This week’s event announcements are below.

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The Democratic Case for a Written Constitution

UCL Gustave Tuck LT, Wilkins Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT

Thursday 1 March 2018, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Speaker: Professor Jeff King (University College London)

Chair: Lord Pannick QC (Blackstone Chambers)

Series: Current Legal Problems 2017-18 Lecture Series

The United Kingdom is one of three countries in the world without a written constitution.  Many argue that a written and entrenched constitution is required in order to safeguard rights against majoritarian overreach, while others have firmly opposed such a reform.  Continuing the Current Legal Problems 2017-18 series with his inaugural lecture, Prof. King will argue that a written constitution is required to fully achieve democratic self-government and to allow the people to exercise true authorship over the most fundamental rules of the polity. These claims will be illustrated through a consideration of the theory and practice of constitutionalism, and an examination of recent developments in UK public law, the politics of Brexit, devolution, and parliamentary reform.

This lecture aims to be accessible for the general public as well as lawyers and scholars. Please find more details and reserve your place for free here.

Jeff King joined the UCL Laws as a Senior Lecturer in 2011, and has been Professor of Law since 2016. He is the Co-Editor of Current Legal Problems, formerly the Co-Editor of the UK Constitutional Law Blog, and sits on the Editorial Committee of Public Law as well as the General Council of the International Society of Public Law (ICON Society).  His book Judging Social Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2012) won the Society of Legal Scholars 2014 Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship, and in 2017 he was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Law.

The Current Legal Problems lecture series and annual volume was established over fifty-five years ago at the Faculty of Laws, University College London, and is recognised as a major reference point for legal scholarship.

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Call for Papers
Annual Doctoral Seminar in Constitutional Theory:
International, European and Domestic Perspectives

Drawing on a successful inaugural event at the University of Liverpool in 2017, the University of Strathclyde Law School will host a two-day doctoral seminar in constitutional theory on 26th and 27th June 2018. We are delighted to announce that Professor Alison Young (University of Cambridge) and Professor Thomas Poole (London School of Economics) will each deliver a keynote lecture.
Submissions are encouraged from candidates at any stage of their doctoral studies. The seminar will provide a valuable opportunity for doctoral researchers to present and receive feedback on any aspect of their work that touches upon constitutional theory broadly defined. For example, we welcome contributions on subjects specifically related to constitutional theory (from an international, transnational, domestic or comparative perspective), or from more doctrinal projects which may benefit from feedback on a specific theoretical element. Speakers will present their work for feedback from an assembled panel of experts, including:

Professor Alison Young (University of Cambridge)
Professor Aileen McHarg (University of Strathclyde)
Professor Thomas Poole (London School of Economics)
Dr Christopher McCorkindale (University of Strathclyde)
Dr Paul Scott (University of Glasgow)

Throughout the two-days, our panellists will also present aspects of their own work. The seminar will also include a number of skills-based workshops looking at issues such as the process of writing a PhD and on academic publishing.

Interested postgraduate researchers are invited to submit abstracts of up to 500 words, along with a short biography (in the same document) to both Ben Murphy (b.l.murphy@liv.ac.uk) and Douglas Jack (douglas.jack@strath.ac.uk). The deadline for submissions is 9th April 2018. Successful applicants will be informed no later than 20th April 2018, and will be invited to send an extended abstract/short overview of their paper of up to 2,000 words by 1st June 2018.