Through an analysis of data obtained from research carried out with the bereaved families of Grenfell Tower and residents of North Kensington, this article demonstrates that the Grenfell community's knowledge on the causes that led to the fire is being systematically excluded by the Inquiry. The article discusses the four main ways in which this is happening. Through its exclusionary practices, the

This article uses the research findings from a study of the refurbishment of council tower blocks to reflect on what it means to be a leaseholder of a flat, and how this relates to ideas associated with property and ownership. The experiences of leaseholders (little input into decision making and the fear of crippling bills), together with the challenges for the building owner of upgrading blocks within

The climate crisis puts real pressure on legal guarantees of public participation in decision making. This pressure comes from a number of directions, but we are particularly concerned with the technocratic erosion of routines of participation, in a turn to expertise rather than democracy for legitimate decision making. At the same time, populists resist the constraints imposed on their power by legal

Universal jurisdiction (UJ), which not very long ago seemed condemned to extinction, is now becoming routine. It has been endorsed by 109 states, and the number of prosecutions is increasing. This article is based on an ethnographic study of the recent trial in France of Pascal Simbikangwa, a Rwandan accused of participating in the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. Using the concepts of ‘vernacularization’

Much of the literature on feminist judging concentrates on judges and judging in appellate and superior courts. This article extends that literature by investigating whether and how feminist judging manifests in lower courts, which deal with the vast bulk of criminal offences and civil claims. It does so through analysis of transcripts of non-trial criminal proceedings in Australian magistrates courts

The importance of the right to legal assistance for suspects detained for police questioning, as part of the right to a fair trial, has been emphasized within the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Union Roadmap directives on procedural rights. This article examines an overlooked aspect of the protection of that right: the selection of a lawyer in the police station

Drawing on in-depth interviews, observation, and legal sources, this article examines how rejected asylum seekers experience their status and the legal regulations related to it, and how they react as a result. Their legal consciousness must be understood in the light of their illegal status, which makes them keenly aware that legal regulations and power structures decisively affect their everyday

While the majority of Western legal systems continue to insist on the existence of only two genders, a demand for the recognition of non-binary gender identities has become increasingly visible. Numerous individuals have gone to court demanding recognition of their identities beyond the binary, with varying degrees of success. This article provides a novel lens through which to consider these contemporary

This article explores how Mary Shelley's Frankenstein engages with notions relating to mens rea. It constructs a reading of the creature as Victor's double, and therefore a manifestation of his guilty mind. Utilizing interdisciplinary literary-legal methods, the article employs the central relationship in Frankenstein as a means of illuminating and critiquing the ways in which criminal law reproduces

One of the most cited and influential socio-legal articles is Bill Felstiner, Rick Abel, and Austin Sarat's ‘The Emergence and Transformation of Disputes: Naming, Blaming, Claiming …’, published in 1981. Forty years later, the notions and framework of the article are still highly relevant. We convened Felstiner, Abel, and Sarat for an interview about the background to their article, its reception,

In recent years, growing concerns have been expressed – including in the press and social media – over the apparently inadequate responses of many United Kingdom (UK) universities to complaints of student sexual violence and misconduct (SSVM). In this article, we underscore universities’ legal, ethical, and civic responsibilities to students, which require them to implement effective regimes for the

This article examines the ritual dynamics of virtual court hearings. While audio-visual links for select court participants have been available for decades, in a virtual hearing all parties participate using a videoconferencing platform. Such hearings have proliferated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as courts around the world have rushed to develop remote justice options. Scholars and legal professionals

Recent extensive reforms to the welfare system and concurrent reduction in the provision of free legal advice have had a major impact on the meaning of social citizenship. This article examines this changed meaning, drawing mainly on the findings of a study funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into the impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. The study

There is a conflict at the heart of family law between neoliberal ideas of autonomy, which increasingly influence law and policy, and the lived realities of family law's subjects. Neoliberal norms, which assume individual responsibility, financial independence, and freedom of choice, do not reflect the nature of decision making in intact families or the consequences of those decisions on separation;

Legal decision-making processes are contending with increasingly urgent and complex environmental issues. While the importance of treating these issues holistically has long been recognized in environmental law, obstacles seem to exist that block decision makers in the planning system from taking integrated approaches to environmental issues. This article approaches this problem from a grounded perspective

Trust is a central concept in the regulation of public services. Two different models of trust can be distinguished, involving the creation of either substantive credible commitments or institutions to promote more collaborative relations. In this article, the differing implications of these two models are assessed through an examination of failed United Kingdom examples of the use of contracts for

