Latest news from Faculty of Law

The Faculty is delighted to announce that it has again been awarded the Bronze Athena Swan Award following a re-application last year. The application was made through the hard work of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee with the support of Faculty professional services staff. The Faculty of Law is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to a proactive and inclusive approach to equality, which supports and encourages all underrepresented groups, promotes an inclusive culture, and values diversity. The Athena Swan Charter is a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. Established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment, the Charter is now being used across the globe to address gender equality more broadly, and not just barriers to progression that affect women.

Oxford University Press has published Race and Transitional Justice edited by Sarah M.H. Nouwen and Neha Jain (Professor of Law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law). The discourse, scholarship, and practice of transitional justice have become pivotal to addressing historical systematic injustices. However, until recently, the field has largely overlooked some of the most enduring and pervasive injustices of human history: racism and the colonialism and slave-trade that both reflected and fuelled it. Race and Transitional Justice examines how race and racism interact with transitional justice mechanisms and institutions to question why this is the case, and how it could be different. Bringing together diverse perspectives to examine the historical and socio-political contexts of transitional justice, the contributions offer a range of responses. These range from calls to abandon the field due to its complicity in settler hegemony, to considering it an essential space for working towards a more just, non-racist social order. For more information about this book, please refer to the Oxford University Press website . For information about publications by Professor Nouwen, please refer to her Faculty profile .

The Faculty warmly welcomes the appointment of a large number of Cambridge graduates as King's Counsel on Friday last week. These appointments are made by His Majesty The King on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, David Lammy MP, following consideration by the independent King’s Counsel (KC) Selection Panel. The Lord...

Hart Publishing has published Sovereignty Intact: The UK Parliament, Foreign Courts and Immigration by Dr Matilda Gillis . This book examines the relationship between the UK Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), as well as the relationship Parliament previously held with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It scrutinises these interactions specifically within the highly-politicised context of immigration. Sovereignty Intact challenges the frequent claim that the adjudication of rights by ‘foreign’ courts in immigration cases has impeded Parliament’s work or undermined its sovereignty. Instead, by applying a ‘democratic dialogue’ model to the relationship between Parliament and these courts, the book illustrates the dynamic and interactive nature of these legal connections. Dr Gillis argues that these institutions, when working together, produce moderated and normatively advantageous human rights protections. Through rigorous analysis, this book tackles the contentious issue of UK sovereignty and expertly dismantles one of the most charged political claims of recent times. For more information about this book, please refer to the Bloomsbury website . For information about publications by Dr Gillis, please refer to her Faculty profile .

The Faculty of Law is pleased to announce that the University of Cambridge recently hosted the Cambridge Debt Roundtable on The Global Law of Debt . The event was organised by Dr Narine Lalafaryan (Assistant Professor of Corporate Law; Fellow of Pembroke College; Fellow of the Cambridge Endowment for Research in Finance) around a new research project of the same name, led jointly by Dr Lalafaryan and Professor Jared A. Ellias (Scott C. Collins Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, Harvard University). The research project, 'The Global Law of Debt' , examines the historical evolution and contemporary influence of global debt finance and restructuring laws. It highlights the deeply entangled nature of legal systems across jurisdictions and considers the consequences of this entanglement for investors, clients, courts, regulators, and governments. The global law of debt has emerged from the close interconnection between London's and New York's debt ecosystems, creating unprecedented opportunities for companies, investors, and professionals to raise capital and restructure debt across borders. At the same time, this system poses significant challenges for regulators, courts, and policymakers, and facilitates the spread of practices that remain controversial. The Cambridge Global Law of Debt Roundtable was an interdisciplinary event at the intersection of law and finance. It brought together a diverse group of distinguished senior scholars, leading legal practitioners, and promising early-career researchers. The roundtable advanced understanding of corporate debt finance and restructuring while showcasing the research of Dr Lalafaryan and Professor Ellias. It also sought to bridge the gap between academic scholarship and practice, provide participants with insight into major developments in the field, and strengthen the Cambridge-Harvard academic collaboration.

