Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge

By Faculty of Law, University of CambridgeNews Education Government

Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge episodes

December 01, 2020 'The Death Penalty Project': Professor Saul Lehrfreund MBE
Speaker: Professor Saul Lehrfreund MBE, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Death Penalty Project
The Death Penalty Project is an international legal action charity based at Simons Muirhead & Burton LLP. It aims to use the law to protect prisoners facing execution and achieve fairer and more human justice systems around the world. Saul Lehrfreund MBE has dedicated his career to representing prisoners facing the death penalty in criminal and constitutional proceedings around the world and before human rights courts and other international bodies. He has also participated in expert delegations to Japan, China, Taiwan and India focusing on criminal justice reforms and the potential for restriction and abolition of the death penalty. Saul Lehrfreund MBE is a leading authority on capital punishment and international human rights law and has published and lectured extensively on these topics.
The video featured in the presentation is available at https://deathpenaltyproject.org/knowledge/failed-justice-innocent-on-death-row/
For more information about the Cambridge Pro Bono Project see https://www.cpp.law.cam.ac.uk
1 hr 9 min
November 26, 2020 ''Gone with the wind' - Organised crime and the geography of wind farms in Italy': Cambridge Socio-Legal Group webinar (audio)
Cambridge Socio-Legal Group webinar.
Speaker: Davide Luca, Department of Land Economy, Cambridge University
The adoption of low-carbon energy sources is considered as one of the key policies to tackle climate change and, to this aim, many European governments have been supporting the transition to renewable energy through subsidies. Growing anecdotal evidence suggests that the generosity of incentives has attracted the interests of corrupt politicians and criminal organisations, as the sector offer attractive opportunities for mafias to benefit from generous public grants and tax subsidies and to launder illegal money via legal business structures. Yet, no academic research has systematically explored the link between organised crime and the renewable energy sector at the local level. In ‘Gone with the wind’, Dr Davide Luca and Alessio Romarri aim to fill this gap. The analysis features innovative GIS data on the geo-location of wind farms across Italy and on the local presence of mafia groups. Preliminary findings confirm how, in mafia-ridden regions, local criminal presence is strongly associated with a higher likelihood of hosting at least a plant.
The Cambridge Socio-Legal Group is an interdisciplinary discussion forum promoting debate on topical socio-legal issues and empirical research methodology. It is affiliated with several departments across the University, including the Faculty of Law, the Institute of Criminology, the Centre for Family Research and Physiology, Development & Neuroscience (PDN). The Group serves to bring together people from within Cambridge and farther afield from different disciplines, including Law, Criminology, POLIS, Sociology, Psychology, Psychiatry, PDN, Biology, Economics, History and Social Anthropology.
For more information see: https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/researchfaculty-centres-networks-and-groups/cambridge-socio-legal-group
This entry provides an audio source for iTunes.
32 min
November 26, 2020 ''Gone with the wind' - Organised crime and the geography of wind farms in Italy': Cambridge Socio-Legal Group webinar
Cambridge Socio-Legal Group webinar.
Speaker: Davide Luca, Department of Land Economy, Cambridge University
The adoption of low-carbon energy sources is considered as one of the key policies to tackle climate change and, to this aim, many European governments have been supporting the transition to renewable energy through subsidies. Growing anecdotal evidence suggests that the generosity of incentives has attracted the interests of corrupt politicians and criminal organisations, as the sector offer attractive opportunities for mafias to benefit from generous public grants and tax subsidies and to launder illegal money via legal business structures. Yet, no academic research has systematically explored the link between organised crime and the renewable energy sector at the local level. In ‘Gone with the wind’, Dr Davide Luca and Alessio Romarri aim to fill this gap. The analysis features innovative GIS data on the geo-location of wind farms across Italy and on the local presence of mafia groups. Preliminary findings confirm how, in mafia-ridden regions, local criminal presence is strongly associated with a higher likelihood of hosting at least a plant.
The Cambridge Socio-Legal Group is an interdisciplinary discussion forum promoting debate on topical socio-legal issues and empirical research methodology. It is affiliated with several departments across the University, including the Faculty of Law, the Institute of Criminology, the Centre for Family Research and Physiology, Development & Neuroscience (PDN). The Group serves to bring together people from within Cambridge and farther afield from different disciplines, including Law, Criminology, POLIS, Sociology, Psychology, Psychiatry, PDN, Biology, Economics, History and Social Anthropology.
For more information see: https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/researchfaculty-centres-networks-and-groups/cambridge-socio-legal-group
