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Southampton Law School

September Research News

Published: 21 September 2015

A round-up of this months research news from the Law School.

Publications

Within the Centre for Heath, Ethics and Law (HEAL), Dr A.M. Viens has a symposium on antimicrobial resistance he has co-edited coming out in the journal Public Health Ethics at the end of the year. In it, he has two co-authored peer-reviewed papers – ‘The Ethical Significance of Antimicrobial Resistance’ and ‘Is Antimicrobial Resistance a Slowly Emerging Disaster?’ – both of which will be open access as a result of money he secured from COST and the Brocher Foundation. He also has a paper forthcoming in the journal Health Care Analysis entitled 'Interdependence, Human Rights and Global Health Law'. Claire Lougarre’s article 'What does the Right to Health mean? The interpretation of Article 11 of the European Social Charter by the European Committee of Social Rights' is currently in press with the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights and should be out this month (September 2015). Natasha Hammond Browning’s article ‘Ethics, Embryos and Evidence: A Look Back at Warnock’ is now published in the Medical Law Review - advance access online for now here, print version to follow.

In the Institute of Criminal Justice Research (ICJR), Dr Harry Annison’s article ‘Theorizing the role of "the brand" in criminal justice: The case of Integrated Offender Management’, co-written with Ben Bradford and Eli Grant, has been published in the September edition of the International journal Criminology and Criminal Justice here. Dr David Gurnham has two forthcoming articles in-press: ‘A critique of carceral feminist arguments on rape myths and sexual scripts’ in the New Criminal Law Review, and ‘Victim blame as a symptom of rape myth acceptance? Another look at how young people in England understand sexual consent’ in Legal Studies. Gurnham’s book Crime, Desire and Law’s Unconscious (Routledge 2014) has been favourably reviewed in, so far, the Cambridge Law Journal, Social and Legal Studies, the International Journal of Law in Context and the Liverpool Law Review (all 2015).

In the Institute of Maritime Law (IML), Professor Andrew Serdy’s research monograph The New Entrants Problem in International Fisheries Law (Cambridge University Press) is published this month. He also has a journal article on implementation of Article 28 of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement via the review of a conservation measure of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation accepted for publication in early 2016. Professor Yvonne Baatz will publish “The effectiveness of an English Jurisdiction Agreement in a Marine Insurance Policy and Settlement Agreement of claims under that policy” in The Modern Law of Marine Insurance Volume IV, edited by D R Thomas and published by Informa (October 2015). Alexandros X. M. Ntovas has a substantial chapter forthcoming in November: “Regulation 725/2004 (31 March 2004) of the European Parliament and the Council on enhancing ship and port facility security, as amended by the Commission Decision of 23 January 2009”, in Jessen, Henning and Werner, Michael Jürgen (eds.) Brussels Commentary on Transportation Law, Germany, Kooperationswerke Beck (Hart Publishing (Nomos) 2015). <ISBN 978-3-406-66718-3>. He also has “Contemporary maritime piracy as an international threat” in Footer, Mary E., Schmidt, Julia and White, Nigel D. (eds.) Security and International Law (Hart Publishing, October 2015) <ISBN 9781849466349>.

In the Insurance Law Research Group, Professor James Davey has two articles just published: ‘Romalpa and contractual innovation’ (2015) 42 Journal of Law and Society 358 (with Dr Cliona Kelly), which uses cutting edge US empirical work to analyse processes of change in English contracts. Basis for future long term empirical work in the UK. Secondly: ‘Deterrence, human rights & illegality: the forfeiture rule in insurance contract law’ [2015] Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 314 (with Katie Richards), which sets out novel arguments for forthcoming Supreme Court decision on insurance fraud.

In the Centre for Law, Ethics and Globalisation (LEAG), Dr Sarah Benedi Lahuerta has published a case note on a recent EU disability discrimination case: “Case C-354/13 Kaltoft v Municipality of Billund –Can obesity be a disability under EU equality law?” (9 April 2015), available here.

In ILAWS, Dr Eleonora Rosati has an article co-authored with Richard Arnold (a judge of the High Court of England and Wales – Chancery Division) an article ‘Are national Courts the Addressees of the InfoSoc Three-Step Test?’, accepted and forthcoming in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice. In addition she has a number of solo-authored articles either just accepted or due for publication this year, including ‘Just a Matter of Laugh? Why the CJEU Decision in Deckmyn is Broader than Parody’ in the Common Market Law Review, ‘Online Copyright Exhaustion in a Post-Allposters World’ also in the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (published online 28th July).