Reparations are widely regarded as a key element of dealing with the past in transitional justice. Over the past three decades, there has been a plethora of state practice, jurisprudence, and international norms requiring states and other responsible actors to redress victims’ harm. Yet in practice there remain significant deficiencies in delivering reparations on the ground to those affected. This

This article asks how terrorism expertise has been mobilized in recent trials on terrorism financing. How is expert knowledge concerning ongoing and complex political situations involving alleged terrorism translated into factual evidence before a court of law? What kind of sources do courts use in terrorism cases, and what kind of expert knowledge is acknowledged or ignored? Through analysis of concrete

Despite the significance of the figure of ‘the Jew’ as Other in the Western imagination and the persistence of prejudice against Jews, there have been few studies of contemporary Jews as subjects of prejudice in liberal secular law and legal discourse. This article draws attention to continuing Jewish vulnerability and argues that a focus on colonial encounters and phenotype in understanding processes

This article assesses the extent to which current guilty plea procedure is consistent with legitimations of criminal convictions, with a focus on decision making in child defendants. I argue that in the context of plea decisions in children, the criminal justice system must ensure that defendants make decisions that result in accurate convictions that are reached in a fair way that respects rights

This article presents findings from the largest research study of the nature of mock jury deliberations in rape cases undertaken in the UK to date – and the first such study to be undertaken in the Scottish context. The study found considerable evidence of the expression of problematic attitudes towards rape complainers. These included the belief that a ‘real’ rape victim would have extensive external

In March 2018, Northern Ireland was divided by the acquittal of four men for rape, attempted rape, exposure, and perverting the court of justice in what became known as the ‘Belfast Rugby Rape Trial’. The case resulted in considerable debate about the ill-treatment of rape complainants and prompted the Gillen Review into the Laws and Procedures in Serious Sexual Offences. Gillen proposed the introduction

The administrative state continues to incite ardent academic and judicial opinion. A long-standing debate centres around the executive powers enjoyed and exercised by unelected government bureaucracies, most commonly exemplified by the executive, legislative, and judicial competences of administrative agencies. The structure of government in the modern administrative state extends far beyond a simple

This article, invited by the editors, provides us with an opportunity to reflect on a scholarly collaboration of more than 30 years. Looking backwards, we believe our success has come in part from the different backgrounds that we bring to our collaboration. It also comes from the fact that neither of us at the time we met was comfortable with the scholarly models that we were intellectually programmed

This article is a contribution to the occasional series dealing with a major book that has influenced the author. Previous contributors include Stewart Macaulay, John Griffith, William Twining, Carol Harlow, Geoffrey Bindman, Harry Arthurs, André‐Jean Arnaud, Alan Hunt, Michael Adler, Lawrence O. Gostin, John P. Heinz, Roger Brownsword, Roger Cotterrell, Nicola Lacey, Carol J. Greenhouse, David Garland

This article focuses on the governance of canals in England and Wales. The Canal & River Trust (CRT), the owner and manager of the waterways, has a statutory responsibility to grant ‘certificates’ or licences. The licence constructs a category called ‘continuous cruisers’ who live aboard their boat. Drawing on a sample of interviews with ‘continuous cruiser liveaboards’ (CCLs), we discuss how their

This article uses original data from research at the Court of Protection to explore capacity to consent to sex in practice. It argues that the approach under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 fails to place appropriate focus on consent as central to understanding sexual capacity. The capabilities approach to justice is then used to demonstrate the limitations of the existing legal approach to capacity to

Consumer credit is closely regulated in both Australia and South Africa. Nevertheless, unsecured lending often results in financial hardship in low‐income communities. One aspect of this picture is the impact of the consumer debt burden on the Indigenous economy, which is disproportionately affected by poverty in both countries. Here we juxtapose the comparative regulatory regimes and then contextualize

In a jurisdiction without a codified constitution clearly demarcating the role of the courts, and given the centrality of the principle of parliamentary sovereignty to the United Kingdom's constitutional framework, criticism of the courts for overstepping the mark – particularly in politically contentious cases – is par for the course. In their 2019 article, Professors David Campbell and James Allan

In a 2019 article in this journal, which drew on previous work, we argued by examination of a number of extremely important cases that the senior judiciary is in the process of attempting to create judicial supremacy in the UK. It is doing so, not by democratic debate, but by legal procedural innovation incomprehensible to the electorate. Invited by the journal to reply to a criticism of our argument

This volume pays tribute to the many achievements of Philip Aneurin Thomas. When asked to write a biographical account of his life, I was struck by how many beginnings Phil had been involved in. Early experiences in the United States and East Africa made him part of an important group of scholars who brought new ways of thinking about law and the law school to the United Kingdom in the 1970s. He was