Dr Hend Hanafy , Assistant Professor of Criminal Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, has led the organisation of a roundtable discussion with the Egyptian Court of Cassation, held in cooperation with the Faculty of Law at the British University in Egypt . The event, titled 'Sentencing in the Egyptian Legal System: A Comparative Approach to the Sentencing Guidelines in England and Wales' took place on 23 December 2025 at the British University in Egypt. The roundtable brought together senior judges from the Court of Cassation, the Court of Appeal, and other criminal courts, as well as legal scholars. Discussions focused on judicial discretion in sentencing, the role of the Court of Cassation in reviewing sentencing decisions, and comparative perspectives on the structuring of judicial discretion in sentencing. Dr Hanafy delivered a two-part contribution that examined the philosophy, structure and operation of the sentencing guidelines in England and Wales, and their implications for judicial discretion. Her contribution highlighted the normative underpinnings of guideline-based sentencing and the potential role of appellate courts, including the Court of Cassation, in shaping the contours of judicial discretion in sentencing. The Court of Cassation described the event as a valuable exchange between judicial and academic institutions that "was marked by rich discussions, reflecting the importance of the topic it addressed" . The Faculty of Law at British University in Egypt also emphasised that the roundtable discussion represented "a meaningful step towards advancing academic-judicial collaboration and comparative legal research."

The Law Faculty is delighted to announce that Dr Narine Lalafaryan (Assistant Professor of Corporate Law; Fellow, Pembroke College; CERF Fellow) has been extensively cited and quoted by the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee in its 2026 report, Private Markets: Unknown Unknowns . This follows Dr Lalafaryan's oral evidence to the Committee in July 2025. The Committee’s inquiry examined whether post-2008 reforms to regulatory capital and liquidity requirements have constrained banks’ lending capacity, potentially shifting financial risk from traditional banking to private markets. This inquiry assessed whether the post-2008 reforms to regulatory capital and liquidity requirements have limited banks’ ability to lend, thereby shifting risk from the banking sector to private markets. It also explores how much visibility the Bank of England has on the size of these private markets, their interconnectedness with the banking system, and any potential risks that might spill over. Among the points where Dr Lalafaryan is cited, the Committee highlighted her insights into how highly liquid, competitive secondary markets influence bank lending, including the banks’ role in debt governance. The Committee also noted her observations on the global spread of US investment fund practices, with the UK proving particularly attractive due to the flexibility of its legal system. As a result, London often serves as the first global hub where these trends are tested, refined, adapted — and sometimes rejected. These contributions draw on Dr Lalafaryan’s existing research, including 'Private Credit: A Reinsurance in Corporate Finance' and 'Chameleon Capital' , as well as her forthcoming co-authored paper, 'The Global Law of Debt.' Commenting on the report, the Committee noted: "Although there is clear evidence of the growth of private markets, there is insufficient data to conclude whether private credit is systemic, meaning there are considerable ‘unknown unknowns’. The Bank of England is right to shine a light on these developments through its System-Wide Exploratory Scenario, but it must move swiftly; the Government, the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority, and the Financial Conduct Authority must continue proactively to monitor developments in private markets." The full report and the press release summary are available on the Financial Services Regulation Committee website.

Legal protection for UK workers will move closer to the OECD average, according to a new report coauthored by a team of Cambridge researchers, and published by the Department of Business and Trade. 'Assessing the legal and economic implications of the Employment Rights Act 2025' is co-authored by Christine Carter , Simon Deakin , and Kamelia Pourkermani of the Cambridge Centre for Business Research and ESRC Centre for Digital Futures at Work , together with Conor McCormack of DBT. The report uses the Cambridge Centre for Business Research Labour Regulation Index to benchmark the new rights conferred by the Act against those in other OECD countries. The Index provides a measure of the extent of worker protection in law, in 117 countries around the world between the 1970s and the present day. For the purposes of the report, the Cambridge team updated the Index to 2025 for the UK and other OECD countries, and added new indices on zero hours contracts, leave rights and trade union rights, in order to capture the changes made by the Act. Benchmarking UK employment rights against the OECD The report finds that, as a result of the Act, UK labour law protections, as whole, would move closer to the OECD average. Whilst the UK would remain less protective than the OECD average overall, it would be a leader in some areas. For example, UK labour law would be at or above the average level of protection in the OECD with respect to zero hours contracts, leave rights, and those aspects of trade union rights addressed in the Act. Economic impacts The report also uses the Labour Regulation Index to conduct econometric analysis of the relationship between labour law and the economy over the past 50 years in the UK. This indicates that the new Employment Rights Act is likely to have a small positive effect on employment, representing an increase of around 0.1% in the employment level. In those areas where the Act breaks new ground for UK law, including zero hours contract laws, analysis indicates that the adoption of similar laws in other OECD countries in the recent past has led to productivity and employment improvements.

