Federalism, though a highly contentious issue in the United Kingdom, has already become part of the local landscape. With the competence for a number of policies shifting from Westminster to Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and in future - perhaps - even within England, itself, foreign experience with federal and regional structures becomes a valuable source of ideas.

On 7 November 2003, distinguished experts from a wide range of legal systems including Canada, the United States, Germany, South Africa, and the European Union presented their experience, criticisms, and views in an exciting series of contributions at a conference held at UCL‚s Bentham House. The topics covered by the speakers and the discussions that followed covered, inter alia, the distribution of power, judicial review and human rights protection in federalised and regionalised states. The conference papers will be published by Hart Publishing under the title "Patterns of Federalism and Regionalism: Lessons for the UK" (co-edited by Jörg Fedtke and Basil Markesinis), during the first half of 2004 and appear as part of the well-known Clifford Chance Lecture Series, now run by the Institute of Global Law.

The conference, jointly organised by the Institute of Global Law of UCL and the Institute of Transnational Law of The University of Texas at Austin, was followed by a dinner at Leighton House where the Attorney General, The Rt. Hon. The Lord Goldsmith, was the guest of honour.

Review by Dean William C. Powers Jr., Dean, School of Law, University of Texas at Austin:

"It was a great pleasure to work with the UCL Faculty of Laws, and with the Institute for Transnational Law, on our recent joint conference on federalism. This is a topic of great importance and interest on both sides of the Atlantic. The participants from the University of Texas certainly came away with a deeper understanding of the topic, and of the European perspective. In our shrinking legal world, we have so much to learn from each other. This conference demonstrated again the importance of deepening and broadening our conversations about topics of mutual interest. We look forward to building on our long-standing relationship with the UCL faculty of Laws to do just that. I want to thank Dean Michael Bridge and Head of Department Ian Dennis for helping forge the relationship between our schools. And finally, but most importantly, I want to thank our mutual colleague, Professor Basil Markesinis, for his vision and hard work in putting this conference together."

	The Attorney-General addressing the participants of the conference at a dinner held at Leighton House. To his left the Italian Ambassador to the Court of St James, Sr Luigi Amaduzzi, and (further to the left) the Right Honorable The Lord Maclennan, who attended the conference as one of the key note speakers.
Leighton House Museum is the opulent former home of artist, Frederic, Lord Leighton. The richly decorated interiors and fine selection of Victorian art make this a unique venue for evening entertaining.