Law

At a time when the collective redress landscape is undergoing a period of transformative change, this important and timely research focuses on class actions in England and Wales.

The author provides an objective analysis of the costs and benefits of these proceedings from an access to justice perspective.

Aiming to promote accessibility, this pioneering work separates fact from fiction in an easily digestible way, offering progressive solutions for reform.

There has recently been a global resurgence of demands for the acknowledgement of historical and contemporary wrongs, as well as for apologies and reparation for harms suffered.

Drawing on the histories of injustice, dispossession and violence in South Africa, this book examines the cultural, political and legal role, and value of, an apology. It explores the multiple ways in which ‘sorry’ is instituted, articulated and performed, and critically analyses its various forms and functions in both historical and contemporary moments. Bringing together an interdisciplinary team of contributors, the book’s analysis offers insights that will be invaluable to global debates on the struggle for justice.

Amid growing public concern about the negative effect cross-examination has on vulnerable witnesses, this book examines the effect of recent reforms to the practice across the different jurisdictions of the UK and Ireland.

Drawing on observations and transcripts of trials and interviews with judges, advocates and intermediaries, the book provides an evaluation of cross-examination in trials involving vulnerable witnesses and the extent to which reforms are producing meaningful change. The book’s analysis sheds new light on the significance of cross-examination in criminal trials and provides evidence-based solutions for further changes to enable vulnerable witnesses to give their best evidence to the court.

This book offers a concise yet in-depth analysis of Russia’s complex—though consistent—strategic approach to Ukraine over the past 30 years, placing it within a broad historical and geopolitical context.

It reveals how Russia’s ambitions toward Ukraine have been deeply rooted in a patrimonial paradigm—marked by a long-standing tradition of instrumentalizing sovereignty and (international) law. The book explores Moscow’s use of ‘legal smokescreens’ to gradually erode Ukraine’s sovereignty. It argues that the full-scale invasion was the culmination of Russia’s failure to assert its patrimonial claims through legal and diplomatic means over 1991-2021, offering an anatomy of that failure.

This groundbreaking book explores the under examined nature and scope of Article 4 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which governs permissible restrictions on these rights.

Challenging the assumption that such limitations apply only during crises, it analyses their application in diverse contexts, from financial crises and public health emergencies, to situations of armed conflict. Through doctrinal and empirical analysis, the book offers a comprehensive examination of UN and state practice, highlighting the need for clarity, specificity and authenticity. It provides recommendations for developing a legal framework that promotes the optimal protection of ESCRs during normality and crisis alike.

In the context of a global backlash against both migrant and LGBTIQA+ rights , this book critically examines the experiences of LGBTIQA+ people within the UK asylum system.

The book draws on interviews with refugees, legal practitioners and charity workers to analyse the systemic challenges faced by LGBTIQA+ people seeking asylum. By blending empirical data and critical theory, the text highlights the contradictions between the UK’s purportedly LGBTIQA+ inclusive narratives and its treatment of sexually diverse refugees, offering insights for researchers, practitioners and policy makers on the pressures facing LGBTIQA+ people within the asylum system.

Counter-terrorism is now a permanent and sprawling part of the legislative and operational apparatus of the state, yet little is known about the law and practice of how it is reviewed, how effective the review mechanisms are, what impact they have or how they interact with one another.

This book addresses that gap in knowledge by presenting the first comprehensive, critical analysis of counter-terrorism review in the United Kingdom, informed by exclusive interviews with policy makers, politicians, practitioners and civil society.

Cohabiting couples and those entering religious-only marriages all too often end up with inadequate legal protection when the relationship ends. Yet, despite this shared experience, the linkages and overlaps between these two groups have largely been ignored in the legal literature.

Based on wide-ranging empirical studies, this timely book brings together scholars working in both areas to explore the complexities of the law, the different ways in which individuals experience and navigate the existing legal framework and the potential solutions for reform.

Illuminating pressing implications for social policy, this is an invaluable resource for policy makers, practitioners, researchers and students of family law.

The law-based, political institutions in many democratic societies are being challenged by fast-growing populist movements, parties, and leaders. In other nations, the state is failing. These seismic changes call for greater attention to be paid to the role society plays in forming and challenging laws—and how the law copes with these challenges.

Amitai Etzioni, one of the most respected thinkers in the US, argues for a new liberal communitarian approach as an effective response to populism. This recognizes that different members of the society have differing values, interests, and needs that cannot be fully reconciled to legislation in a populist age.

