Past SLS Presidents’ Reports
2022-23 Professor Lucy Vickers
It has been a great privilege to serve as President of the SLS for the year 2022-23. During the year, I have been involved in attending a number of events, and representing the society at a number of meetings. These have included participating, with my predecessor Catharine MacMillan in the Ministry of Justice’s selection committee for Honorary KCs; and attending meetings of the Academy of Social Sciences, of which the SLS is a member. Regular meetings were also held with other law subject associations (Socio-Legal Studies Association, Association of Law Teachers, Association of Critical Legal Scholars and Committee of Heads of University Law Schools) with both the Academic Associations Forum, hosted by IALS, and with the Law Commission. As a result of the Law Commission meeting, the SLS hosted, in conjunction with the SLSA and ALT, a webinar for members on Influencing law reform: tips for effective engagement with the Law Commission.
In February I attended the Annual Hale lecture at Exeter. The speaker was Professor Ewan McKendrick, and his lecture was titled ‘Covid, Contracts and Change of Circumstances’. It was an honour to introduce the speaker and to be present at the event, which was held at Exeter University. Thanks to our former president Rebecca Probert for hosting this event: it was really wonderful finally to be able to hold the lecture at Exeter after the 2020 conference which should have been held there was moved online.
In March, the annual President’s Reception was held at One St George Street, a new venue for this event. As it happened, strike action on the underground combined with an additional day of strike action called by UCU combined to reduce attendance at the reception this year. However, for those were there, it was an enjoyable occasion.
This year saw Legal Studies to move to the editorship of a new team. The new editors are Rachel Cahill-O’Callaghan, Niamh Dunne, James Lee and Rachael Walsh. They have made a great start to the role and we are looking forward to seeing the journal develop under their editorship. I would like to thank the previous editorial team: led by Bruce Wardhaugh and Nicola Glover-Thomas as Editors in Chief, with Phil Handler, Margaret Brazier, John Pearson and Dr Hannah Quirk for their work.
One enjoyable aspect of the president’s role is the judging of the Birks book prizes. As always, this has involved reading a range of excellent, diverse and original research. It is heartening and encouraging to see the continued production of such excellent research from scholars in times when research time and funds can feel stretched to breaking point. Congratulation to the winners this year – First prize was awarded to Alysia Blackham (Associate Professor, Melbourne University) for her book Reforming Age Discrimination Law: beyond individual enforcement; and second prize to Sharon Thomson (Reader in Law, Cardiff University) for her book Quiet Revolutionaries, The Married Women’s Association and Family Law.
The Annual Conference Is probably the biggest event of the president’s year. The Conference was moved to June this year, and the move proved successful with good numbers attending. It enabled colleagues to join who have found the usual slot, coinciding as it does with the start of the school year, a difficult time to attend a conference.
The theme of the conference was Law and the Public Good. In choosing the theme I wanted to think in general terms about the way in which law can be a force for good. This is to draw a contrast to two opposing criticisms that are currently levelled at the law and lawyers: first, that the law mainly serves those with power and wealth; and second, from a different perspective, that the law and lawyers use legal claims, usually human rights claims, to interfere with the ability of government and those in power to do what they want.
It was a huge pleasure to put together the plenary sessions aimed at rebutting such assumptions. In the first plenary session Professor Joanne Conaghan, chair of the Law Sub-Panel for REF2021 considered how we can use legal research in pursuit of the public good. The second plenary saw a panel of senior judges discuss the theme of judging cases related to the public good. On the panel were: Lady Hale, former President of the Supreme Court, Lady Arden former judge of the Supreme Court, Eleanor Sharpston KC, former Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU, Mrs Justice Bobby Cheema-Grubb, Judge of the High Court, and Professor Kate O’Regan, former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The final plenary was addressed by Joss Saunders from Oxfam, Professor Joshua Castellino from Minority Group Rights and Professor Iyiola Solanke from Oxford University, discussing their experience of using law practically in the cause of promoting justice, development and minority rights. The conference also provided a chance to consider the theme of Law and the Public Good in relation to our research; and it was good to see the theme taken up in a number of papers in the subject streams.
Two new initiatives were introduced this year. First was the creation of a hardship fund of up to £10,000 to support attendance by those with special circumstances or in financial hardship warranting additional support. Using this fund, we were able to help a number of early career colleagues to attend the conference who would not have been otherwise able to attend, as well as facilitating virtual attendance for some international members whose universities lack the funds to be able to enable attendance. Second, following on from the initiative begun by my predecessor Catharine MacMillan to begin a collaboration with the Gesellschaft für Rechtsvergleichung, it has been a pleasure to welcome seven German scholars to the conference this year.
We were also pleased to congratulate the winners of the Best Paper Prize and Best Doctoral Paper Prize for papers presented at the Annual Conference. The winners of the Best Paper Prize were Dr Helene Tyrell (Newcastle University) and Dr Conall Mallory (Queens University Belfast) with ‘The Extra-judicial Voice’. The Best Paper Prize runner up was Dr Deval Desai (University of Edinburgh) with ‘Theorising the anti-fiscal state: evidence from India’. The winner of the Best Doctoral Student Prize was Aradhana Cherupara Vadekkethil (University of Oxford) with ‘Rape Adjudication in India: a Reflection of Female Autonomy or a Reinforcement of Stereotypes?’
Finally, I would like to record my thanks to all the many people who keep the SLS running so well. The officers and ordinary members of Executive work as an excellent team, and I would like to thank them all for their support over the year. I would also like to thank Sarah Byrne at Mosaic Events for all her support in running the Annual Conference.
I would like to thank Catharine MacMillan, immediate past president for her support for me this year as she has been in this role. In particular our Honorary Secretary Anne Davies has been invaluable in her support: constant, wise and calm. Rosa Bladon also works tremendously hard providing fantastically efficient, and wise administrative support both in the organisation of the SLS annual activities as well as for the conference.
Marek Martyniszyn has played a very helpful role as membership secretary this year, in particular devising plans for developing our mentoring scheme.
I would like to thank Lis Griffiths, the outgoing chair of the EDI committee, and a member of the committee since its founding. During her term of office, the EDI committee has undertaken an ambitious and wide ranging programme of work. I hope that those who visit the website will have seen evidence of some of this work, which has aimed to make the website more welcoming and communicative about what the SLS does and how members can get involved.
As with all our committees and subcommittees, a number of members will be stepping down from October, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all their work for the society.
Particular thanks should be noted for Maria Lee, who steps down from chairing the Research Activities Fund in Sept 2023 but who has at the same time chaired the The Law School and the Climate Crisis Fund. This fund was set up for three years in the first instance and during the year it was agreed to continue it for a further three years.
I would also like to record my thanks to Stephen Bailey who has completed his term as chair of the Education Sub-Committee. He has played a very significant role in the Society over recent years. Not only has he most recently expertly steered the Society and others in their response to the changes in legal education, in particular the move to the SQE, but he has also previously served as Hon Sec and then President in 2013-14. His wise counsel has been hugely appreciated for many years. It is hard to imagine Exec without him. Thank you Stephen.
Finally, I would like to extend my very best wishes to Paula Giliker who takes over as President in October.
Professor Lucy Vickers
SLS President 2022-23
2021-22 Professor Catharine MacMillan
I have had a very fortunately timed presidency because it was during this year that the world emerged from the many restrictions brought about because of Covid 19. My immediate predecessors, Professor Thom Brooks and Professor Rebecca Probert, faced enormous challenges in their presidencies because of Covid 19. The abatement of Covid, though, allowed us a return to the in-person activities so essential to the productive and happy functioning our Society.
