Dr Rob George awarded Mid-Career Fellowship by the British Academy

The British Academy has awarded Mid-Career Fellowships to 47 outstanding researchers who will promote public understanding and engagement in the humanities and social sciences.

Mid-Career Fellowships allow academics to focus on a major piece of research and to communicate their work to a wider audience, by obtaining time away from teaching and administration commitments.

Dr Rob George said:

‘I am delighted to have the opportunity to explore this important topic with the support of The British Academy. I look forward to starting the Fellowship.’

The new Mid-Career Fellows are recognised as excellent communicators and ‘champions’ in their field, as well as for their distinguished publication record.

Dr George’s abstract:

The inherent jurisdiction of the High Court is a wide-ranging court power stemming from the Crown’s prerogative over the subject, and is used to protect vulnerable citizens (e.g. making a child a ward of court). Statutory reforms in the 1980s placed major restrictions on the inherent jurisdiction, and by 2000 it had largely fallen from use. However, recent years have seen a resurgence in the court’s use of its inherent powers, with debate about the appropriate scope of this power in the modern age. Addressing individual vulnerability and state power, the project is timely and important: it is the first research for 30 years and comes at a time of court activism and debate. The project combines historical work on the nature and application of the jurisdiction with doctrinal analysis of recent caselaw and empirical research in the form of interviews with stakeholders to understand and critique its place today. The research will lead to monograph and refereed journal article, practitioner articles and training seminars, and broad public engagement regarding court powers in family cases.

View the full list of the Mid-Career Fellowships awarded in 2017

Read more about the Mid-Career Fellowships