The book considers the core challenge in a variety of contexts, including national security versus privacy, private sector responsibility, freedom of the press, campaign finance reform, regulatory law and the legal status of terrorists. Thus the book offers a timely discussion of key issues for contemporary society and the relationship of the law to the citizen in a fast-changing environment.

Counter-terrorism is now a permanent and sprawling part of the legislative and operational apparatus of the state, yet little is known about the law and practice of how it is reviewed, how effective the review mechanisms are, what impact they have or how they interact with one another.

This book addresses that gap in knowledge by presenting the first comprehensive, critical analysis of counter-terrorism review in the United Kingdom, informed by exclusive interviews with policy makers, politicians, practitioners and civil society.

At a time of rising populism and debate about immigration, leading legal academic Jo Shaw sets out to review interactions between constitutions and constructs of citizenship.

This incisive appraisal is the first sustained treatment of the relationship between citizenship and constitutional law in a comparative and transnational perspective.

Drawing on examples from around the world, it assesses how countries’ legal, political and cultural processes help to determine the boundaries of citizenship.

For students and academics across political, social and international disciplines, Shaw offers an accessible response to some of the most pressing international questions of our age.

At a time of rising populism and debate about immigration, leading legal academic Jo Shaw sets out to review interactions between constitutions and constructs of citizenship.

This incisive appraisal is the first sustained treatment of the relationship between citizenship and constitutional law in a comparative and transnational perspective.

Drawing on examples from around the world, it assesses how countries’ legal, political and cultural processes help to determine the boundaries of citizenship.

For students and academics across political, social and international disciplines, Shaw offers an accessible response to some of the most pressing international questions of our age.

This important volume steps beyond conventional legal approaches to sustainability to provide fresh insights into perhaps one of the most critical global challenges of our time.

Offering analysis of sustainability at land and sea alongside trade, labour and corporate governance perspectives, this book articulates important debates about the role of law. From impacts on local societies to domestic sustainable development policies and major international goals, it considers multiple jurisdictional levels.

With original, interdisciplinary research from experts in their legal fields, this is a rounded assessment of the complex interplay of law and sustainability—both as it is now and as it should be in the future.

Written by international practitioners and scholars, this pioneering work offers important insights into peace mediation practice today and the role of third parties in the resolution of armed conflicts.

The authors reveal how peace mediation has developed into a complex arena and how multifaceted assistance has become an indispensable part of it. Offering unique reflections on the new frameworks set out by the UN, they look at the challenges and opportunities of third-party involvement.

With its policy focus and real-world examples from across the globe, this is essential reading for researchers of peace and conflict studies, and a go-to reference point for advisors involved in peace processes.

Legal professionals are thought to have higher levels of mental health issues and lower levels of wellbeing than the general population.

Drawing on qualitative data from new research with legal practitioners, this in-depth study of mental health and wellbeing in the UK and Republic of Ireland’s legal sector is a timely contribution to the urgent international debate on these issues.

The authors present a comprehensive discussion of the cultural, structural and other causes of legal professionals’ compromised wellbeing. They explore the everyday demands and difficulties of the legal working environment and consider the impacts on individuals, the legal profession and wider society.

Making comparisons with systems overseas, this is an invaluable resource that provides evidence-based suggestions for swift and effective organisational and policy-related interventions in the legal sector.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence

Effective participation in court and tribunal hearings is regarded as essential to justice, yet many barriers limit the capacity of defendants, parties and witnesses to participate.

Featuring policy analysis, courtroom observations and practitioners’ voices, this significant study reveals how participation is supported in the courts and tribunals of England and Wales. Including reflections on changes to the justice system as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it also details the socio-structural, environmental, procedural, cultural and personal factors which constrain participation.

This is an invaluable resource that makes a compelling case for a principled, explicit commitment to supporting participation across the justice system of England and Wales and beyond.

Do judges use the power of the state for the good of the nation? Or do they create new laws in line with their personal views?

When newspapers reported a court ruling on Brexit, senior judges were shocked to see themselves condemned as enemies of the people.

But that did not stop them ruling that an order made by the Queen on the advice of her prime minister was just ‘a blank piece of paper’.

Joshua Rozenberg, Britain’s best-known commentator on the law, asks how judges can maintain public confidence while making hard choices.

Court decisions are typically seen as one-off interventions relating to an incident in a person’s life, but a legal decision can impact on the person as they were and the person they will become.