The Faculty is delighted to announce the election of Professor Paul Davies to the Downing Professorship of the Laws of England. The Downing Professorship was founded in 1800 in pursuance of a bequest in the will of Sir George Downing, the founder of Downing College. Previous holders have included Andrew Amos, FW Maitland, Sir William Ivor Jennings, Stanley de Smith, Gareth Jones, Sir John Baker and Dame Sarah Worthington. The most recent incumbent was Lionel Smith. Professor Davies has written widely on private law. In addition to many articles and book chapters, he is the author of a monograph on Accessory Liability (Hart Publishing, 2015; revised paperback edition, 2017), and two leading texts: Equity and Trusts: Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed, OUP, 2025 (with Graham Virgo)) and JC Smith's The Law of Contract (3rd ed, OUP, 2021). Forthcoming books include Anson's Law of Contract (32nd ed, OUP, 2026 (with Sir Jack Beatson and John Cartwright)) and Principles of Contractual Interpretation (3rd ed, OUP, 2026 (with Richard Calnan)). He is the General Editor of Chitty on Contracts , was previously a contributing editor to Snell's Equity for 15 years, and has co-edited 9 further books. His work has been influential both in academia and beyond; more than thirty of his publications have been cited judicially, including by appellate courts in England and Wales and around the common law world. He is also a Senior Fellow of Melbourne Law School, and a Barrister at Essex Court Chambers. Professor Davies studied was an undergraduate at Downing College, and started his academic career as a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College and Newton Trust Lecturer in the Law Faculty. He was subsequently a Fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford, before taking up the UCL Chair in 2017. He was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Law in 2020.

Bloomsbury Professional has published Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation: Law and Technology edited by Matthias Haentjens, Louise Gullifer and Ilya Kokorin. This book provides a commentary on the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), a game-changing EU regulation for crypto-assets and crypto-asset services...

Oxford University Press has published the fifth edition of Agency: Law and Principles by Dr Roderick Munday . Questions of agency regularly arise in the work of commercial practitioners. Agency: Law and Principles, now in its fifth edition, addresses these questions by offering a clear and accessible analysis of the...

The Faculty of Law is delighted to announce the re-launch of its online course, Exploring Law: Studying Law at University . The course will re-start on 26 January 2026. Learners can register for the course immediately, and at any time before 9 March 2026. Over 11,000 learners have enrolled on the course since it was first launched in 2021. We look forward to welcoming many more over the coming months: the course is being offered twice a year, beginning in the last week in January and the third week in July. About the Exploring Law course Exploring Law is an innovative, open-access online course, designed primarily for 16 to 18-year-olds who are considering whether to study law at a university in the UK. It is free for anyone to access and complete. Learners who enrol on the course for free have full access to the course for six weeks; the six course modules become available on a weekly basis, and learners can work through each module, as it becomes available, at their own pace. The course is a key outreach initiative for the Faculty of Law, intended to help any student, whatever their background, and whatever their particular university aspirations. Further information about the course and registration can be found from the Faculty of Law’s Exploring Law webpage .

The Faculty of Law is offering one studentship for a new PhD student commencing either full-time or part-time doctoral research in 2026/27. The studentship is available to home and overseas students, and is renewable for a further 2 years subject to satisfactory academic progress. Preference will be given to prospective PhD students intending to undertake research in any area of family law. The value of a studentship will be £15,000 per annum (adjusted on a pro-rata basis for part-time students) and may be used by the student to contribute towards the University Composition Fee or to contribute towards living costs. Candidates wishing to be considered for this studentship should have applied for admission to the PhD at the Faculty of Law by the course closing date of 2 December 2025 and should, in addition, return a completed studentship application form to studentships@law.cam.ac.uk by the studentship application closing date of 31 January 2026 .