My year as President began in York, at the University of York, with the inaugural Baroness Hale lecture delivered by Baroness Hale herself. The topic was ‘Spider Woman – Baroness Hale in Conversation’. Baroness Hale was joined by Professor Matravers of the University of York in conversation about her memoir Spider Woman: A Life. This was a wonderful event; it was particularly encouraging to see so many members of the public attend to hear Baroness Hale discuss her new book and her life. The University of York were splendid hosts. In March, we were also able to hold the President’s Reception in person, in the Reading Room of the Law Society on Chancery Lane. It was clear, though, from the attendance at the Reception that Covid was returning to London.
During the course of the year, a new Editorship Team for our flagship journal, Legal Studies was made. The new editors, Dr Rachel Cahill-O’Callaghan, Dr Niamh Dunne, Professor James Lee and Dr Rachael Walsh, assume the editorship of a journal in an excellent state following the strong leadership of the previous editors, Professor Nicola Glover-Thomas and Professor Bruce Wardaugh.
Over the year, I had the honour of representing the Society at a number of external events. These included participating in the Ministry of Justice’s selection committee for Honorary QCs, attending the meetings of the Academy of Social Sciences and meeting with the Director’s Forum at the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies.
The greatest of our in-person events was the 113th Annual Conference, held at King’s College London between 6 and 9 of September 2022. The theme of the conference was ‘The Links and connections to legal development’. Legal rules, ideas and concepts develop as a result of diverse influences, both internal and external to any legal system. Over four days, speakers and delegates from numerous countries around the world explored how links and connections both within one legal system and across different legal systems worked to influence the development of the law. It was an amazing pleasure to bring together hundreds of scholars to participate in the events of this conference – from the stimulating plenaries, the small section discussions to the socialising that went on in numerous venues. It is difficult to understate how wonderful it was to meet with colleagues in person again. At the annual supper, held in the Great Hall at Lincoln’s Inn, Professor Natasa Mavronicola was awarded the Peter Birks Book Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship 2022 for Torture, Inhumanity and Degredation under Article 3 ECHR (Hart Publishing). On a more sombre note, towards the end of our conference, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away. Delegates marked her passing: reflections on her life and work brought to the fore the many links we share.
The theme of the conference – of links and connections – was given practical application by the formal association made by the Society of Legal Scholars with the Gesellschaft für Rechtsvergleichung. It is of great importance that scholars in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland reach out to academic lawyers in other jurisdictions, to build the links and connections, which strengthen our legal scholarship and the teaching of law. This formal association is a beginning to this wider process.
It has been an honour and a privilege to represent the Society of Legal Scholars as your President. The success of the President is only made possible by the continuous and strong support of the Executive Committee. I am particularly grateful to the Honorary Secretary, Pofessor Anne Davies, the Vice President, Professor Lucy Vickers, and the Vice President Elect Professor Paula Giliker, for their wise counsel and unwavering assistance throughout my presidency. It would not be possible, though, for the Executive to manage matters as smoothly as possible without the efforts of Rosa Bladon and Sara Bladon. Thank you all, named and unnamed, for the help, borne from countless hours, you have given me over the past year.
Professor Catharine MacMillan
SLS President 2021-22
2020-21 Professor Thom Brooks
My Presidential activities over the last year include:
Meetings online
We maintained holding all meetings online, including of the Executive and Council. This worked broadly well improving accessibility. While I hope meetings may return to at least some being in-person, this added flexibility and accessibility I also hope will be retained.
Financial health
The Society’s finances have remained remarkably robust. While representing the SLS on bodies like the Academy of Social Sciences, it became readily apparent that this is a difficult time for so many organisations. We have benefited from terrific advice and stewardship. We have been able to spend more on our members in support of their projects and I am enormously proud of that in a time where our host institutions have frozen or cut funds.
QC (Hon) nominations
As President, I was invited to the Ministry of Justice to take part in the nomination process for new QC (Hon). This is a great honour and it has been enormously satisfying to see members receive this well deserved distinction.
Annual joint meeting of Law subject associations and Law Commission
We meet annually with the Law Commission alongside the other Law subject associations. Building off of working together in a joint response to the LSB about the SQE, we are continuing to work closely on other projects. I was delighted the Law Commission agreed to host a joint conference with us launching their 14th programme of law reform which all found a great success.
Hale lecture
The inaugural Hale lecture to be delivered by Lady Hale at the University of York has been delayed during the pandemic, but is set to go ahead in October this year. In light of our annual conference being online last year instead of at the University of Exeter, it is my hope that the Society will agree that Exeter hosts the next Hale lecture.
Make the News competition
When I put myself forward to become President, I had promised to deliver on a competition like this. We received a number of outstanding proposals for media pieces by ECRS. A media training masterclass was available for all who submitted and the top four submissions had the opportunity to make pitches to an expert panel and receive advice in how to take their ideas to the media. The ‘winning’ pitches were made by Peter Dunne, Anne-Marie Greenslade, Caroline Henaghan and Eden Sarid. The panel was Joshua Rozenberg, Catherine Baksi and myself. I very much hope opportunities like this might continue in future.
Conference
No doubt the biggest topic of conversation taking up the most time was planning for the 112th annual conference. There was much uncertainty about what might be possible and, if possible, whether it would attract sufficient numbers to be viable. I remain enormously grateful to the Executive and Council for ensuring we had clear sight of the relevant issues while cautiously proceeding with the view that we would, if possible, proceed with a hybrid conference. This has turned out to be a great success. Over 570 registrations from 34 countries and about half appearing in-person. It was the first time many of us had seen other, travelled or attended an event in 18 months. The hybrid model worked well and shown to be viable for future. Our conference was accessible to more people while facilitating in-person discussions to great effect. Our courage, and careful planning, has paid off.
President’s reception
It has been very difficult to proceed with my President’s reception. Now that venues are reopening, I am grateful to the Society for granting me extra flexibility in confirming a venue which I hope to do in the next week.
Thanks
Finally, it is an enormous honour and privilege to serve as your President for 2020-21. It has been great fun to serve our members and to see so many in Durham for our conference. My congratulations to Professor Catharine MacMillan on succeeding me next month and I look forward to supporting her and the Society’s work in the year to come.
Professor Thom Brooks
SLS President 2020-21
2 September 2021
2019-20: Professor Rebecca Probert
At the September 2019 AGM the then President, Professor Richard Taylor, spoke of ensuring that the Society was “2020 ready”. Little did any of us imagine then what 2020 was going to bring. Nonetheless, I’m very proud of the way in which the Society adapted so quickly to different ways of working, and of what we have been able to do this year.
But that is to anticipate. Taking over as President at the start of October 2019, it was business as usual for the first few months. In October, Thom Brooks and I joined representations of a number of organisations at the Ministry of Justice to consider nominations for appointment as Honorary QC. The Society of Legal Scholars was the only organisation with two members in attendance, and the only one to be representing academic lawyers. I also represented the Society at the Learned Societies Group meeting of the Academy of Social Sciences in early December.
By the start of March concerns were growing about holding events, and both the Council meeting held on 4th March and the Presidential reception later that evening were more sparsely attended than would usually be the case. I am glad that we did manage to go ahead – even if we all carefully avoided shaking hands – as it was to prove the last physical meeting for some time.