This book is the first to explore the interactions of the law with the life course in order to understand the complex life journey as a whole.

Jonathan Herring reveals how the law privileges ‘middle age’ to the detriment of the whole life story and explains why an understanding of the life course is important for lawyers.

Relevant to those working in family law, elder law, medical law and ethics, jurisprudence, gender and the law, it will promote new thinking by exploring the engagement of the law with the life course of the self.

Globalization is an extraordinary phenomenon affecting virtually everything in our lives. And it is imperative that we understand the operation of economic power in a globalized world if we are to address the most challenging issues our world is facing today, from climate change to world hunger and poverty.

This revolutionary work rethinks globalization as a power system feeding from, and in competition with, the state system. Cutting across disciplines of law, politics and economics, it explores how multinational enterprises morphed into world political organisations with global reach and power, but without the corresponding responsibilities.

In illuminating how the concentration of property rights within corporations has led to the rejection of democracy as an ineffective system of government and to the rise in inequality, Robé offers a clear pathway to a fairer and more sustainable power system.

How are poverty and social inequality entrenched through a failing justice system?

In this important book, Jon Robins and Daniel Newman examine how the lives of people already struggling with problems with their welfare benefits, jobs, housing and immigration are made much harder by cuts to legal aid and the failings of our creaking justice system.

Over the course of 12 months, interviews were carried out on the ground in a range of settings with people as they were caught up in the justice system, in a range of settings such as foodbanks in a church hall in a wealthy part of London; a community centre in a former mining town; a homeless shelter for rough sleepers in Birmingham; and a destitution service for asylum seekers in a city on the South coast, as well as in courts and advice agencies up and down the country.

The authors argue that a failure to access justice all too often represents a catastrophic step in the life of the person concerned and their family.

This powerful, yet moving, account humanises the hostile political debates that surround legal aid and reveals what access to justice really means in Austerity Britain.

Globalization is an extraordinary phenomenon affecting virtually everything in our lives. And it is imperative that we understand the operation of economic power in a globalized world if we are to address the most challenging issues our world is facing today, from climate change to world hunger and poverty.

This revolutionary work rethinks globalization as a power system feeding from, and in competition with, the state system. Cutting across disciplines of law, politics and economics, it explores how multinational enterprises morphed into world political organisations with global reach and power, but without the corresponding responsibilities.

In illuminating how the concentration of property rights within corporations has led to the rejection of democracy as an ineffective system of government and to the rise in inequality, Robé offers a clear pathway to a fairer and more sustainable power system.

Marriage law in England and Wales is a historical relic which reflects a bygone age.

Successive governments have made a series of progressive but ad hoc reforms, most notably the introduction of civil partnerships and same-sex marriage. However, this has resulted in a legal framework which is complex and controversial, especially in relation to religion.

This book provides the first accessible guide to how contemporary marriage law interacts with religion and identifies pressure points in relation to non-religious organisations and unregistered religious marriages. It reveals the need for the consolidation, modernisation and reform of marriage law and sets out proposals for how the transformation of these laws can be achieved.

Court decisions are typically seen as one-off interventions relating to an incident in a person’s life, but a legal decision can impact on the person as they were and the person they will become.

This book is the first to explore the interactions of the law with the life course in order to understand the complex life journey as a whole.

Jonathan Herring reveals how the law privileges ‘middle age’ to the detriment of the whole life story and explains why an understanding of the life course is important for lawyers.

Relevant to those working in family law, elder law, medical law and ethics, jurisprudence, gender and the law, it will promote new thinking by exploring the engagement of the law with the life course of the self.

How do we maintain core values and rights when governments impose restrictive measures on our lives?

Declaring a state of emergency is the best way to protect public health in a pandemic but how do these powers differ from those for national security and economic crises?

This book explores how human rights, democracy and the rule of law can be protected during a pandemic and how emergency powers can best be ended once it wanes.

Written by an expert on constitutional law and human rights, this accessible book will shape how governments, opposition, courts and society as a whole view future pandemic emergency powers.

Cyberflashing has been on the rise since the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, despite its prevalence and significant harms, cyberflashing is not a criminal offence in England and Wales.

This crucial book provides new in-depth analysis, understanding and insight into the nature and harms of cyberflashing. The authors consider recently adopted laws in the US, Singapore and Scotland, and set out proposals to criminalise cyberflashing as a sexual offence in English law.

This unique and timely study presents the first comprehensive examination of cyberflashing and the need to reform the criminal law.

