Latest news from Faculty of Law

Earlier this year Bloomsbury Professional published Judicial Individuality on the UK Supreme Court by Lewis Graham . This book presents an empirical analysis of the UK Supreme Court's output over its first ten years, with a specific focus on each individual judge's contribution to each case. It shows that judges, like all...

Professor Catherine Barnard (Trinity College) gave evidence this morning to the Parliamentary Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee . The Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee was appointed to consider matters related to the implementation of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland and the Windsor Framework. Professor Barnard...

Bloomsbury Professional has recently published a festschrift in honour of Professor Emeritus of Jurisprudence and Public Law TRS Allan , entitled The Promise of Legality: Critical Reflections on the Work of TRS Allan edited by Geneviève Cartier and Mark D Walters. A book launch was held by the Centre for Public Law (CPL)...

Faculty and Cambridge Family Law (CFL) member Dr Brian Sloan has been serving on the advisory group for the Law Commission's project to modernise wills. On 16 May the Commission published its recommendations to reform the law of wills in its report 'Modernising Wills Law' . The reforms proposed will modernise the law governing wills to ensure it is fit for purpose in the modern age. The law governing wills largely dates from the Victorian era. It has not been comprehensively reviewed for nearly 200 years, and the Commission's report makes recommendations to clarify the law and to ensure it is fit for purpose in the modern age. The Commission's recommendations for reform are aimed primarily at supporting testamentary freedom, protecting testators (including from undue influence and fraud), and increasing clarity and certainty in the law where possible. The final report is accompanied by a draft Bill for a modern Wills Act, to replace the Wills Act 1837. Dr Sloan is cited extensively in the report, including his works: B Sloan, Borkowski’s Law of Succession (4th ed 2020), B Sloan, "Testing times for attestation: Payne v Payne" [2019] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 182, S Hudson and B Sloan, 'Testamentary Freedom: Mutual Wills Might Let You Down' in Modern Studies in Property Law : Volume 8, ed W Barr (2015), B Sloan, "DMC of registered land? That’s the way it is" (2024) 83 Cambridge Law Journal 421, and B Sloan, "Forfeiture and the effect of the Wills Act 1837 s 33A" [2021] 1 Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 33. The report has been laid before Parliament along with a draft bill. It will now be for the Government to decide whether to implement the recommendations.

The 21st Joint Seminar of the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (Geneva Association) and the European Association of Law and Economics (EALE) on the topic 'Legal and economic issues of emerging (liability) risks and insurance' will be hosted by Jesus College, Cambridge on 18–19 June 2026. Submissions are invited for papers dealing with the legal and/or economic implications of emerging liability and related risks for the re/insurance industry. Abstracts should be submitted by 25 January 2026 for review by a scientific board. Acceptance decisions will be announced by 1 March 2026 . Abstract submissions for the seminar should be sent to se505@cam.ac.uk . Full papers will be due for submission by 28 May 2026 . A selection of the papers from the seminar will thereafter be invited for peer-review publication in The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance—Issues and Practice . The seminar is sponsored by the Geneva Association and its local organiser is Dr Senara Eggleton (Jesus College, University of Cambridge).

Professor of International Law Lorand Bartels has been re-appointed as Chair of the Government Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC) to which he was originally appointed in 2021. The Commission scrutinises new free trade agreements (FTAs) once they are signed to assess the impact on animal welfare, environmental and health and safety standards (other than food). They are independent of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and DBT ministers play no part in the TAC’s advice on FTAs. Recent reports have offered advice to the Government on the Accession Protocol of the UK to Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement and the UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. For more information please see the Government website .

The Faculty has distributed Volume 16 Number 2 of the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series on SSRN . This issue includes the following articles: Markus Gehring & Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger: Climate Justice through International Courts and Tribunals: Advisory Opinions in the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ( 4/2025 ) Matthew H. Kramer: On the Non-Equivalence of Norms and Norm-Formulations: Hart Versus Kelsen, and Kelsen Versus Kelsen ( 5/2025 ) Brian R. Cheffins & Bobby V. Reddy: Deconstructing the "Anglo-American" Corporate Model ( 6/2025 ) Matilda Gillis: Call it Torture: Sexual Offences, Human Rights and the Metropolitan Police (Forthcoming in Public Law) ( 8/2024 ) Interested readers can browse the Working Paper Series at SSRN , or sign up to subscribe to distributions of the the e-journal.

