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France’s 2010 ban on the wearing of the burqa cannot be justified on the grounds of laïcité (the separation of church and state), equality, dignity or public policy doctrine, according to UCL Laws lecturer and co-director of the Institute of Global Law, Dr Myriam Hunter-Henin.
On 24 April, UCL Laws Lecturer Dr Ronan McCrea will be taking part in a controversial intelligencesquared debate, entitled 'The Catholic Church is Beyond Redemption: Pope Francis Cannot Save It' . Commenting on the debate, which will be livestreamed here, Dr McCrea said: 'The debate will hopefully shed some light on how liberal democracies can deal with religious claims and vice versa.'
UCL Laws Senior Lecturer, Dr Jeff King, has been awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship, provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in order that scholars might spend extended periods of research in Germany. Dr King will commence the German phase of a comparative project entitled 'the rule of law in the welfare state',which will explore the theme in Germany, France, Britain and the US.
Appeal judge Joseph Fok (LLB 1984) has been announced as a permanent judge of Hong Kong’s top court. He will replace the current incumbent, Mr Justice Patrick Chan Siu-oi from October of this year. The appointment marks the latest step in a meteoric rise which has included being the youngest ever barrister to be appointed Senior Counsel.
The launch of the UCL Centre for Access to Justice has been hailed as a landmark development in the ongoing battle to provide legal assistance to vulnerable communities.The Centre aims to promote the benefits of clinical legal education alongside the provision of pro bono legal advice.
UCL Laws this week paid host to its annual prizewinners ceremony; an evening designed to recognise outstanding contributions from both undergraduate and graduate students. The event saw some 65 prizes awarded to LLB, LLM and PhD students, in what UCL Dean of Laws, Professor Dame Hazel Genn called “ one of the highlights of the Faculty’s year”.
UCL Laws is recognised as one of the top legal research departments in the world. We aspire to produce research that is world-leading in originality, significance and rigour. In the UK government 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), Laws placed joint 1st in the UK for the proportion of its research activity in the top two star categories (75% 4*/3*). Our exceptional research not only enhances the quality of our teaching and the supervision we give our research students, but contributes to the solution of global challenges while shaping policy and the practice of law.
UCL Laws continues to be a world-leader in terms of teaching and research. In the recent Research Assessment Exercise, UCL was rated first in the UK alongside LSE and ahead of Oxford and Cambridge. We continue to attract the best and brightest students from the UK and around the world. Our faculty continue to provide important input on public policy across a wide range of issues such as human rights, the environment, security and commerce.