When a death is investigated by a coroner, what is the place of the family in that process?

This accessibly written book draws together empirical, theoretical and historical perspectives to develop a rich, nuanced analysis of the contemporary inquest system in England and Wales. It investigates theories of kinship drawn from socio-legal research and analyses law, accountability and the legal process.

Excerpts of conversations with coroners and officers offer real insights into how the role of family can be understood and who family is perceived to be, and how their participation fundamentally shapes the investigation into a death.

How many questions could you answer in a pub quiz about British values?

Designed to ensure new migrants have accepted British values and integrated, the UK's citizenship test is often portrayed as a bad pub quiz with answers few citizens know. With the launch of a new post-Brexit immigration system, this is a critical time to change the test.

Thom Brooks draws on first-hand experience of taking the test, and interviews with key figures including past Home Secretaries, to expose the test as ineffective and a barrier to citizenship. This accessible guide offers recommendations for transforming the citizenship test into a ‘bridge to citizenship’ which fosters greater inclusion and integration.

ePDF and ePUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence.

During the 20th century the locus of care shifted from large institutions into the community. However, this shift was not always accompanied by liberation from restrictive practices. In 2014 a UK Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of ‘deprivation of liberty’ resulted in large numbers of older and disabled people in care homes, supported living and family homes being re-categorized as ‘detained’.

Placing this ruling in its social, historical and global context, this book presents a socio-legal analysis of social care detention in the post-carceral era. Drawing from disability rights law and the meanings of ‘home’ and ‘institution’ it proposes solutions to the Cheshire West ruling’s paradoxical implications.

The effects of COVID-19 are visited disproportionately on the already disadvantaged.

This important text maps out ways in which those already disadvantaged have been affected by legal responses to COVID-19. Contributors tackle issues including virtual trials, adult social care, racism, tax and spending, education and more. They reflect on the implications of COVID-19 and express concerns with policy and practice developments and with the neutral version of the law and the economy which has taken root.

Drawing on diverse resources, this text offers an account of the damage caused by legal responses to the pandemic and demonstrates how the future response can be positive and productive.

Most workers on temporary, zero hours and involuntary part-time contracts in the UK are women. Many are also carers. Yet employment law tends to exclude such women from family-friendly rights.

Drawing on interviews with women in precarious work, this book exposes the everyday problems that these workers face balancing work and care. It argues for stronger and more extensive rights that address precarious workers’ distinctive experiences.

Introducing complex legal issues in an accessible way, this crucial text exposes the failures of family-friendly rights and explains how to grant these women effective rights in the wake of COVID-19.

The UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty detailed many children’s poor experiences in detention, highlighting the urgent need for reform.

Applying a child-centred model of detention that fulfils the rights of the child under the five themes of provision, protection, participation, preparation and partnership, this original book illustrates how reform can happen. Drawing on Ireland’s experience of transforming law, policy and practice, and combining theory with real-life experiences, this compelling book demonstrates how children’s rights can be implemented in detention.

This important case study of reform presents a powerful argument for a progressive, rights-based approach to child detention. Worthy of international application, the book shares practical insights into how theory can be translated into practice.

When a death is investigated by a coroner, what is the place of the family in that process?

This accessibly written book draws together empirical, theoretical and historical perspectives to develop a rich, nuanced analysis of the contemporary inquest system in England and Wales. It investigates theories of kinship drawn from socio-legal research and analyses law, accountability and the legal process.

Excerpts of conversations with coroners and officers offer real insights into how the role of family can be understood and who family is perceived to be, and how their participation fundamentally shapes the investigation into a death.

The effects of COVID-19 are visited disproportionately on the already disadvantaged.

This important text maps out ways in which those already disadvantaged have been affected by legal responses to COVID-19. Contributors tackle issues including virtual trials, adult social care, racism, tax and spending, education and more. They reflect on the implications of COVID-19 and express concerns with policy and practice developments and with the neutral version of the law and the economy which has taken root.

Drawing on diverse resources, this text offers an account of the damage caused by legal responses to the pandemic and demonstrates how the future response can be positive and productive.

In recent years, the United Kingdom's Home Office has started using automated systems to make immigration decisions. These systems promise faster, more accurate, and cheaper decision-making, but in practice they have exposed people to distress, disruption, and even deportation.

This book identifies a pattern of risky experimentation with automated systems in the Home Office. It analyses three recent case studies including: a voice recognition system used to detect fraud in English-language testing; an algorithm for identifying ‘risky’ visa applications; and automated decision-making in the EU Settlement Scheme.