Professor Lorand Bartels MBE was invited to give evidence to the Parliamentary International Agreements Committee , on Tuesday 6 May. The Committee scrutinises all treaties that are laid before Parliament under the terms of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 and considers the Government's conduct of...

The Faculty warmly welcomes the announcement that the Dispute Resolution Interest Group (DRIG) of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) has awarded the third edition of the DRIG Prize for Best Article in International Dispute Resolution to Dr Fabian Eichberger (Charles & Katharine Darwin Research Fellow, Darwin College). Fabian's winning article 'Informal Communications to the International Court of Justice in Cases of Non-appearance' was published in The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals , Volume 22, 2023. In his article, Dr Eichberger addresses the increased non-appearance of respondent States before the International Court of Justice and openness of the Court to accepting informal communications from non-appearing States. The paper examines the implications of the Court's practice to date, highlighting key issues of procedural fairness and impacts for the Court's legitimacy. Dr Eichberger concludes that the Court should take a more formal approach to informal communications. The committee selected the article from 34 submissions based on a) depth of research; b) sophistication of analysis; c) originality; d) quality of writing; and e) potential impact on the field of international dispute resolution. In delivering their verdict, the committee emphasised the excellent quality and diversity of the papers received. The Prize consists of a certificate of recognition, a complimentary registration for the 2025 ASIL Annual Meeting, a one-year membership in the Society, and a one-year subscription to the Jus Mundi international law and arbitration search engine. The winner of the Prize was announced at the 2025 ASIL Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Scholars, judges and practitioners from around the world met in the Faculty on 4 April at a conference to pay tribute to the scholarship of Professor Richard Fentiman. From comparative legal method and foreign law to injunctions, choice-of-law and jurisdiction questions, as well as managing risk in cross-border litigation, each panel sparked lively debate and deeper insights into current issues in private international law and international commercial litigation. Horatia Muir Watt, Alex Mills, Haris Pampoukis, Ralph Michaels, Stephen Pitel, Henry Forbes Smith KC, Soterios Loizou, Jonathan Harris KC, Mary Keyes, Min Kyung Kim, Nikitas Hatzimihail, Campbell McLachlan KC, Corinne Widmer, Arnaud Nuyts, Linda Silberman, William Day, Sir Adam Johnson, and Andrej Savin all shared thought-provoking perspectives prompted by Richard’s work on the enduring challenges and emerging directions in the subject. The event was attended by many of Richard’s colleagues from academia and practice, many of whom were his former students. The panels were moderated by Marie Louise Kinsler KC, Louise Merrett, Pippa Rogerson, Faidon Varesis and Hayk Kupelyants. The day culminated in a celebratory dinner in the Old Hall of Queens’ College. The event was supported by the Faculty’s Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law (3CL), Herbert Smith Freehills, 2TG, and Redress Solutions.

Scholars, judges and practitioners from around the world met in the Faculty on 4 April at a conference to pay tribute to the scholarship of Professor Richard Fentiman. From comparative legal method and foreign law to injunctions, choice-of-law and jurisdiction questions, as well as managing risk in cross-border litigation, each panel sparked lively debate and deeper insights into current issues in private international law and international commercial litigation. Horatia Muir Watt, Alex Mills, Haris Pampoukis, Ralph Michaels, Stephen Pitel, Henry Forbes Smith KC, Soterios Loizou, Jonathan Harris KC, Mary Keyes, Min Kyung Kim, Nikitas Hatzimihail, Campbell McLachlan KC, Corinne Widmer, Arnaud Nuyts, Linda Silberman, William Day, Sir Adam Johnson, and Andrej Savin all shared thought-provoking perspectives prompted by Richard’s work on the enduring challenges and emerging directions in the subject. The event was attended by many of Richard’s colleagues from academia and practice, many of whom were his former students. The panels were moderated by Marie Louise Kinsler KC, Louise Merrett, Pippa Rogerson, Faidon Varesis and Hayk Kupelyants. The day culminated in a celebratory dinner in the Old Hall of Queens’ College. The event was supported by the Faculty’s Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law (3CL), Herbert Smith Freehills, 2TG, and Redress Solutions.