32 min
November 26, 2020 'Gone with the wind' - Organised crime and the geography of wind farms in Italy: Davide Luca
Speaker: Davide Luca, Department of Land Economy, Cambridge University
The adoption of low-carbon energy sources is considered as one of the key policies to tackle climate change and, to this aim, many European governments have been supporting the transition to renewable energy through subsidies. Growing anecdotal evidence suggests that the generosity of incentives has attracted the interests of corrupt politicians and criminal organisations, as the sector offer attractive opportunities for mafias to benefit from generous public grants and tax subsidies and to launder illegal money via legal business structures. Yet, no academic research has systematically explored the link between organised crime and the renewable energy sector at the local level. In ‘Gone with the wind’, Dr Davide Luca and Alessio Romarri aim to fill this gap. The analysis features innovative GIS data on the geo-location of wind farms across Italy and on the local presence of mafia groups. Preliminary findings confirm how, in mafia-ridden regions, local criminal presence is strongly associated with a higher likelihood of hosting at least a plant.
The Cambridge Socio-Legal Group is an interdisciplinary discussion forum promoting debate on topical socio-legal issues and empirical research methodology. It is affiliated with several departments across the University, including the Faculty of Law, the Institute of Criminology, the Centre for Family Research and Physiology, Development & Neuroscience (PDN). The Group serves to bring together people from within Cambridge and farther afield from different disciplines, including Law, Criminology, POLIS, Sociology, Psychology, Psychiatry, PDN, Biology, Economics, History and Social Anthropology.
For more information see: https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/researchfaculty-centres-networks-and-groups/cambridge-socio-legal-group
32 min
November 25, 2020 Cambridge Pro Bono Project Speaker Series: COVID-19 and Human Rights: The Stress Test
Speaker: Adam Wagner, Doughty Street Chambers
The coronavirus pandemic has driven liberal democracies to forfeit individual liberties of citizens in benefit of the collective well-being of society, thereby giving new colours to fundamental debates long entrenched in the human rights movement worldwide. In the UK, the most relevant corollary of the current crisis for the domestic legal sphere is that the provisions of the Human Rights Act (1998), much attacked by conservative leaders in the past decade, will from now on be discussed in a new light. From anti-vaxxers' freedom of choice to the government's enactment of confusing laws and beyond, the human rights dimensions of the COVID-19 crisis are multiple and far-reaching.
To discuss the most salient human rights aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, the CPP has invited the leading human rights barrister Adam Wagner to participate in our new (virtual) Speaker Series. Adam Wagner is a member of Doughty Street Chambers and has been appointed as Specialist Adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights new Inquiry into the government’s Covid-19 response. He will be giving a talk for 40 minutes and the remaining 20 minutes of the webinar will be dedicated to Q&A.
For more information about the Cambridge Pro Bono Project see: https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/cpp
1 hr 8 min
November 25, 2020 'COVID-19 and Human Rights: The Stress Test': Cambridge Pro Bono Project
Speaker: Adam Wagner, Doughty Street Chambers
The coronavirus pandemic has driven liberal democracies to forfeit individual liberties of citizens in benefit of the collective well-being of society, thereby giving new colours to fundamental debates long entrenched in the human rights movement worldwide. In the UK, the most relevant corollary of the current crisis for the domestic legal sphere is that the provisions of the Human Rights Act (1998), much attacked by conservative leaders in the past decade, will from now on be discussed in a new light. From anti-vaxxers' freedom of choice to the government's enactment of confusing laws and beyond, the human rights dimensions of the COVID-19 crisis are multiple and far-reaching.
To discuss the most salient human rights aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, the CPP has invited the leading human rights barrister Adam Wagner to participate in our new (virtual) Speaker Series. Adam Wagner is a member of Doughty Street Chambers and has been appointed as Specialist Adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights new Inquiry into the government’s Covid-19 response. He will be giving a talk for 40 minutes and the remaining 20 minutes of the webinar will be dedicated to Q&A.
For more information about the Cambridge Pro Bono Project see: https://www.cpp.law.cam.ac.uk/
1 hr 9 min
October 28, 2020 'Government by decree - Covid-19 and the Constitution': The 2020 Cambridge Freshfields Lecture
On 27 October 2020 Lord Sumption delivered the 2020 Cambridge Freshfields Lecture entitled "Government by decree - Covid-19 and the Constitution".
The disputes over Brexit last year saw an attempt to make the executive, not Parliament, the prime source of authority in the Constitution. The coronavirus crisis has provoked another attempt to marginalise Parliament, this time with the willing acquiescence of the House of Commons. Is this to be our future?