The book argues that a precautionary approach is essential to ensure that society benefits from government automation without exposing individuals to unacceptable risks.

The use of a rape victim’s sexual history as evidence attracted intense public attention after the acquittal of footballer Ched Evans in 2017. Set within the context of a criminal justice system widely perceived to be failing rape victims, the use of sexual history evidence remains a flashpoint of contention around rape law reform.

This accessible book mounts an important interrogation into the use of a victim’s sexual history as evidence in rape trials. Adopting a critical multidisciplinary perspective underpinned by feminist theory, the authors explore the role and significance of sexual history evidence in criminal justice responses to rape.

The UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty detailed many children’s poor experiences in detention, highlighting the urgent need for reform.

Applying a child-centred model of detention that fulfils the rights of the child under the five themes of provision, protection, participation, preparation and partnership, this original book illustrates how reform can happen. Drawing on Ireland’s experience of transforming law, policy and practice, and combining theory with real-life experiences, this compelling book demonstrates how children’s rights can be implemented in detention.

This important case study of reform presents a powerful argument for a progressive, rights-based approach to child detention. Worthy of international application, the book shares practical insights into how theory can be translated into practice.

This accessible critique of urban construction reimagines city development and life in an era of unprecedented building.

Exploring the proliferation of building and construction, Imrie sets out its many degrading impacts on both people and the environment. Using examples from around the world, he illustrates how construction is motivated by economic and political ideologies rather than actual need, and calls for a more sensitive, humane and nature-focused culture of construction.

This compelling book calls for radical changes to city living and environments by building less, but better.

The word ‘refugee’ is both evocative and contested; it means different things to different people. For lawyers, the main legal reference point is the UN Refugee Convention of 1951.

This concise and engaging book follows the structure of the Convention to explore international refugee law. Including an introduction to the historical and legal context, Colin Yeo draws on his experience as an immigration barrister to explain the present-day legal framework for global refugee protection. Chapters consider:

• well-founded fear;

• persecution;

• the loss of refugee status and exclusion;

• the rights of refugees;

• and state responses to refugee claims.

The book includes studies of key legal cases, reviews the successes and failures of the Convention and looks ahead to the future, including the impact of climate change and the Global Compact on Refugees.

Communicating important legal concepts in an approachable way, this is an essential guide for students, lawyers and non-specialists.

Austerity continues to impact the criminal justice process in England and Wales: police numbers are down, the Crown Prosecution Service is in disarray, legal aid has been reduced, courts are closing and magistrates are leaving.

Research into the criminal process usually focuses on England, however this book offers a rare insight into South Wales. Drawing on first-hand accounts of lawyers, police, suspects, and the convicted and their families, it uncovers how these affected individuals navigate the challenges caused by austerity, what has changed and what can be done to improve the system.

This book is a reliable and evocative account of the reality of criminal justice in Wales.

The word ‘refugee’ is both evocative and contested; it means different things to different people. For lawyers, the main legal reference point is the UN Refugee Convention of 1951.

This concise and engaging book follows the structure of the Convention to explore international refugee law. Including an introduction to the historical and legal context, Colin Yeo draws on his experience as an immigration barrister to explain the present-day legal framework for global refugee protection. Chapters consider:

• well-founded fear;

• persecution;

• the loss of refugee status and exclusion;

• the rights of refugees;

• and state responses to refugee claims.

The book includes studies of key legal cases, reviews the successes and failures of the Convention and looks ahead to the future, including the impact of climate change and the Global Compact on Refugees.

Communicating important legal concepts in an approachable way, this is an essential guide for students, lawyers and non-specialists.

Austerity continues to impact the criminal justice process in England and Wales: police numbers are down, the Crown Prosecution Service is in disarray, legal aid has been reduced, courts are closing and magistrates are leaving.

Research into the criminal process usually focuses on England, however this book offers a rare insight into South Wales. Drawing on first-hand accounts of lawyers, police, suspects, and the convicted and their families, it uncovers how these affected individuals navigate the challenges caused by austerity, what has changed and what can be done to improve the system.

This book is a reliable and evocative account of the reality of criminal justice in Wales.

Should digital platforms be responsible for intimate images posted without the subject’s consent? Could the viewers of such images be liable simply for viewing them?