Photo: Supreme Court, Open Gov License v3.0 Former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Lady Arden of Heswall (Girton College) has been nominated to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Cambridge. Lady Arden, alongside seven other distinguished individuals, is due to be admitted to her honorary degree at a special Congregation in the Senate-House on Wednesday 25 June. The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice, will preside and will be attended by staff, students and alumni as well as special guests. Lady Arden shared: "I am deeply honoured by this announcement. Girton provided me with a firm foundation for commitment to the rule of law and fearless perseverance with a legal career, which was needed because at the time I started there were few women. There are now more women lawyers, and this award celebrates all their achievements too." An outstanding lawyer and judge, Mary Arden studied at Girton College, of which she is an Honorary Fellow, then at the Harvard Law School. Called to the Bar in 1971 and becoming a Queen's Counsel in 1986, she was appointed to the High Court Bench and made a DBE in 1993, being the first woman assigned to the Chancery Division. Subsequently promoted to the Court of Appeal and made a Privy Counsellor, she joined the Supreme Court from 2018 to 2022, with the title of Lady Arden of Heswall. A former Chair of the Law Commission, the engagement with law reform encouraged her to write on the law and its response to social change. Having also chaired the Judges' Working Party on Constitutional Reform and taken a leading role in international judicial relations, she has sat as a member of international courts and is a member of the UK Committee on Standards in Public Life.

The Exploring Law Conference (fomerly known as the Cambridge Sixth Form Law Conference) held at the Faculty of Law on 7-10 April marked the 50th anniversary of the running of the event. The Conference was established "to give year 12 students from all backgrounds the opportunity to accurately experience what studying law...

The Centre for Public Law at the University of Cambridge and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid will co-host a workshop 'In the Name of National Security: The Fragility of Human Rights' at the Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales in Madrid on 3 July 2025 . Keynotes will be presented by Professor Iain Cameron and...

The Cambridge University Law Society (CULS) pro bono team held its annual award ceremony on Monday 17 March, at the University Arms Hotel, sponsored by Simmonds and Simmonds . The awards, which were presented by Professor Louise Gullifer, the Chair of the Law Faculty, celebrate the legal pro bono work performed by Cambridge students, ranging from the Bronze Award (10+ hours) to the Platinum Award (50+ hours). The Faculty is very proud of all the students who won awards in recognition of their dedication to this important work. The work done by the undergraduate and graduate students who received awards was very varied, and took place in many parts of the world. One example is the work done for a project called 'Criminal Law and AI', which was undertaken for JUSTICE. The project, which was under the auspices of the Cambridge Pro Bono project , involved undertaking an extensive review of the use of AI in criminal justice systems to identify lessons learned from around the world. The ultimate output of the project is a report that analysed a number of case studies of AI in criminal justice. Some other students interned at the Woods Foundation in Alabama, which is a public nonprofit organization that monitors prison conditions and provides investigative services to individuals with wrongful convictions or excessive sentences in Alabama. Some others interned at a legal clinic in Singapore run by Pro Bono SG, which is a non-governmental legal organisation whose aim is to enabling access to justice for the vulnerable and disadvantaged through legal awareness, advice and advocacy. These three are just examples of the excellent work undertaken by Cambridge students for the benefit of others. The CULS Pro Bono team also ran a number of projects in the last year, including working with the International Law Book Facility Project to ship law books from across Cambridge to Ukraine via Poland, and enabling students to work with Citizens Advice Cambridge. The CULS team, who also received awards for their great service to pro bono work in Cambridge, have shown enormous commitment and leadership in this area. They are Hannah Zia, Zachary Yong, Jonathan Keyte and Joy Magomba.

Faculty doctoral student Shubham Jain was invited by Sky Sports News to offer a human rights law lens as part of the coverage of Afghanistan's matches in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 (Men's Cricket) in Pakistan. Afghan Women's Team has not been able to play international cricket due to the Taliban's ban on women's participation in sport. How can the Sports Ecosystem respond effectively to this situation? Shubham spoke about a solution based on his proposed framework called 'VOICE' (Visibility, Opportunity, Inclusion, Care, Engagement) as a potential comprehensive way to think how stakeholders can respond meaningfully. Shubham is a doctoral researcher at the Faculty and a WM Tapp Scholar at Gonville & Caius College. He is the Associate Editor of the Routledge Handbook of Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights . He is supervised by Dr Stephanie Palmer and Professor David Howarth , and advised by Professor Simon Deakin . The interview is available on YouTube and an accompanying news piece is available on Sky Sports website .