Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge

On Wednesday 28 January 2015 Lord Hoffmann, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1995 to 2009, delivered the 2015 Cambridge Freshfields Lecture entitled "Constitutionalism and Private Law".

The Cambridge Freshfields Lecture is an annual address delivered by a guest of the Cambridge Private Law Centre, and the event is sponsored by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

More information about this lecture, including photographs from the event, is available from the Private Law Centre website at http://www.privatelaw.law.cam.ac.uk/events/past-events

The Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS) hosts an annual public lecture in honour of Lord Mackenzie-Stuart, the first British Judge to be President of the Court of Justice. Among the eminent scholars of European legal studies invited to give the lecture are Professor Joseph Weiler, former Judge David Edwards of the European Court of Justice, and Advocate-General Francis Jacobs of the European Court of Justice.

The texts of the Mackenzie-Stuart Lectures are published in the Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies.

The 2015 Mackenzie-Stuart Lecture was delivered by Ambassador Anthony L. Gardner, US Ambassador to the European Union on Thursday 29 January 2015, and was entitled "Facing Legal Challenges in US - EU Relations".

More information about this lecture, including photographs from the event, is available from the Centre for European Legal Studies website at:

http://www.cels.law.cam.ac.uk/mackenzie_stuart_lectures/

The trial of Oscar Pistorius for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp aroused worldwide media interest. From the beginning Pistorius claimed that he had no intent to kill Reeva because when he fired the fatal shots her he thought he was firing at an intruder. And so whether he had the necessary intent to kill became a crucial issue in his trial.

In this video Professor Christopher Forsyth describes the South African law on intent to kill and explains how it differs from the relevant English law. In particular he explains how South African law rejects all forms of “transferred malice” and the significance of this for the Pistorius trial.

Although Ms Justice Thokozile Masipa in her judgment gives an exemplary account of the South African law, there is a curious departure from orthodoxy in her application of the law which may render her judgment vulnerable to appeal by the prosecution.

Professor Christopher Forsyth is Professor of Public Law and Private International Law in the University of Cambridge, and Extraordinary Professor of Law in the University of Stellenbosch. For more information about Professor Forsyth, please refer to his profile at http://www.law.cam.ac.uk/people/academic/cf-forsyth/31

Law in Focus is a collection of short videos featuring academics from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, addressing legal issues in current affairs and the news. These issues are examples of the many which challenge researchers and students studying undergraduate and postgraduate law at the Faculty.

This entry provides an audio source for iTunes U.