Lord Sumption is an author, historian and lawyer of note. He was appointed directly from the practising Bar to the Supreme Court, and served as a Supreme Court Justice from 2012-18. In 2019, he delivered the BBC Reith Lectures, "Law and the Decline of Politics", and is now a regular commentator in the media. He continues to sit as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. Alongside his career as a lawyer, he has also produced a substantial and highly-regarded narrative history of the Hundred Years' War between England and France (with volume V still to come).
More information about this lecture, including a transcript, is available from the Private Law Centre website:
https://www.privatelaw.law.cam.ac.uk/events/CambridgeFreshfieldsLecture
1 hr 16 min
October 28, 2020 Government by decree - Covid-19 and the Constitution: The 2020 Cambridge Freshfields Lecture
On 27 October 2020 Lord Sumption delivered the 2020 Cambridge Freshfields Lecture entitled "Government by decree - Covid-19 and the Constitution".
The disputes over Brexit last year saw an attempt to make the executive, not Parliament, the prime source of authority in the Constitution. The coronavirus crisis has provoked another attempt to marginalise Parliament, this time with the willing acquiescence of the House of Commons. Is this to be our future?
Lord Sumption is an author, historian and lawyer of note. He was appointed directly from the practising Bar to the Supreme Court, and served as a Supreme Court Justice from 2012-18. In 2019, he delivered the BBC Reith Lectures, "Law and the Decline of Politics", and is now a regular commentator in the media. He continues to sit as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. Alongside his career as a lawyer, he has also produced a substantial and highly-regarded narrative history of the Hundred Years' War between England and France (with volume V still to come).
More information about this lecture, including a transcript, is available from the Private Law Centre website:
https://www.privatelaw.law.cam.ac.uk/events/CambridgeFreshfieldsLecture
1 hr 17 min
October 07, 2020 'What is EU Relations Law? The Legal Ecosystem of Brexit': Monckton-CELS webinar (audio)
The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union is of immense political and economic significance. But it also amounts to a legal transformation both internally within the UK and externally in the UK’s relationship with the EU and other countries. A complex legal ecosystem is emerging that draws upon EU law, international law, UK and devolved law in fashioning a set of rules and principles that manage the phenomenon of Brexit. The aim of this webinar is to introduce the salient and novel features of this body of law that we term “EU Relations Law”.
Chair: Professor Kenneth Armstrong - University of Cambridge
Speaker 1: Jack Williams – Monckton Chambers: 'What is EU Relations Law?'
Speaker 2: George Peretz QC - Monckton Chambers: 'Key Aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement and Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland'
Speaker 3: Professor Alison Young - University of Cambridge: 'Key Aspects of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020'
Speaker 4: Professor Kenneth Armstrong – University of Cambridge: 'The Future Relationship – What Type of Agreement (if any?)'
For more details and other events see: https://www.cels.law.cam.ac.uk/weekly-seminar-series
This entry provides an audio-only item for iTunes.
1 hr 3 min
June 04, 2020 Webinar: 'Criminal Justice in a Pandemic: The Prisons' (audio)
In these two public webinars from the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge, the panels explore the enormous additional pressures that the pandemic has imposed on the criminal justice system.
In this second webinar we look at the current conditions in English prisons and explore why more has not been done for those in custody throughout the pandemic.
At the beginning of April, the government announced plans for the early release of up to 4,000 prisoners in England and Wales, to reduce prison overcrowding and to slow the rate of infection among prisoners and staff. The Prison Governors Association and Public Health England argued that releasing 10,000 - 15,000 prisoners was needed. By late April, though, a mere 33 prisoners had been released. What went wrong? What has happened throughout May? What have been the implications for the welfare/health/progression of both prisoners and staff? What are the lessons to be learnt now, and for the future - within the prison and probation systems?
Discussing the issues:
Chair: Nicky Padfield, Professor of Criminal and Penal Justice
Nicky is joined by a panel of experts:
- Andrea Albutt (President, Prison Governors Association);
- Richard Garside (Director, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies);
- Laura Janes (Legal Director, Howard League for Penal Reform);
- (Retired) Judge John Samuels QC (ex-Parole Board and President, Prisoners' Education Trust); and
- Jessie Smith (Cambridge PhD candidate in Law, solicitor, formerly specialising in national security).
This entry provides an audio source.
1 hr 3 min

About Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge

From the publisher's feed

The Faculty of Law has a thriving calendar of lectures and seminars spanning the entire gamut of legal, political and philosophical topics. Regular programmes are run by many of the Faculty's Research Centres, and a number of high-profile speakers who are leaders in their fields often speak at the Faculty on other occasions as well.