This book answers these questions in the affirmative, while considering the social, legal and technological features of unauthorized dissemination of intimate images, or ‘revenge porn’. In doing so, it asks fundamental socio-legal questions about responsibility, causation and apportionment, as well as conceptualizing private information as property.

With a focus on private law theory, the book defines the appropriate scope of liability of platforms and viewers while critiquing both EU and US solutions to the problem. Through its analysis, the book develops a new theory of egalitarian digital privacy.

How big a problem is torture? Are the right things being done to prevent it? Why does the UN appear at times to be so impotent in the face of it?

In this vitally important work, Malcolm D. Evans tells the story of torture prevention under international law, setting out what is really happening around the world. Challenging assumptions about torture’s root causes, he calls for what is needed to enable us to bring about change.

The author draws on over ten years’ experience as Chair of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to give a frank account of the remarkable capacities of this system, what it has achieved in practice, or not been able to achieve – and most importantly, why.

This book examines the divergent medical, political and legal constructions of intersex. The authors use empirical data to explore how intersex people are embodied through these frameworks which in turn influence their lived experiences.

Through their analysis, the authors reveal the factors that motivate and influence the way in which policy makers and legislators approach the area of intersex rights. They reflect on the limitations of law as the primary vehicle in challenging healthcare’s framing of intersex as a ‘disorder’ in need of fixing. Finally, they offer a more holistic account of intersex justice which is underpinned by psychosocial support and bodily integrity.

How big a problem is torture? Are the right things being done to prevent it? Why does the UN appear at times to be so impotent in the face of it?

In this vitally important work, Malcolm D. Evans tells the story of torture prevention under international law, setting out what is really happening around the world. Challenging assumptions about torture’s root causes, he calls for what is needed to enable us to bring about change.

The author draws on over ten years’ experience as Chair of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to give a frank account of the remarkable capacities of this system, what it has achieved in practice, or not been able to achieve – and most importantly, why.

Slaves, mistresses, concubines – the English courts have used these terms to describe polygamous wives in the past, but are they still seen this way today?

Using a critical postcolonial feminist lens, this book provides a contextualized exploration of English legal responses to polygamy. Through the legacies of British imperialism, the book shows how attitudes to polygamy are shaped by indifference and hostility towards its participants. This goes beyond the law, as shown by the stories of women shared throughout the book negotiating their identities and relationships in the UK today.

Through its analysis, the book demonstrates how polygamy and polygamous wives are subjected to imperialist and orientalist discourses which dehumanise them for practising a relationship that has existed for millennia.

Persons with disabilities report high levels of harassment worldwide, often based on intersectional characteristics such as race, gender and age. However, while #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter have highlighted ongoing experiences of sexual and racial harassment, disability harassment has received little attention.

This book focuses on legal measures to combat disability harassment at work. It sets disability harassment in its international context, including its human rights framework, and confronts the lack of empirical information by evaluating the Irish legal framework in practice.

It explores the capacity of the law to address intersectional harassment, particularly that faced by women with disabilities, and outlines the barriers to effective legal solutions.

With contributions from an international team of experts, this collection provides a much-needed international, comparative approach to mental capacity law.

The book focuses particularly on exploring substantive commonalities and divergences in normative orientation and practical application embedded in different legal frameworks. It draws together contributions from eleven different jurisdictions across Europe, Asia and the UK and explores what productive or unproductive values and practices currently exist.

By providing a detailed comparison of how legal and ethical commitments to persons with disabilities are framed in capacity law across different national systems, the book highlights the values and practices that could lead to changes that better respect persons with disabilities in mental capacity regimes.

There has recently been a global resurgence of demands for the acknowledgement of historical and contemporary wrongs, as well as for apologies and reparation for harms suffered.

Drawing on the histories of injustice, dispossession and violence in South Africa, this book examines the cultural, political and legal role, and value of, an apology. It explores the multiple ways in which ‘sorry’ is instituted, articulated and performed, and critically analyses its various forms and functions in both historical and contemporary moments. Bringing together an interdisciplinary team of contributors, the book’s analysis offers insights that will be invaluable to global debates on the struggle for justice.

This book exposes how inequalities based on class and social background arise from employment practices in the digital age. It considers instances where social media is used in recruitment to infiltrate private lives and hide job advertisements based on locality; where algorithms assess socio-economic data to filter candidates; where human interviewers are replaced by artificial intelligence with design that disadvantages users of classed language; and where already vulnerable groups become victims of digitalisation and remote work.