Lectures and Presentations at Workshops and Seminars

In the Insurance Law Research Group (ILRG), Professor James Davey will present ‘Insurable Interest: A Rule in Search of a Rationale’: as an invited guest lecture for British Insurance Law Assocn at Lloyd’s of London, co-presenting with Law Commissioner, Stephen Lewis, Sept 18th 2015. Then in October he presents ‘Ain’t Misbehaving: Lessons for Law Commissions from Behavioural Economics’ (with Dr Cliona Kelly), UCD, Dublin, conference for launch of Faculty of Law & Social Sciences on ‘The Importance of Social Sciences for Law’, with guest lecture from Cass Sunstein, Harvard.

In the Institute of Maritime Law (IML), Professor Andrew Serdy presented on (re)evaluating the merits of the 1998-2001 southern bluefin tuna dispute, never reached for lack of jurisdiction, in the light of the openness to scientific argument displayed by the International Court of Justice decision in the 2014 Whaling case – at the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) annual conference in York, September 2015. Alexandros X. M. Ntovas will present “Legal considerations over the use of unmanned vessels” at the Nautical Institute, Annual conference 25–6 September 2015, London, and then “Goal-based Standards approach to Shipbuilding and Harmonization: Recent Developments in the International Maritime Organization” at BIT’s 4th Annual World Congress of Ocean-2015: 21st Century Maritime Silk Road - Connection “China Dream” and “World Dream”, 6–8 November 2015, in Qingdao, China. Jingbo Zhang will also be presenting at the BIT’s 4th Annual World Congress of Ocean, on the topic “Transport Document and Bank’s Security”. Kathleen S. Goddard will be presenting a paper entitled ' Rescuing boat people: the impact on merchant shipping in relation to contracts for the carriage of goods by sea' at the workshop entitled 'Boat People: Some Legal and Practical Considerations relating to Migration by Sea'. The workshop is being presented by the Institute of Maritime Law on 30 September 2015.

In the Institute for Criminal Justice Research, Dr Harry Annison presented a paper entitled ‘From Publics to Markets? Analyzing shifts in English penal policymaking’ at the British Society of Criminology annual conference, held in July 2015 at Plymouth University. Dr David Gurnham is presenting ‘Dealing in Doubles: rape myths, the uncanny and the political’ at the event ‘Remembering Operation Spanner: Culture, Law, History and Crime’ (University of Essex, September 10th) and then at ‘Law’s Metaphors’ (the Journal of Law and Society and Society of Socio-Legal Studies seminar, University of Southampton, Sept 25th).

In the Centre for Law, Ethics and Globalisation (LEAG), Dr Sara Benedi-Lahuerta was selected as a participant of the Oxford University project for young researchers Future Directions in EU Labour Law (funded by the British Academy). She will present her research at the final conference in Cagliari, Italy (17-18 December 2015) on the topic: "Current and Future Challenges of EU employment equality law". Dr Jamie MacLean presented a lecture entitled 'Magna Carta: redundant relic or national treasure?' to the Redlynch History Society on Tuesday 01 September 2015, which looked at the historical legacies of the two Charters of 1215 and 1216/1225, the bifurcation of traditions with respect to these and their significance for today. Dr Regina Rauxoh presented a paper at the workshop The Politics and Jurisprudence of Group Offending hosted by the prestigious International Institute for the Sociology of Law (Onati, Spain) 23-24 Jul 2015. In November she is invited to speak at the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung Symposium in Frankfurt “To deal or not to deal: Wie viel Verständigung verträgt der Strafprozess? Fachtagung” November 6, 2015 (Other speakers include the Federal Minister for Justice and Consumer Protection, a Federal Supreme Court judge, the Federal Public Prosecutor and a Federal Constitutional Court Judge).