The Centre for Tax Law (CTL) is delighted to invite proposals to present papers at the Centre's 13th biennial Tax Law History Conference, to be held in Darwin College, Cambridge on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 July 2026. As usual, there is no particular academic theme for the conference, except that proposals should have a tax...

The Faculty has distributed Volume 16 Number 5 of the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series on SSRN . This issue includes the following articles: Interested readers can browse the Working Paper Series at SSRN , or sign up to subscribe to distributions of the the e-journal.

On Friday 14 November 2025, the Lauterpacht Centre hosted an award ceremony honouring Prof Eliav Lieblich, recipient of the 2025 Max Planck-Cambridge Prize for International Law. Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran, Director of the Centre, opened the event with a warm welcome, followed by a Laudatio delivered by Professor Anne...

The Cambridge International Law Journal ('CILJ') is pleased to invite submissions of abstracts to be considered for presentations at the 15th Annual Conference of the CILJ. The Conference will take place at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, on 23–24 April 2026. The topic of the Conference is ‘Reimagining International Law: Critical, Regional, and Trans-Disciplinary Perspectives.’ Contributors are encouraged to consider how international law operates not in isolation but within social, political, and economic structures; how its institutions and doctrines reflect power dynamics; and how critical, regional, and trans-disciplinary modes of legal imagination might chart alternative, better futures. The CILJ invite all interested scholars to submit an abstract between 250 and 300 words via the link below by 11:59pm on 31 December 2025. They welcome submissions from PhD students, early career researchers, and established academics, and practitioners. Selected papers will be presented at the Conference, and all conference presenters will have the opportunity to submit their papers for consideration for publication in Volume 15(2) of the CILJ. Further details can be found and the CILJ site or by contacting conference@cilj.co.uk .

Edward Elgar Publishing has published Research Handbook on Judging and the Judiciary , edited by Sophie Turenne , and Mohamed Moussa as part of the Research Handbooks in Law and Society series. In this timely Research Handbook, leading legal scholars join forces with political scientists to discuss court adjudication in common and civil law systems. Chapters cover topical problems and debates in judicial studies and examine the institutional framework within which judges operate. Developing a multi-disciplinary analysis that combines legal, socio-legal, and political science perspectives, this Research Handbook explores the transformation of the justice system, adopting a contextual approach to court adjudication. Expert authors explore the use of generative AI, normative expectations about judgement-making and the effect on inclusive or responsive judging, and the role of court presidents, judicial associations, and judicial councils. Ultimately, the Research Handbook advances the understanding of the judiciary by highlighting elements of the justice system that are conducive to trust and judicial legitimacy, while suggesting avenues for further research. Reflecting on the book, Professor Tom Ginsburg (University of Chicago) said "This interdisciplinary volume brings together a superb set of authors. Full of cutting-edge analyses, it does not shy away from the social, institutional, moral and technological challenges facing the judiciary today. Every student of judging will find something to engage with in this book." For more information about this book, please refer to the Edward Elgar website . More information about publications by Sophie and Mohamed is available on their Faculty profiles .

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has today published a report which warns the Government that the UK’s failure to retain and scale its science and technology companies has now reached crisis point and is causing the UK economy to bleed out. 'Bleeding to death: the science and technology growth emergency' argues that without urgent and radical reform, the Government risks acting too late to fix long-standing failures to scale, to retain the economic benefits of R&D in the UK, and to seize the enormous opportunities for technological and economic growth that are currently slipping through its fingers. The report cites the work of David Cornell (CBR Sernior Research Fellow) and Faculty Professor of Corporate Law and Governance Bobby Reddy , published by the Cambridge Judge Business School (JBS) . Their report 'Selling less of the family silver: boosting UK growth' was published in July 2024 . Their work argued that revenue-backed, rather than venture-backed companies, often retain a greater level of founder control, and have 'anchor customers' domestically, which give the company significant repeat business in the UK and can therefore help retain these companies domestically.

The highly anticipated 'Keep Britain Working' report , spearheaded by Sir Charlie Mayfield for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) was published today. It has thrown its weight behind proposals aimed at overhauling the current system of employment dispute resolution...