ÌÇÐÄTV

Matt Western MP and West Midlands finance and industry leaders joined Dr Stephen Connelly and Dr Andreas Kokkinis from ÌÇÐÄTV Law School yesterday at the first University of ÌÇÐÄTV ÌÇÐÄTV Forum, a new initiative aiming to connect the University’s experts with the local business community.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, and the first in the UK, experts from and the University of ÌÇÐÄTV School of Law looked at the experiences of more than 3500 of Refuge’s clients with the aim of informing policy and practice in relation to victims of abuse who are at an increased risk of suicide.

Professor Jackie Hodgson gave an interview last Wednesday 11 April to Talk Radio Europe, an English radio station based in Spain, to speak about the research she conducted with Dr Juliet Horne on the Prisoners’ Penfriends scheme.

Vanessa Munro’s project on jury decision-making for the Scottish Government has hit its first milestone. An Evidence Review on The Impact of the Use of Pre-Recorded Evidence on Juror Decision-Making has now been published on the Scottish Government website, along with a research findings summary.

You can access both reports here: | .

Ali Struthers organised a successful event on campus on the 11th of November with primary and secondary school pupils as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science. The event saw 60 primary pupils from Widening Participation schools attend campus in the morning and 60 secondary pupils from WP schools in the afternoon. The pupils took part in workshops that addressed challenging issues in the social sciences through literature appropriate to young people. The workshops were run by Ali (human rights), Phil Gaydon (war), James Harrison (labour rights) and Lucy Hatton (immigration), and the event was well-received by all who took part.

Read about James' experience of his morning workshop .

On 1 July 2016 the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law () adopted a Model Law on Secured Transactions elaborated by its . The Model Law is a soft-law instrument designed to assist national law-makers of any legal system to modernise and harmonise domestic secured transactions laws, with the aim of fostering access to credit at a lower cost and stimulate international investments. The Model Law is the latest project of the UNCITRAL Working Group VI, which is composed of national delegations representing all States members of the Commission as well as observers from international and non-governmental organisations. The Model Law will be translated into all the official languages of the UN. After adopting the Model Law, the Working Group VI is expected to draft a 'Guide of Enactment' to further assist implementing States. More information on the Model Law may be found .

Giuliano Castellano has been part of the UNCITRAL Working Group VI as a Legal Expert and Delegate for Italy since 2011.

Dr Maebh Harding gave a talk 'Marriage in 19th Century Ireland: The extent and effect of legal regulation' at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live Event at the NEC Birmingham on Friday 8 April 2016.

In the UK Research Excellence Framework results (announced 18 December 2014), ÌÇÐÄTV Law School was assessed as coming 6th out of 67 Law Departments in terms of its Research Environment, 7th in terms of the Quality of its Research and 10th overall.

Full details can be found on the .

Law School PhD Candidate has been awarded the University of ÌÇÐÄTV’s 2014 Research Impact and Public Engagement Award for Early Career Research Impact.

Jackie Hodgson has been conferred the award of Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences in recognition of her distinctive and distinguished contributions to Social Science.

Jackie Hodgson (ÌÇÐÄTV) and Asher Flynn (Monash) have been awarded A$13,398 + £7,165 from the Monash-ÌÇÐÄTV Alliance Seed Fund for the project: Access to Justice: A Comparative Analysis of cuts to the civil and criminal Legal Aid systems in England, Wales and Victoria, August 2013 – June 2014.

The project brings together ÌÇÐÄTV colleagues Jackie Hodgson (PI) James Harrison, Andrew Williams and Nathalie Byrom (Co-Is) with Monash colleagues Asher Flynn (PI) Jude McCulloch, Bronwyn Naylor and Arie Freiberg (Co-Is). The study is a comparative analysis of the impact of cuts to the civil and criminal legal-aid systems operating in England, Wales and Victoria. This will be achieved through consultations with academic, legal and government/non-government stakeholders and the development of an online presence for external engagement. A conference will be held in ÌÇÐÄTV on 19 March 2014, with the participation of Monash colleagues. Within the framework of access to justice, the conference will bring together leading academics and practitioners to consider (i) the changing face of the legal profession; (ii) the lawyer-client relationship; and (iii) the broader social consequences of the cuts. A second event will be held in Monash in early July 2014, with the participation of ÌÇÐÄTV colleagues. The project will build international and comparative expertise with stakeholders, with a view to future funded research.

In October 2013 Jackie was elected to the governing Council of JUSTICE, the all-party law reform and human rights organisation.

JUSTICE ( ) works largely through policy-orientated research; interventions in court proceedings; education and training; briefings, lobbying and policy advice. It is the British section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).

JUSTICE also has a Student Human Rights Network ( ), an online forum that aims to encourage interest in, and improve awareness of, human rights.