate over the civic responsibilities of universities has never been more intense. I and my colleagues look forward to a dedicated week during which some of the complexities  of that debate can be exposed and examined.”

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