As the COVID-19 crisis escalated, we had to make the difficult decision to postpone some long-planned events – including a workshop with the Judicial Appointments Commission, which would have been held at Coventry Law School in late March, and the inaugural Hale lecture, due to be held at the University of York in April. This was hugely disappointing for all those who had put so much time and effort into organising them, as well as for all those looking forward to attending, but plans are under way for these events to go ahead at a future date.
Other meetings were easier to move to a virtual format. Our May Executive meeting went ahead by Teams, and a further Officers’ Strategy Meeting, chaired by incoming President Thom Brooks, was held by Zoom. Our annual meeting with the Law Commission also went ahead remotely. We considered applications for funding for small projects and events as usual, encouraging applicants to think about events that could be delivered virtually. And all of the nominations for the Birks Book Prize were submitted to us in electronic format (something which might be convenient in future years – and which would certainly have lightened my luggage when reading the short-list on the train from Exeter to St Andrews last year!).
Most significantly, of course, we had to reorganise our annual conference as a virtual event. By this stage, much of the planning had already been completed for the event to go ahead in Exeter: the rooms had long been booked, Libby Edison from Mosaic and Jamie Lee as Subject Sections Secretary had visited to view the site, and a small but dedicated team had tried out the food and wine that was to be served over the course of the conference.
As early as April, however, we had to take the difficult decision to move the conference online. Mosaic proved to be brilliant, with Sarah Byrne taking over as our point of contact and researching different options for us. After reviewing a number of different possibilities, we opted for ivent. This was a package that would enable us to have parallel streams and plenaries while still retaining the sense of the conference as an event.
A further dilemma was then how to charge for the event. There is often an expectation that online events will be free, but both the conference package, and the support provided by Mosaic, came at a cost. In the end we decided to pitch the attendance fee at a level that would cover at least some of the costs but which would not prevent anyone from attending at a time of disappearing research budgets.
We will make a loss on the conference financially this year. But the conference is never intended as a profit-making event. And any financial loss is more than offset by the gain in terms of being able to bring people together at a time when so many other events have had to be cancelled.
The virtual format also brought benefits in making the conference more accessible to those with disabilities or caring responsibilities, and to those who might otherwise be deterred by distance. One of our conference competitions – #roomwithaviewSLSConference – showcased the variety of locations from which people were accessing the conference. The Graduate stream was, as always, free for doctoral students to attend, but the virtual format meant that it was genuinely open to any doctoral student anywhere in the world. The result was a far more international line-up of speakers, including papers from students in India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Nigeria, Hong Kong, China, Australia and the US. That this international range could be achieved without increasing the carbon footprint of the conference was an added bonus.
We had always planned to run a mentoring scheme at the conference. The virtual format made it all the more important to ensure that there was someone to welcome those new to the conference and make contact during it. We had around 90 individuals saying that they would like a mentor, and happily had almost exactly the same number of individuals volunteering to take on this role. The latter ranged from professors of long standing to those who were still relatively new to academia but who wanted to support those who were newer still, which bodes well for any future mentoring scheme and I would like to thank all of those involved.
The other activities of the Society are full covered in the Honorary Secretary’s report to Council, but there is one development that took place after it was circulated that I would like to note. Over the course of the year, Stephen Bailey has continued to keep the Executive briefed on developments in the long-running saga of the SQE, and has liaised with other academic societies and interested bodies. Shortly before the conference took place, the SRA applied to the LSB for final approval of its proposals. The SLS, along with ALT, CHULS, SLSA and the Association of Critical Legal Scholars, put together a joint response setting out our concerns. I am very grateful to Stephen for his role in drafting this, and to members of the Executive for their speedy and helpful feedback on the draft that was circulated.
I would like to close by thanking all of the Officers and Ordinary members of Executive for their support and hard work over the year. In particular, Paula Giliker has been a tower of strength as Honorary Secretary, and Rosa Bladon an immensely efficient and innovative Administrative Secretary, and it has been a pleasure to work with them both so closely over the past year.
All members of the Executive have also played a role in the conference. As Subject Sections Secretary Jamie Lee has had perhaps the most onerous task, in ensuring that all of the subject sections run smoothly; he also chaired the ECR panel, delivered a fantastic plenary talk, and was the stand-out star of the virtual quiz. Natalie Wortley was indefatigable in tweeting about the conference both in advance and over its course. Maria Lee organised and chaired a special plenary on the climate emergency, while Guido Noto La Diega suggested and chaired the plenary examining the impact of COVID on academic life, and Bruce Wardhaugh provided the idea for the Legal Studies panel and helped to liaise with Cambridge University Press. Devyani Prabhat, Sarah Fulham-McQuillan and Marek Martyniszyn all provided valuable advice to ECRS in both the live Q&A and through pre-recorded videos, and helpful advice was also provided by Paula Giliker, Richard Taylor and Stephen Bailey, as well as Past Presidents David Feldman and Andrew Burrows. Peter Coe and Greta Bosch both chaired sessions in the Graduate stream, Stephen Hardy chaired the special lunchtime session with Jane Furness of the Judicial Appointments Commission, and Lis Griffiths (along with Lucy Vickers and Clare Frances Moran) gave a thought-provoking presentation on the work of the Society’s EDI committee.
In addition, a number of present or incoming office-holders – Thom Brooks, Catharine Macmillan, Paula Giliker, Colin Reid, Desmond Ryan, Ruvi Ziegler, Duncan Sheehan, Bruce Wardhaugh, Natalie Wortley, Stephen Hardy and Lucy Vickers – also contributed videos about their role within the Society. These are all now available to view on the Society’s website – so if you would like to know more about who we are, and what our roles are within the Society, or are thinking of standing for election to one of these posts in the future, do take a look!
All that remains is to extend my very best wishes to Thom Brooks as incoming President, and to hope that his year will go as planned!
Professor Rebecca Probert
SLS President 2019-20
September 2020
2018-19: Professor Richard Taylor
Introduction
Some of you may recall that I started the year with an inaugural message in the Reporter, whilst setting off once more for the Land of Mordor ( i.e. London) but thankfully we found ourselves at the end of the year at the Annual Conference in Preston, safely back in the Shire. I also said that I would give 110% in our 110th year to try and make sure that we were at the end of 2019, 2020 ready.
110% Proof, 2020 ready and the Rules
I can assure you that I have put in the 110% but whether we are, as a result, 2020 ready is for others to judge but I hope that it will be seen that we have gone a substantial way towards that goal. To the extent that we have done so I have to express my gratitude to all the other Officers and to the members of the Executive who have been largely responsible whenever progress has been made. In particular, in relation to the Review of the Society’s Rules, which was probably long overdue, Rebecca Probert as Vice-President has done a tremendous job in chairing the working group which is now close to finalising its recommendations on what is a complex and demanding task. Thanks must also go to Paula Giliker, Stephen Hardy, Lucy Vickers and Stephen Bailey who have all contributed greatly to this work.
SQE
Similarly, Stephen Bailey has continued to look after our interests, in consultation with the other academic societies and interested bodies, as regards the slowly unfolding picture of the SQE. Sqexit, just like Brexit, still remains in the balance but it is interesting that the latest development seems to be a further tactical retreat from the SRA as to whether skills can actually be assessed in SQE 1. Whatever happens, we are fortunate to have Stephen and the legal education committee in place to monitor the situation and guide us as to how we need to respond, whatever developments there should be.