This article looks back to a paper written by the author and Phil Thomas in 2000 on socio‐legal studies and reflects on what has changed in the world of socio‐legal studies since then. It then turns to the continued modesty of the claims that socio‐legal studies researchers make for their work. The suggestion made is that socio‐legal studies forms a social ecology in what is termed the ‘hyphen‐space’

This article reflects on the significance of the Journal of Law and Society and critical socio‐legal work in the context of changes in the political economy of universities and socio‐legal studies. It interweaves an analysis of this shifting political economy with consideration of another topic, namely, academic well‐being and mental health, especially in this moment, to demonstrate the continuing

This article examines some of the synergies between Phil Thomas’ work and the authors’ research into administrative justice in Wales. Like him, they have examined the impact of new rights‐based legislation on access to justice, and also share with him an interest in connections between politics, social policy, and access to justice. The article argues that Wales is not yet taken seriously as ‘a site

As a polyvocal discipline that integrates studies of law in society, socio‐legal studies should have no problem accommodating civil liberties and human rights. Numerous methodologies and frameworks present themselves as illuminating, troubling, and critiquing conceptions and experiences of rights. Legal analysis of human rights is nevertheless often abstract and highly technical. But what if socio‐legal

Initially the subject of widespread consensus, legislative and policy responses to COVID‐19 are increasingly provoking predictable reactions. Right and left are united by concern that essential freedoms are being eroded by a state utilizing the opportunity of the pandemic to make a power grab. Focused on the Coronavirus Act 2020, this article takes a more cautious approach, suggesting that the law

This article begins with a reflection on Phil Thomas’ work, as well as on the way in which the Journal of Law and Society has pioneered scholarship in this field. Drawing on my own experiences as a researcher and campaigner, and my ‘insider’ status as a van dweller, I articulate why many have sought alternative modes of living, reflecting on ideas about freedom and anarchism, the importance of ‘home’

This paper considers the interaction of legal norms and social norms in the regulation of work and working relations, observing that, with the contraction of collective bargaining, this is a matter that no longer attracts the attention that it deserves. Drawing upon two concepts from sociology – Max Weber's ‘labour constitution’ and Seymour Martin Lipset's ‘occupational community’ – it focuses on possibilities

Directors take decisions that can have significant impacts on others, as illustrated by the global financial crisis and the collapse of Thomas Cook Group plc. Yet many academics argue that courts should not review or impose liability on directors for poor business judgements. These arguments often rely on untested empirical assumptions about directors’ behaviour and attitudes. Through semi‐structured

This article calls for a strengthening of Disability Law as an academic discipline and offers orientation for its future development. It argues that there is a need for enhanced cohesion among those already applying a critical disability perspective within disciplines such as Equality Law, Mental Health and Capacity Law, and Social Care and Protection Law and also for greater mainstreaming of this

Recent years have seen a rise in immaterial labour in the United Kingdom and other developed economies. Sociological explanatory accounts of these developments focus primarily on economic drivers. Little, if any, inquiry has been made into the potential role of law. This article seeks to identify the aspects of law that may be constitutive of employer and worker perceptions of the acceptability (or

Drawing upon feminist standpoint theory and interviews with pioneering women lawyers in Sri Lanka, I argue for a focus on women as a distinct category in ‘legal complex theory’. I consider the following questions in making this claim. What were the internal structures of the legal profession that the older generations of women lawyers encountered as they entered the profession and as they took up positions

This article is a contribution to the occasional series dealing with a major book that has influenced the author. Previous contributors include Stewart Macaulay, John Griffith, William Twining, Carol Harlow, Geoffrey Bindman, Harry Arthurs, André‐Jean Arnaud, Alan Hunt, Michael Adler, Lawrence O. Gostin, John P. Heinz, Roger Brownsword, Roger Cotterrell, Nicola Lacey, Carol J. Greenhouse, David Garland

In court judgements on nationality, it is common to find references to the constitutions and citizenship provisions of various countries. In addition, the influences of regional as well as global human rights legal instruments are often cited by lawyers in arguments and judges in their decisions. It is surprising, then, that academic scholarship on the topic is usually single‐country or single‐region

Lower national courts are increasingly asked to perform a transnational role, being directly involved in major geopolitical issues such as conflicts, migration, and transnational terrorism. Based on an ethnography of French criminal courts, this article aims to examine this emerging role of national lower courts as transnationalized players. Through an examination of terrorism prosecutions in France

Rick Abel's classic Politics by Other Means (1995) used South Africa to argue for law's ‘potential nobility’, but it did so avoiding a heroic mode characteristic of much anti‐apartheid writing. Abel showed how law could, with strenuous exertion, be turned into a defensive shield for the oppressed. As a sword, however, it was ‘two‐edged’. It allowed the powerful to frustrate or overturn hard‐won symbolic