The author examines whether these practices create risks of discrimination based on certain protected attributes, including ‘social origin’ in international labour law and laws in Australia and South Africa, ‘social condition’ and ‘family status’ in laws within Canada, and others. The book proposes essential law reform and improvements to workplace policy.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded, stark social inequalities have increasingly been revealed and, in many cases, exacerbated by the global health crisis.

This book explores these inequalities, identifying three thematic strands: power and governance, gender and marginalized communities. By examining these three themes in relation to the effects of the pandemic, the book uncovers how unequal the pandemic truly is. It brings together invaluable insights from a range of international scholars across multiple disciplines to critically analyse how these inequalities have played out in the context of COVID-19 as a first step towards achieving social justice.

Taking a unique and critical approach to the study of Public Law, this book explores the main topics in UK Public Law from a range of underexplored perspectives and amplifies the voices of scholars who are underrepresented in the field. As such, it represents a much-needed complement to traditional textbooks in Public Law.

Including insights from a diverse list of contributors, the book:

• Enriches students’ understanding of the dynamics that emerge within public law;

• Highlights the impact of historical and societal inequities on public law norms;

• Demonstrates the ways in which those norms may impact minorities and perpetuate inequalities.

With most chapters written by underrepresented or minoritised persons in the field, this text offers students a critical, rich, and insightful approach to public law.

Taking a unique and critical approach to the study of Public Law, this book explores the main topics in UK Public Law from a range of underexplored perspectives and amplifies the voices of scholars who are underrepresented in the field. As such, it represents a much-needed complement to traditional textbooks in Public Law.

Including insights from a diverse list of contributors, the book:

• Enriches students’ understanding of the dynamics that emerge within public law;

• Highlights the impact of historical and societal inequities on public law norms;

• Demonstrates the ways in which those norms may impact minorities and perpetuate inequalities.

With most chapters written by underrepresented or minoritised persons in the field, this text offers students a critical, rich, and insightful approach to public law.

The law is heavily implicated in creating, maintaining, and reproducing racialised hierarchies which bring about and preserve acute global disparities and injustices. This essential book provides an examination of the meanings of decolonisation and explores how this examination can inform teaching, researching, and practising of law.

It explores the ways in which the foundations of law are entangled in colonial thought and in its [re]production of ideas of commodification of bodies and space-time. Thus, it is an exploration of the ways in which we can use theories and praxes of decolonisation to produce legal knowledge for flourishing futures.

Through the lenses of comparative and critical rhetoric, this book theorizes how alternative approaches to communication can transform legal meanings and legal outcomes, infusing them with more inclusive participation, equity and justice.

Viewing legal language through a radical lens, the book sets aside longstanding norms that derive from White and Euro-centric approaches in order to re-situate legal methods as products of new rhetorical models that come from diasporic and non-Western cultures.

The book urges readers to re-consider how they think about logic and rhetoric and to consider other ways of building knowledge that can heal the law’s current structures that often perpetuate and reinforce systems of privilege and power.

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

In principle, couples getting married in England and Wales can choose to do so in a way that reflects their beliefs. In practice, the possibility of doing so varies considerably depending on the religious or non-religious beliefs they hold.

To demonstrate this divergence, this book draws on the accounts of 170 individuals who had, or led, a wedding ceremony outside the legal framework. The authors examine what these ceremonies can tell us about how couples want to marry, and what aspects of the current law preclude them from doing so.

This new evidence shows how the current law does not reflect social understandings of what makes a wedding meaningful. As recommended by the Law Commission, reform is urgently needed.

The French version of this book was the winner of the 2022 Grand Prix de la Protection Sociale.

Over the years many disability-related rights have been legally recognized, but how has this changed the everyday lives of people with disabilities?

Drawing on biographical interviews collected from individuals with mobility or visual impairments in France, this book analyses the reception of disability policies in the fields of education, employment, social rights and accessibility. It examines to what extent these policies contribute to the realization of associated rights among disabled people. The book demonstrates that the rights associated with disability suffer from major implementation flaws, while shedding light on the very active role of disabled citizens in the realization of their rights.

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

In recent years, climate litigation has become an important subject of global scholarly and policy interest. However, developments within the Global South, particularly in Africa, have been largely neglected.

This volume brings together an international team of contributors to provide a much-needed examination of climate litigation in Africa. The book outlines how climate litigation in Africa is distinct as well as pinpointing where it connects with the global conversation. Chapters engage with crucial themes such as human rights approaches to climate governance, corporate liability and the role of gender in climate litigation.