Hon QC and other consultations
Chronologically one of the first things in which I became involved as President, in October 2018, was the Ministry of Justice Hon QC appointment panel along with Rebecca Probert as Vice President, which was the first time I believe that they had invited two representatives of the Society to be involved. We were both also consulted later in the year when the MOJ was looking to review the criteria from a diversity point of view and from the perspective of encouraging a broader range of nominations. This was in fact just one example of a number of issues during the year on which the Society through its Officers was consulted whether it be on a formal or informal , public or private, basis and which reflects the continued high esteem in which official bodies continue to hold the Society.
On the same day on which we attended the Hon QC meeting, Rebecca and I also met with the MOJ research officers, together with James Lee as Subject Sections Secretary, and some useful contacts were made whereby research opportunities can be passed on to the subject sections or other appropriate groups within the society.
Centenary Lecture and the new SLS Hale Lecture
In November I had the honour of representing the Society, along with a number of other Officers, at the Centenary Lecture given by Lady Hale at Essex University to a packed and enthusiastic audience. We are very grateful for the hosting of this lecture by Essex Law School and the care taken by Professor Karen Hulme, the Head of School, who ensured that it was an excellent occasion which went off very smoothly. As was announced at the 1st plenary at the Annual Conference, we decided that the Society’s 110th anniversary was an appropriate time for the Centenary Lectures to go out on a high after ten successful years. Therefore we approached Lady Hale about starting a new series of Annual Lectures in her name, the SLS Hale Lecture, which I am delighted to say will now start with the first lecture next April at York University and which will also commence very much on a high, given that it will be given, exceptionally in the first year, by Lady Hale herself.
The SLS Voucher Code (and other bargain offers!)
The November meeting of Executive also marked a crucial stage in the really detailed planning for the annual conference the following September. The cost to members and the impact of that on accessibility has been a matter of concern in the executive for a number of years. I was therefore delighted that Executive members gave their full support to proposals to try and make this year’s conference more affordable for members. This involved not only freezing the prices, which has been done for a number of years, but also providing extra discounts for early career as well as PhD members and, in addition to the normal early bird and member discounts, a further 20% discount code for any member booking before the middle of June. These discounts were worth well over £30,000 in total to members and it will be interesting to see the feedback as to how much impact this initiative has been perceived as having had (an impact case study perhaps!)
Financial Health
The Society continues to be in a healthy position financially partly due to the extra income being received as from this year from the new Legal Studies publishing contract with Cambridge University Press which not only continues the high standards that have always applied to the publication of Legal Studies but which also transforms the financial deal from what was effectively break even with previous publishers to a substantial annual surplus. Together with income from subscriptions and other sources this has meant that the Society continues to be able to return funds through its members to a wide variety of schemes in support of legal education and research. These are fully documented in the Hon Secretary’s report to Council but in total, across the annual seminar scheme, the research activities fund, small projects and events fund and the various prizes offered by the society it amounts to around £60,000 in total for the year.
President’s Reception
A highlight of the year in the spring term is always the President’s reception. We were very pleased in the 10th year of the Supreme Court’s existence to return there after a five year absence at which event we had a record attendance. I understand that the evening was enjoyed by all concerned notwithstanding the necessity of having to listen to your President deliver a 10 minute speech consisting of questionable analogies raising analogous questions.
Impact and the Law Commissions
A highlight of the summer term was the one day conference organised jointly with the SLSA and the Law Commissions on Impact and Law Reform which was a great success and has laid the groundwork for further initiatives building on the existing cooperation between the SLS, the other Societies, and the Law Commissions. This was followed up a matter of a few weeks later during our annual meeting with the English Law Commission in which we were represented by myself as President and by Paula Giliker as Hon Sec at which further initiatives to enhance cooperation during the next academic year were agreed.
REF
Although things have been relatively quiet on the REF front during the past academic year it has probably been a case of the calm before the storm as we now enter the final stretch of the REF period. To assist members, and to ensure they are as well informed as possible for this crucial final year of preparation and submission, we were very pleased that Professor Joanne Conaghan, as the Chair of the Law subpanel, accepted our invitation to come and speak to us once again in Council at this year’s conference.
EDI
The Society’s EDI committee has also been active during the year under the chairmanship of Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, one result of which has been the new EDI session on the Wednesday at the conference. Another has been the work put into creating an appropriate survey instrument to obtain objective information about the current make up of the Society which has now received ethical clearance and is on the point of being approved by Executive to be circulated to the membership.
New Arrivals and Fond Farewells
It can therefore be seen from all of the above that the Society has had a very active and successful year in large part due to the tremendous efforts of all the Officers and members of the executive plus of course wonderful administrative support. The latter has been provided so well to us for very many years by Sara Bladon on the Treasury side and Sally Thomson as Administrative Secretary. As everybody now knows, Sally has retired at the end of this past academic year after nearly 20 years of outstanding service to the Society. I was very pleased that she chose to stay on for one last year until virtually the end of my Presidential year, as I knew how difficult she would be to replace. However, the Society was fortunate in being given plenty of notice to enable us to have a proper recruitment process out of which we have made an excellent appointment in Rosa Bladon who is already making an impact and who has been able to work alongside Sally in a very useful handover period. Nevertheless, we are very sorry to see Sally go but wish her and her husband Clive all the very best on their intrepid travels which they are now much more free to undertake.
Special Thanks
I am very grateful to all the Officers for their support during a year in which I have worked particularly closely with our unfazeable and unflappable Vice President i.e. incoming President, Rebecca Probert, our remarkable and indefatigable Hon Secretary Paula Giliker and our energetic and irrepressible Subject Sections Secretary James Lee, whose input into the Annual Conference was absolutely brilliant and crucial. Jamie also carried out a very thorough consultative review of the Subject Sections during the year, the results of which will be of benefit for many years to come. Lucy Vickers as Hon Treasurer has as ever been a great source of calm support and quiet wisdom and Catharine MacMillan has gone beyond the call of duty yet again in editing the Reporter, even including in it some dubious reflections of your President, and volunteering to carry on for an extra six months until her successor Ruvi Ziegler is in a position to take over in March of next year.
I would love to be able to run through all the officers and chairs of committee on executive who, along with all the elected members (and members of Council), have contributed so much but I am grateful to them all including Natalie Wortley as Social Media Officer, Duncan Sheehan as Membership Secretary and Bruce Wardhaugh who has represented the editors of Legal Studies so well at all our meetings. The Immediate Past President, Peter Alldridge, has been a constant source of support and attended his last Executive meeting in May having been an invaluable member of the executive in various roles for at least the last 10 years, just in this stint alone. We are fortunate to have an incoming President in Rebecca Probert who will both manage the Society with very safe hands and also provide an injection of new ideas and initiatives in which respect she can look forward to tremendous support, imagination and savoir faire from Thom Brooks as incoming VP and also from Catharine MacMillan as the new VP elect. I wish them all well in the forthcoming year and will endeavour to be as of as much assistance as Immediate Past President as I am capable.
Conclusion
I look forward to seeing the Society continuing to prosper in the forthcoming year and in future years. It has been my privilege to serve the Society as President and to have had the opportunity to welcome everyone to Preston and Lancashire for the conference. The Shire will never be the same again after the temporary influx of big people but I hope some of you perhaps managed to encounter the occasional Hobbit and take some of their small wisdom back home with you, whether to the Land of Mordor or to more palatable places.