Law and lawyers tend to be seen as either preferential victims of or key counterforces to rising illiberalism. Brazil offers a good testbed for these claims. Brazilian democracy has deteriorated considerably, as epitomized by the election of Jair Bolsonaro in 2018. Yet, since 2014, law and lawyers have become ever more central to Brazil's field of state power. As the anti‐corruption initiative Car

The fate of the rule of law in fragile states rests in religious politics. Three defining periods of Somali politics illustrate this argument. First is the authoritarian regime of Mohamed Siad Barre in Somalia (1969–1991). This dictatorship used religion to rule by law. The regime executed religious leaders for disagreeing with the government's interpretation of Islam. Second is the rise of Islamic

This article examines how authoritarian contenders use law to advance an agenda geared to exclusive state power in light of a paradigmatic case: the National Socialists’ takeover of the German state apparatus in spring 1933. This case highlights two ways in which an office holder is able to expand his power in an authoritarian fashion through legal dispositions. A conjunctural use of law for authoritarian

The anti‐corruption struggle has become an international political doctrine since the 1990s. On the one hand, it has been anchored in organizations that promote ideas and models of ‘good governance’: non‐governmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, the World Bank, and so on. On the other hand, it has acquired normative force in conventions of the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Economic

The negative and corrosive impacts of corruption in the fields of economics, politics, and law are widely discussed. Less understood are the potentially negative impacts of anti‐corruption struggles and strategies themselves. This article presents a case study of Brazil's ‘Car Wash’ (‘Lava Jato’) scandal from a legal and political perspective. Although the subsequent Operation Car Wash investigation

Using archival materials, we reflect on the legal process of creating (and mitigating) a border in Ireland after partition in 1922 and interactions between those laws and the people whom they affected. After 1922, superficially durable exceptions developed to the territorial state's distinctions between citizens and foreign nationals under the aegis of the Common Travel Area. They survived the 1930s

The rule of law is a foundation of the liberal state. The US ‘War on Terror’ under Presidents Bush and Obama threatened and violated the rule of law in multiple ways. This article surveys those challenges and analyses how US institutions responded in order to assess the capacity of the legal system to resist political pressure in moments of crisis.

We examine judges’ role in civil litigation by studying empirically the relationship between judicial procedural involvement (JPI) and lawsuits’ mode of disposition (MoD). Furthermore, we propose JPI as a metric for the allocation of judicial attention to litigants. Applying the framework to Israeli trial court data, we find that 60 per cent of cases included JPI (through hearings and rulings on motions)

This article is a contribution to the occasional series dealing with a major book that has influenced the author. Previous contributors include Stewart Macaulay, John Griffith, William Twining, Carol Harlow, Geoffrey Bindman, Harry Arthurs, André‐Jean Arnaud, Alan Hunt, Michael Adler, Lawrence O. Gostin, John P. Heinz, Roger Brownsword, Roger Cotterrell, Nicola Lacey, Carol J. Greenhouse, and David

Patent law protects the technical. It is seemingly objective in terminology and application. Yet studies show that males are significantly more likely than females to be the inventors of patented inventions. Patenting is not objective, it is gendered. The reasons for this are multiple and include the fact that patent law itself, including its presumptions and interpretation, is gendered. This article

Few modern‐day lawyers, and even fewer in the socio‐legal tradition, now believe in what Pound termed ‘mechanical jurisprudence’, whereby judges objectively and impassively analyse the law in order to arrive at the single correct legal answer hidden within. Not only does this idea do a great disservice to the complexity of the law, which is filled with gaps, rife with ambiguity, and full of opportunities

RADICAL MARKETS: UPROOTING CAPITALISM AND DEMOCRACY FOR A JUST SOCIETY by POSNER, ERIC A. AND WEYL, GLEN (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018, 368 pp., £25.00) PRICING LIVES: GUIDEPOSTS FOR A SAFER SOCIETY by VISCUSI, W. KIP (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018, 296 pp., £30.00)

This article is the fourth in a series introducing the reader to methods and theories relevant to advancing socio‐legal research. They are written for the curious rather than the expert reader and provide illustrations of how the theories, methods, and frameworks have been employed and might be used in your work.

‘Paedophile hunters’ have attracted global media attention. The limited literature on paedophile hunters, which documents their emergence in contemporary liberal democracies, pays scant attention to how their use of intrusive investigative methods may threaten the procedural rights of suspects and undermine the integrity of the criminal justice system. This article fills this normative ‘gap’ in the