Call for papers for UCL Laws LLM student-led conference on ‘Current Issues in Restitution’

Students currently taking the LLM module ‘Restitution of Unjust Enrichment’ have organised a conference, with the theme ‘Current Issues in Restitution’, on Saturday 24 March at the Institute of Education (IOE), 20 Bedford Way, Room 728 between 10 am – 4 pm.

Attendance is open to any student (LLB level upwards) from any university with an interest in the area.

The event is being planned as a forum to consider various recent developments in the area, with several cases having reaching the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

One interesting example is the controversial decision of Investment Trust Companies (in liquidation) v HMRC (2017). There it was decided that the Claimant, having overpaid VAT secondary to an incorrectly transposed European Union Directive, did not have a claim against the Revenue for its return. The unanimous Supreme Court found the VAT in question was not paid at the Claimant’s direct expense and nor did it fall within one of the exceptions to the ‘direct providers rule’. This finding reversed an incremental widening of the rule represented by the Menelaou v Bank of Cyprus (2015) line of cases.

The conference aims to allow students taking an LLB or above (including LLM/PhD/BPTC/LPC) to research on an issue in the field of their choice and present on this for 10-15 minutes to their peers.

The organisers hope that the conference will promote discussion of a range topics, in a friendly and collegiate atmosphere. A guest speaker will also be confirmed closer to the date.

Prospective student speakers should email an abstract of up to 500 words to: UCL.restitution.conference@gmail.com by 5 pm on Friday 9 February.

Speakers are encouraged to also prepare and submit a written paper ahead of the conference, though this is not mandatory for participation. If one is written, it should be anywhere between 2000 - 6000 words in length and will need to be submitted by 5 pm on Friday 9 March.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email the organisers at: UCL.restitution.conference@gmail.com