Richard Taylor
SLS President 2018-19
(12th September 2019)
2017-18: Professor Peter Alldridge
Thanks
I wish to thank all those who have served on the Executive Committee, on Council, and on our other committees, the various Officers of the SLS and our two administrators, Sally Thomson and Sara Bladon. In particular, I have drawn heavily on the wisdom and experience of immediate Past Presidents, Andrew Burrows and Imelda Maher, the Vice President, Richard Taylor, our Honorary Secretary Paula Giliker, our Honorary Treasurer, Lucy Vickers, the Chair of Legal Education Committee, Stephen Bailey, the Editor of The Reporter, Catharine Macmillan, the Subject Sections Secretary, Jamie Lee, and the Membership Secretary Duncan Sheehan. The Convenors for Scotland and Ireland, Colin Reid and Desmond Ryan always make distinct and thoughtful contributions.
During the course of the year Fiona Cownie, who has contributed mightily to the Society over many years attended her last Executive meeting and Nicola Wake stepped down from her the role as the Society’s tweeter-in-chief, and the role has been taken on by Natalie Wortley. Maria Lee’s Brexit initiative is proving very successful. The Executive tries to identify similar issues to treat in similar way. The problem is finding the thing ‘like’ Brexit. The Legal Studies editorial team at Manchester, headed by Nicola Glover-Thomas and Bruce Wardhaugh now have their feet firmly under the table. Two of the longer standing members of Council, Stephen Gilmore (KCL) and Jeremy Schofield (City), both of the 2012 vintage, stepped down. They have both contributed much.
Representative Functions
During the course of the year, there were a number of events at which I (along with others) represented the Society. These included:
(i) in October 2017, representing the Society on the Honorary QC appointment panel at the Ministry of Justice;
(ii) in November 2017, the excellent SLS Centenary Lecture given by Sir John Laws entitled, ‘Free Speech, Law and Religion’ at the University of Northumbria, organised by Nicola Wake;
(iii) in January 2018, a meeting with that Paul Greening of the LSB to discuss their continuing work towards reforming the qualifying routes for solicitors;
(iv) in March 2018, the Society held the annual President’s Reception at Gray’s Inn which was well-attended and was, I thought, a good evening;
(v) in May 2018, the ALT Upjohn lecture, delivered by William Twining and entitled ‘Rethinking Legal Education’;
(vi) in June 2018, the annual meeting between the Law Subject Associations and the Law Commission at the Ministry of Justice.
Events
During the year events (in the sense ascribed to Harold Macmillan), occurred. First, in December 2017 Meeting Makers, who had been the organisers of the three previous conferences informed me that they were closing their Glasgow office, and would not be in a position to service the conference. It was necessary to hold an ad hoc tender process, which led to the appointment of Mosaic Events of York. I am most grateful to those better versed than I in matters contractual (Andrew Burrows, Paula Giliker and Richard Taylor) for their help in bringing the Meeting Makers episode to a less unpleasant conclusion than seemed at one point probable, and to Fiona McGillivray, formerly of Meeting Makers, who helped choose the venues for the 2018 conference, and who was made redundant by Meeting Makers. She provided excellent service to the Society during her association with it, and I am pleased that she has since acquired suitable alternative employment.
Second, the Society is still dealing with the implementation of the Legal Services Act 2007, that is, primarily, the actions of the Solicitor’s Regulatory Authority and the Legal Services Board, the abolition of the QLD and the introduction of the SQE. Tony Bradney, Fiona Cownie and Stephen Bailey have all demonstrated enormous grasp of the arguments and have represented the Society nobly. Two major countervailing pressures exist on Law Schools. There is the existential threat to Law at some institutions either through the abolition of the QLD and/or through cuts necessitated by mismanagement (I have in mind the recent tragic events at Aberystwyth). Conversely there are the pressures in other institutions through removal of caps to works its way through. How these things play through into our membership numbers is not certain.
Third, the Spring semester in 2018 was punctuated in some institutions by a strike concerning USS pensions. After a full and illuminating discussion at the March Council meeting, it was decided to make a public statement drawing attention to the detriment to the legal academy that would follow from reduced pension provision. This statement, principally drafted by Catharine MacMillan, was, so far as I am able to judge, well received.
Agenda
Some matters could not be dealt with within twelve months and will require more work within the Society. Some I inherited, some I started myself, and pass on.
First, a Committee chaired by Imelda Maher looked into the Presidency and its relationship to the conference. Their conclusion that the four year rolling maul of VP elect, VP, President and Past President could work more closely together. This is now happening, for example with the hon QC panel. The fact that we have had an election for the Vice-President elect in 2018 will focus attention again on these rules, and the balance to be struck between the demands of democracy within the organisation, the obligation of the Society to those who have served it, and the need to take the conference to different parts of the UK and Ireland, which is only partly resolved by the Committee’s reminder that conferences need not be held at the home institution of the President. These are not simple questions, and they need to be treated with extreme care, as does any system that has worked reasonably well for a long time.
Second, is the question of the relationship between the Conference finances and those of the Society more generally. We have operated hitherto of the basis that the conference should be costed broadly to break even, and that any profit from the conference should be treated as a windfall, and not a source of recurrent income for the Society. Conferences do usually make profits, and people attending conferences would generally rather pay less. We are looking into ways of using the Society’s buoyant finances to make the conference better accessible to early career members. A decision in principle has been taken, in effect, to subsidize the conference, and the Executive will be looking at ways of implementing that.
At a more practical level, in the past, conference monies have been held in accounts both at the home institution and the conference organiser. More by accident than design, the advent of Mosaic and their way of handling money, together with the greater involvement of Sara Bladon in the conference finances, has meant that it has been possible to operate this conference without any money going through the QM financial system – floats, repayments or anything of that sort. This is safer (because the Society gets the money earlier and is not so vulnerable, as we were to Meeting Makers’ financial troubles) and more efficient.
Third, the Society has only recently established the EDI Committee, chaired by Navraj Singh Ghaleigh. The committee provides a new lens through which to see many areas of our activities, and it is to be hoped that policy initiatives will follow.
Book Prize
One of the highly enjoyable tasks of the President is to take part in judging the Birks prize. It is most heartening to see the range of strikingly original and methodologically diverse research that is being produced.
Annual Conference
The annual conference took place from September 3rd-7th 2018 on the theme of Law in Troubled Times. The main conference (4th-7th Sept) was preceded by the Graduate conference (3rd -4th Sept), in which around 30 research students gave papers. It was organised by Santiago Jofre, Dara Modeste and Hélène le Nobel, all of QM, who did an excellent job. An inspirational and intriguing keynote was delivered by Andrew Murray (LSE).
In the main conference ran from September 4th-7th 2018 at Queen Mary. There were plenary sessions on Access to Justice, the Rule of Law, a Law and Theatre event co-ordinated by Alan Dignam, together with the now-traditional Brexit session. The annual dinner was held at the Inner Temple, with entertainment from Quartetto d’Ermenegildo. Other evening events took place at Queen Mary and the Museum of Childhood, with entertainment from the Miguel Gorodi Quintet. This was the first year in which the conference has been organised by Mosaic events of York. Libby Eddison’s hard work and efficiency were central to its success. It included a fun run, from Queen Mary down to the Thames and back. The on-site accommodation was not expensive. We did everything we could to keep down the cost of the conference, but London is expensive. I expect the conference to make a relatively small profit.
Valedictory
It is a great privilege to serve in this office. I wish the incoming President, Richard Taylor, all the very best for the forthcoming year.