In the Health Ethics and Law network, Claire Lougarre will be presenting 'The right to health, a right for everyone?' in Berlin on 15 September 2015, at the conference The Right to Health – an Empty Promise? (EFI-project). She will also present ‘The protection of non-nationals in human rights law: a right to medical assistance for migrants at sea', at the IML workshop (Southampton - 'Boat People: Some Legal and Practical Considerations relating to Migration by Sea', September 30th. In September, Professor John Coggon is presenting a paper criticising the Court of Protection’s development of the best interests standard, at a Wellcome Trust-funded conference hosted at the University of Liverpool. The event, which is examining “The Mental Capacity Act 2005: Ten Years On”, includes contributions from leading scholars and practitioners, as well as Sir Gordon Ashton and Sir Mark Hedley, both judges who have heard many mental capacity law cases.

In ILAWS, Dr Eleonora Rosati has a number of speaking engagements in the next few weeks: EU Copyright Reform and the Digital Single Market – Priorities and Challenges, Westminster Media Forum, London (UK) (Sept 8th); Enrolling Internet Intermediaries in the Law Enforcement Process: Challenges and Opportunities, 1st iCLIC Conference, University of Southampton (UK) (Sept 17-18th); Hot Topics in Copyright Law, 2015 MBL Conference, London (UK) (Oct 5th); Building a Fairer Framework for the Future, 17th Biennial Copyright Law and Practice Symposium 2015, Sydney (Australia) (Oct 22-23rd); European Copyright Reform, Policy-UK, London (UK) (Oct 27th).

Outside of any of the Law School’s research centres, Professor Brenda Hannigan gave a paper at a two-day International Symposium in June on Corporate Governance and Capital Markets organised by the University of Ottawa and the University of Auckland in Ottawa which attracted speakers from Europe, Asia and North America as well as Canada and New Zealand. The paper addressed the evolving role of the audit committee in publicly traded companies in the light of the (some to be implemented) EU Audit Directive and Regulation, the Competition and Markets Authority Order on Statutory Audit 2014 and changes made by the Financial Reporting Council to the UK Corporate Governance Code.

Public and Policy Engagement (other than speaking engagements)

Dr A. V. Viens (HEAL) also contributed a chapter on ethical frameworks and criteria for triage and rationing in public health emergencies for a World Health Organization training manual, entitled Ethics in Epidemics, Emergencies and Disasters: Research, Surveillance and Patient Care, which will be publicly released soon but has already been used on the ground in West Africa as part of the response to the Ebola outbreak.

Mr Phil Palmer (ICJR) and Professor John Coggon (HEAL), and with colleagues in various University Faculties, have won a bid worth approximately £200,000 from the Alzheimer’s Society, to fund a project on care for persons with dementia. The project will produce a range of interdisciplinary research outputs, and will lead to sustained engagement with policy and practitioner organisations, as well as patients, patient groups, and carers.

Professor James Davey (ILRG) submitted ‘Insurance & Big Data’ as written evidence to House of Commons Select Committee on Science & Technology: ‘the Big Data Dilemma’ (Sept 2015), (with M Bek). He has also been commissioned to submit written evidence on ‘Behavioural Economics and Insurance Fraud’ to Ministry of Justice / Treasury Insurance Fraud Taskforce (as part of role as invited stakeholder). This evidence will be considered at roundtable meeting in October 2015. In addition, he has produced various contributions to the Law Commission (and legislative Special Committee) on the Insurance Act 2015.

Professor Brenda Hannigan (unaffiliated) is a member of the Expert Group established by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to draw up the prescribed statutory guidance on identifying persons with ‘significant influence or control’ of a company. The guidance will assist companies in complying with their obligations to maintain a ‘Register of People with Significant Control’ or ‘PSC Register’ which will apply to almost all UK companies from April 2016. In October, she will be participating in panel discussions at a two- day conference organised by the University of Luxembourg to be held on 15, 16 October to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Luxembourg Companies Act. The conference draws together academics and practitioners from across the EU to look at the evolution of the Luxembourg Law, and also at regulatory competition in company law across the European Union. Professor Brenda Hannigan will also attend the launch of the European Model Companies Act at a two-day conference held by the University of Vienna on 10 and 11 September and which marks the culmination of a major collaborative effort by company law academics from across the EU and over a period of years to devise a Model Companies Act in the manner of US Model statements of the law. With harmonisation of European company law impractical, it is hoped the model law will offer jurisdictions an alternative source of reform ideas.

 

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