Peter Alldridge
September 30th 2018
2016-17: Professor Imelda Maher
It has been an honour to serve as President of the Society in 2016-2017, representing the Society and organising the 2017 conference in the UCD Sutherland School of Law
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Thanks
I would like to thank the Executive of the Society, the Council, the officers and our staff. Previous presidents have advised and offered support – it is a long road to the conference. Andrew Burrows was there to assist me with the often-mundane queries that arose in relation to the conference. Peter Aldridge, my successor and Andy both ensured a seamless handover between us. Richard Taylor and then Paula Giliker as Honorary Secretary take on the lion’s share of work for the Society. Thanks to them both for their professionalism and collegiality. Thanks to Lucy Vickers as Treasurer for her support in relation to organising the conference in another currency, for the run of queries I had all year and for instituting the competitive Subject Section Fund to stimulate more section activity outside of the conference. Thanks to Catharine MacMillan for her editing of the Reporter, progressing the move to digital and introducing new material and ideas. I can safely say I will miss the flurry of Sunday emails that characterised the year.
Sally Thomson and Sara Bladon provide valuable support to the Society and its membership in their respective roles as administrative secretary and treasurer. Jo Cox as our new web master is helping us develop our communication with our membership. Special thanks to Andrew Burrows for steering through the changes to our IT policy and procedures and to Jamie Lee who looked after our social media.
A special thanks to Annette Morris. I feel particularly privileged to have had the chance to work with her as Subject Sections Secretary during her final year in the role. There is no doubt that the main work of the conference -the subject sections – is down to the Subject Sections Secretary and Annette has shown herself to be superb in that role.
The Society owes a debt to the editors of Legal Studies for continuing to enhance the journal’s standing and the quality of the scholarships it produces.
Thanks to the chairs and members of the many committees of the Society for their ongoing work. Prize-giving and the allocation of research funds take time and careful deliberation, as does engagement with the professions, especially in the current context, which takes resilience and repeated engagement with the SRA in particular.
Setting up a new committee is a challenge and special thanks to Navraj Singh Ghaleigh for his careful and creative stewardship of the new committee on equality diversity and inclusion.
Thanks to Maria Lee for leading on the Brexit seminar initiative which led to such positive engagement with colleagues.
Finally, I want to note on behalf of the Society, our thanks to those who are stepping down: Annette Morris as Subject Sections Secretary and our longstanding executive members: Fiona Cownie, chair of the legal education committee and Tony Bradney, our membership secretary. Their contribution to the Society has been exemplary.
Representing the Society
There are many events where I represented the Society during the year. First, the past president and I represented the Society at the Honorary QC appointment Panel in the Ministry of Justice in November. I was back there again in June with the Subject Section Secretary and Honorary Secretary with representatives from the ALT and SLSA to meet the Law Commissioners to discuss the work of the Commission and synergies with the societies and their members. Having attended the annual ALT Lord Upjohn lecture in November, I discussed in general terms the next REF with their outgoing president and we had a productive informal discussion after the Law Commission meeting with the officers from the other societies to explore common themes.
The Centenary lecture ‘Why Study Legislation’ was presented by Dame Mary Arden at Manchester University on December 1. It was an honour to introduce Lady Arden at a well-attended lecture. Thanks to Bruce Wardhaugh and colleagues for their wonderful organisation of the event.
Finally, Greta Bosch (Legal Education Committee) represented the Society at the European Law Faculties Association in April in Brno while an excellent SLS Seminar was held in Durham Law School in February on The Future of Commercial Law see here
Themes of the Presidency
There were three inter-related issues that I was keen to progress when in office: Brexit; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; and the opportunity having the conference in Dublin presented to reflect on what it means for the Society that it is in the UK and Ireland.
Brexit
Under the stewardship of Maria Lee and with the support of the Executive, a series of workshops were held across the UK reflecting on The Law School and Brexit. There was a competition to select those who would receive the funds to run the event and the reports from them are available on the SLS website here. The workshops were held in law schools in the Universities of Strathclyde, Northumbria, Liverpool, Swansea, Keele and Bristol with over 150 members taking part. The challenges for law schools and Brexit also informed the discussion in the lunch time panel on the contribution of the Irish Diaspora to Legal Scholarship at the annual conference where the panel reflected on migration, education, identity and Brexit. More directly, like the Oxford conference last year, an additional seminar was run on Friday afternoon with the Honorable Society of Kings Inns on ‘The Common Law and Brexit: A New Frontier?
Equality Diversity and Inclusion
A new EDI committee has been set up, with Navraj Ghaleigh chairing. The membership is a mix of executive members and other members who applied following the usual call. The committee crafted a mission statement for the Society which was adopted by Council in September and consideration is currently being given as to how best to communicate this through the website, social media and The Reporter on the website. The Society can be proud that it is one of the few learned societies in the UK and Ireland to have such a statement. The challenge now is to give effect to it. A first step in implementation was the second panel at the conference on Leadership and Diversity in Law Schools.
The SLS in the UK and Ireland
My location in Dublin allowed for a reflection of what it means to be a Society that represents members in four jurisdictions. This question informed the conference theme – The Diverse Unities of the Law – where one panel brought together judges from each of the four jurisdictions providing ample food for thought. Following a suggestion from the Executive, the Society was fortunate to be allowed to hold the annual reception in the Irish Embassy in London where the then ambassador, Dan Mulhall, spoke to those attending, with my own speech subsequently published in The Reporter examining the historic links between England and Ireland.
The Hon Mr. Justice McMenamin of the Supreme Court of Ireland was the first Irish judge to attend the reception and the Hon. Mr. Justice Gerard Hogan of the Court of Appeal of Ireland and an eminent Irish constitutional law scholar, was made an honorary member of the Society. The Irish Law Reform Commission has become a patron member: the first Irish body to do so – and without any approach from the Society. The lunchtime panel on the contribution of the Irish diaspora very directly addressed the increasing number of scholars educated in Irish universities who are part of the Law Schools of the UK. Conor Gearty, a UCD alumnus whose entire career has been spent in England was the (very well received) after dinner speaker. My hope is that the Society will continue to be enriched by the four jurisdictions within which its members are located and after 2019, that it will benefit from having a mix of EU and non-EU common law jurisdictions within its title.
The Conference
There is a separate conference report. The conference was a full five-day event with the graduate conference on the Monday, a joint British Association of Comparative Law and Irish Society of Comparative Law seminar was held Tuesday morning on ‘Comparing UK and Irish law: A Special Relationship?’. The conference itself ran as usual from Tuesday lunchtime to Friday lunchtime with the seminar on Brexit on Friday afternoon. The weather was kind until the heavens opened Friday afternoon. The keynote speaker initiative worked well this year. The subject sections continue to attract speakers from across their careers. On average the rejection rate for papers is 50%, although some sections are noticeably much more oversubscribed than others underlining the continuing need for review and renewal. Hence the trialling of two new sections worked well this year. I want to note my thanks to my UCD colleagues who ensured the event went smoothly and to our student volunteers -their involvement is part of preparing the next generation and showing them what we do reminds them that expertise is hard won and continually tested. I want to thank those publishers who gave the students books to take away at the end of the conference. A much-appreciated gesture. Special thanks to Fiona McGillivray and Meeting Makers for the smooth running of the event.
Finally, I want to wish Peter, Richard and Rebecca well while knowing that, however daunting the role is, the team of support staff and members who work for and support the Society makes the Presidency a rewarding and enlightening experience.
IM/Oct/2017
2015-16: Professor Andrew Burrows
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- It has been a pleasure and privilege to serve as the President of the Society of Legal Scholars for 2015-16. It has been hugely enjoyable to work with so many committed, efficient and enthusiastic colleagues and I would therefore like to start by thanking all those who have served on the Executive Committee, on Council, and on our other committees, the various officers of the SLS and, above all, our two administrators, Sally Thomson and Sara Bladon. I am conscious that Sally and Sara, even though working only part-time for the SLS, have gone beyond the call of duty in supporting me this year and I am very grateful to them. I have drawn heavily on the advice and help of immediate Past Presidents, Stephen Bailey and Jenny Steele, the elected future Presidents, Imelda Maher and Peter Alldridge, our Honorary Treasurer, Lucy Vickers, the new editor of The Reporter, Catharine Macmillan, our Subject Sections Secretary, Annette Morris, and our outgoing Honorary Secretary Richard Taylor. Annette and Richard have been stalwarts of the SLS for many years and it has made my job so much easier to be able to rely on their unstinting support, strategic clarity and eye for detail. Jamie Lee, our social media supremo, has been a terrific source of information and advice and has been patient with one of his former tutors for being behind the times on these matters. I would also like to thank Richard Edwards who steps down as Webmaster after some 14 years in that role. Richard designed our very first website and has been behind all the technological developments that the SLS has been able to enjoy over those years, including the move to using Mailchimp and the online directory of members. The Society owes him an enormous debt for all he has done. Finally, I should record my thanks to Caoimhin MacMaolain who steps down as Convenor for Ireland and Nick Wikeley who is standing down as Chair of our Research Grants Committee.
- At the Officers’ Strategy Meeting in the June before I became President – which it would seem is an ideal opportunity for the incoming President to reflect on strategic aims – I identified three goals. First, to try to raise the public profile of the SLS; secondly, to revamp the website not least so that it could be updated more easily; and thirdly, to seek ways of enhancing the academic experience for all at the annual conference. Much of my time as President was spent pursuing these aims.
- As regards the first, the Press covered, for example, our objections to the proposed changes to the qualifying route for solicitors proposed by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (and here I would like to interject my thanks to Fiona Cownie, Tony Bradney, and Stephen Bailey for leading our work and responses on this), and my own comments, as incoming President, on the inevitably detrimental effect on legislative quality of cut-backs at the Office of Parliamentary Counsel. The decision to invite the then Minister of Justice and Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, to be our guest speaker at the annual conference dinner was part of this strategy to enhance the national standing and importance of the SLS. Surely the SLS ought to try to engage with legal policy makers at the highest level possible, whatever their political persuasion. Although a wholly unacceptable comment by him brought the name of the Society of Legal Scholars to the attention of the national media, that was not the publicity we had been seeking although I am glad to say that The Times also picked up some of Lady Hale’s comments in her keynote address to the conference (even though putting their own slightly confused spin on them). I am reminded of the old adage that when one is trying to raise profile, ‘all publicity is good publicity’. Not of course wholly accurate but with a grain of truth.
- We have a shiny new website which, while not especially sophisticated, is easy to update (because it works on WordPress) and has won plaudits for being clear, modern-looking and logically structured. I would like to thank the members of the website sub-committee for their help with this. Principal thanks, however, should go to the designer of the website, Jo Cox of Bicester, Oxfordshire. It is, I think, important that, as we go forward, we keep Jo Cox on board. Her prices are very reasonable and she has a no-nonsense yet easy-going approach to what can be a very hassling exercise. The next, and potentially more difficult, phase is to modernise the members’ database and directory. I have agreed to continue to chair the website sub-committee as we move to that next phase.
- Concerns have been expressed over many years that, in some subject sections, a better mix of experienced and junior presenters at the annual conference would enhance the academic experience for everyone. While it is important to continue to encourage early career academics to present at the annual conference, they can be helped by the guidance and ‘role model’ provided by seeing and hearing senior academics in action. With this in mind, a number of senior academics were suggested by convenors and then approached to see if they would be willing to assist this initiative by being ‘keynote speakers’ in their subject sections. I was very grateful that almost everyone approached accepted that invitation and this resulted in some 50 keynote speakers at the annual conference. I very much hope that this initiative (or something very similar to it) will be continued at subsequent conferences.
- When I took up office, we were concerned about the potential impact on membership numbers, and hence subscription income, of the threatened institutional withdrawal of membership of the University of Law. We therefore embarked on a recruitment drive in October 2015. The successful upshot was that although, as feared, we did lose the 257 University of Law members – and 172 Rule 11 persistent non-payers were also removed as members – that loss was largely (albeit not entirely) offset by new members. As at September 1, 2016, our membership is a little in excess of 2,800. I would like to thank Tony Bradney as Membership Secretary and Sally Thomson for their help with this. It seems to me that we need another recruitment drive in the near future (with a simple one-sided page listing the benefits of membership). For the moment, as numbers have kept up, there is no need to raise the subscription but times are tough and inevitably our members will be looking at what we provide and will seek reassurance that it is worth the cost (which it clearly is).
- The end of this calendar year marks the conclusion of the term of office of the present Legal Studies editorial team. I would like to thank Imelda Maher, the General Editor, and her team of editors (Blanaid Clarke, Fiona de Londras and Colin Scott) for the great job they have done over the last five years. They have successfully raised the international profile of the journal and this has resulted, finally, and with a lot of hard work by them, in the journal being granted impact factor status. That is a very significant step forward. Early in 2016, we invited expressions of interest from those wishing to be their successors and ultimately, after interview, we appointed an editorial team from the University of Manchester to be the new editors from January 1, 2017. The new general editor will be Nicola Glover-Thomas, whose sole name will appear as the general editor on the front cover, and her editorial committee will comprise Margot Brazier, Elaine Dewhurst, Philip Handler (book review editor), John Pearson (associate editor), Robert Thomas, and Bruce Wardhaugh. I wish them every success.
- During the course of the year, there were a number of events at which I (along with others) represented the Society. These included, in November, the 2015 SLS Centenary Lecture at the University of Bristol given by Sir Nicholas Green entitled, ‘The Rule of Law and the Economy: Bankers, Brigands and Bounders’; in June, the annual meeting between the Law Subject Associations and the Law Commission at the Ministry of Justice; and in July, a meeting with Crispin Passmore and Julie Brannan of the SRA to discuss their continuing work towards reforming the qualifying routes for solicitors. I also represented the SLS on the Honorary QC appointment panel at the Ministry of Justice in November; and in March, we had the annual President’s Reception at the Middle Temple which was well-attended and was, I thought, a most enjoyable evening. In July, I attended the very sad and moving funeral of Jill Poole at Hampton-in-Arden (just outside Birmingham). Jill was a past editor of Legal Studies and a great supporter of the SLS and had been appointed as our next Honorary Secretary. Her death, following unexpected complications after eye surgery, was a shock to us all. Our thoughts continue to be with her family.
- Finally, and the highlight of any President’s year, was the annual conference. This ran from September 6-9 2016 at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, on the theme of Legislation and the Role of the Judiciary. There were plenary sessions on ‘Modern Statutory Interpretation’, ‘Legislation or judicial law reform: where should judges fear to tread?’ and ‘The Present and Future Work of the Law Commissions’. By popular demand an extra plenary session was added at the end of the conference on ‘The Legal Implications of Brexit’. The annual dinner (sold-out with 290 attending) was held at Lady Margaret Hall and there were pre-prandial drinks receptions on the Tuesday and Thursday at Magdalen and All Souls colleges. The sun shone and the conference had a record number of delegates (some 579). This was the second year in which the conference has been organised by Meeting Makers who did an excellent job. Of the team there, I would especially like to thank Fiona McGillivray for her very hard work and efficiency which were so central to the success of the conference.
- An indicator of the good health of the Society is that there has recently been no shortage of members coming forward to fill vacant positions as officers and on our committees; and the SLS is especially grateful to Richard Taylor who, following Jill Poole’s tragic death, has agreed to stay on as Honorary Secretary until January 1 when Paula Giliker will take over. I wish the incoming President, Imelda Maher, the very best for the forthcoming year; and I very much hope that she enjoys her Presidential year as much as I have done mine.
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Andrew Burrows
October 2016
2013-14: Professor Stephen Bailey
It has been a great privilege to serve as President of the Society of Legal Scholars.
I have been a member of the Society myself for over 40 years. I am a great believer in the importance of academic subject associations. They provide a necessary focus for the development (and sometimes the defence) of academic disciplines. The need for such associations to thrive is particularly apparent at the present time. There is within the governance and management of Higher Education Institutions constant pressure for the restructuring of Universities into ever-smaller numbers of larger academic units supported by less-specialised (and smaller) groups of administrative staff. There is also constant pressure for the standardisation of procedures, in ways that fail to take account of genuine disciplinary differences. (Sometimes University administrators invoke the law. They say, for example, that unless a University can demonstrate that a 2/1 in Law is exactly equivalent to a 2/1 in astronomy or dentistry it is at risk of being sued. I hope that law academics can inject some rationality into such debates.) Academic subject associations need to work together to help colleagues resist these pressures. Major allies should be our students. Law students relate to Law Schools and Departments not multi-disciplinary schools, faculties or colleges. There is, however, a tendency for Law to be paired off with all sorts of different subjects eg Business, Law Politics, Sociology, Geography. The risks of loss of identity can be significant.
In our own field, we are facing the possibility of significant changes to legal education arising from the (varying) responses of the Legal Services Board, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board to the Legal Education and Training Review. This Review was in effect mandated, in the eyes of some prematurely, by the Legal Services Board. While the Bar Standards Board is reaffirming its commitment to an academic stage involving a qualifying law degree, the Solicitors Regulation Authority is apparently open to dispensing with “qualifying law degrees”. The consequences could well be significant.
In Law of course we have a number of subject associations, including ourselves, the Association of Law Teachers, the Committee of Heads of University Law Schools and the Socio-Legal Studies Association. I am pleased to report that we have been working together on our responses to LETR developments. A group has met a number of times and its work continues. I am particularly grateful to Fiona Cownie and Tony Bradney, who have been our lead representatives on that working group.
A related development has been the review of the Law Subject Benchmark (at least for England) by the QAA, which has established a group to do the work, chaired by Professor Rebecca Huxley-Binns, the President of ALT. I am grateful to Tony Bradney for agreeing to represent SLS on this group.
Other matters preoccupying us have included the government’s policy on Open Access and the REF. SLS joined many other Subject Associations in arguing that the Government and the Research Councils were wrong to seek to pursue a policy to prioritise “Gold Open Access” (under which a journal article is openly available free of charge from the moment of publication provided a hefty fee has been paid to the publisher by the author) over “Green Open Access” (under which publishers make journal articles available openly after an embargo period without any fee paid to them). While the Research Councils have given some Universities money to cover these costs, this comes nowhere near being enough to allow Gold Open Access to become the norm. After consultation, HEFCE confirmed that it was adopting a balanced view on this matter. The REF results will be out in December 2014. There is already much talk about “REF2020”. If there is to be a further REF it is likely (1) that there will be heavy bureaucratic pressure for this to be conducted largely by metrics and (2) that academics in the humanities and social sciences will take a lot of convincing that metrics are fit for this particular purpose.
As President, I have represented the Society at a series of events. These included the very sad occasion of the memorial service for Professor John Tiley held in the chapel of Queens’ College Cambridge on 9 November 2013. John was our President in 1995-96 and a strong supporter of the Society in general and the Tax Law Subject Section in particular. I was very pleased that we were able to hold the Annual President’s Reception at the Supreme Court, which was a most enjoyable occasion. I spoke at a one-day Conference on Open Access organised by the Academy of Social Sciences and attended a number of AcSS meetings and I spoke at a one-day Conference on LETR organised by Fiona Cownie. I attended the Society’s Annual Lecture in the Centenary Lecture Series given by Sir Rabinder Singh at the University of Birmingham and kindly organised by James Lee and the Annual Meeting between representatives of the Law Subject Associations and the Law Commission.
Among the developments in the Society’s work we have seen this year, I am very pleased to report the establishment of a new SLS Legal Scholarship Fund to support activities that fall outside the scope of the existing SLS Research Activities Fund and the funding for the SLS Annual Seminar Series. The new Fund is in the first instance non-recurrent. It will be a question for the future in the light of the pattern of applications to the Fund and the Society’s financial position as to whether it can be established on a recurrent basis. Richard Edwards, the Society’s Webmaster, has done a great deal of work to improve the website and arrangements for emailing members, and to bring about the move to a web-based Members’ Directory, which was demonstrated at the Annual Conference.
The final part of my report comprises thanks. First I would like to thank our Annual Conference sponsors: Hart Publishing, Lexis Nexis, Thomson Reuters, Sweet & Maxwell and Wiley for their continued support. Then we owe a particular debt of gratitude to the Officers of the Society for the vast amount of very effective work they undertake. I am grateful for the support and advice I have received from the Past President, Hector MacQueen, the Vice President, Jenny Steele and the Vice President Elect, Andrew Burrows. I would also like to thank in particular our Honorary Secretary, Richard Taylor, the Honorary Treasurer, Peter Alldridge, supported by Sara Bladon, the Subject Sections Secretary, Annette Morris, the Membership Secretary, Tony Bradney, and the Webmaster, Richard Edwards. The Editors of Legal Studies, Imelda Maher, Blanaid Clarke, Fiona de Londras and Colin Scott have continued their excellent work in securing the position of the journal as a leading law journal, now supported by an International Advisory Board. I am delighted that Imelda will be our President in 2016/17 and will I believe be the first there has been based at a Law School in the Republic of Ireland. The colleague who is perhaps best known to our Council representatives and our members is Sally Thomson, our Administrative Secretary. I am very grateful for the excellent support she has provided to me both as Honorary Secretary and as President.
This has been the final year that the detailed organisation of the Society’s Annual Conference has been undertaken by Keele Conference Management. The team there have supported us now for a number of years but a change of policy at Keele University has meant that their focus in future will be wholly on events held at that University. We are very sorry to lose their support; their work has been excellent and the continuity of arrangements have been invaluable. In recent years Sharon Faulke and Lois Henney-Jackson have been leading on this; this year Lois bore the brunt of the responsibility. We are very grateful to them. I am pleased to say that we have identified successors, Meeting Makers, who will be working with Jenny Steele for York and Andrew Burrows for the Oxford Conference.
Finally I would like to thank my colleagues in the School of Law at the University of Nottingham. Three of our PhD students, Sabine Jacques, Hemi Mistry and Christy Shucksmith kindly organised the very successful SLS PhD Conference that took place on Monday of the Annual Conference week at Nottingham. Sabine, Hemi and others helped with the Conference for the rest of the week. I am very grateful to them. And I owe a great debt to my academic colleagues in the School of Law who have given me enormous support over many years.
I would like to conclude by offering my best wishes for the future to my successors and to the Society.
Stephen Bailey
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