Spanning a range of approaches and jurisdictions, the book challenges universal concepts around climate and the role of activism (including litigation) in seeking to advance climate governance.

This book examines how major but often under-scrutinised legal, social, and technological developments have affected the transparency and accountability of the criminal justice process.

Drawing on empirical and evaluative studies, as well as their own research experiences, the authors explore key legal policy issues such as equality of access, remote and virtual courts, justice system data management, and the roles of public and media observers.

Highlighting the implications of recent changes for access to justice, offender rehabilitation, and public access to information, the book proposes a framework for open justice which prioritises public legal education and justice system accountability.

Is the government really acting for the people? Or does this rhetoric simply justify an executive power-grab?

For some, Boris Johnson’s premiership epitomised how far the UK’s democracy has been captured by populism and the Prime Minister seemed more concerned about fulfilling the wishes of the British people than with following the rules or listening to Parliament.

Events like ‘Partygate’ grabbed the headlines. Criticisms of Boris Johnson’s actions eventually led to his resignation and replacement as leader of his party and Prime Minister. Some feel that this shows that the UK’s constitution is healthy, with checks and balances in place to prevent any possible abuse of power.

While these events attracted much media attention, other constitutional changes have been taking place with little public awareness. These have strengthened governmental powers and weakened political and legal checks over governmental actions. Deliberation is being replaced by rhetoric and principles of good government no longer seem to restrain the actions of those in power.

Alison Young provides the first consolidated account of these changes, arguing that the UK is currently on a constitutional cliff-edge which endangers democracy and good constitutional government. She argues that more is needed to shore up the UK’s post-Brexit constitution to prevent it collapsing into a system of unchecked power.

The use of a rape victim’s sexual history as evidence attracted intense public attention after the acquittal of footballer Ched Evans in 2017. Set within the context of a criminal justice system widely perceived to be failing rape victims, the use of sexual history evidence remains a flashpoint of contention around rape law reform.

This accessible book mounts an important interrogation into the use of a victim’s sexual history as evidence in rape trials. Adopting a critical multidisciplinary perspective underpinned by feminist theory, the authors explore the role and significance of sexual history evidence in criminal justice responses to rape.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded, stark social inequalities have increasingly been revealed and, in many cases, exacerbated by the global health crisis.

This book explores these inequalities, identifying three thematic strands: power and governance, gender and marginalized communities. By examining these three themes in relation to the effects of the pandemic, the book uncovers how unequal the pandemic truly is. It brings together invaluable insights from a range of international scholars across multiple disciplines to critically analyse how these inequalities have played out in the context of COVID-19 as a first step towards achieving social justice.

The law is heavily implicated in creating, maintaining, and reproducing racialised hierarchies which bring about and preserve acute global disparities and injustices. This essential book provides an examination of the meanings of decolonisation and explores how this examination can inform teaching, researching, and practising of law.

It explores the ways in which the foundations of law are entangled in colonial thought and in its [re]production of ideas of commodification of bodies and space-time. Thus, it is an exploration of the ways in which we can use theories and praxes of decolonisation to produce legal knowledge for flourishing futures.

Compelling and robust, this book provides an analysis of challenges in public service outsourcing and considers how to avoid failure in the future.

Crucially, it proposes a governance mechanism where outsourcing public services nurtures less extractive and more sustainable corporate organizations that are oriented towards a productive purpose beyond maximising shareholder value, with implications well beyond public services. Under these proposals, supporting firms that are independently and inclusively governed and use profit to pursue purpose can improve both public services and wider economic organisation.

The book examines how barriers to implementing this idea within the existing legal framework for public procurement may be addressed, and it formulates actionable policy proposals.

This thought-provoking collection brings together academics from a range of disciplines to examine modern slavery.

It illustrates how different disciplinary positions, methodologies and perspectives form and clash together through a kaleidoscopic view to contribute a unique insight into critical modern slavery studies. Providing a platform to critique the legal, ideological and political responses to the issue, experts interrogate the construct of modern slavery and the anti-trafficking discourse which have dominated contemporary responses to and understandings of exploitation.

Drawing on a range of global real-world examples, this is a vital contribution to the study of modern slavery.

ePDF and ePUB available open access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Recent legislative changes in England and Wales have eroded children’s ability to exercise their article 12 UNCRC rights to information, consultation and representation when parents separate. However, children’s voices may be heard through child-inclusive mediation (CIM).

Considered from a children’s rights perspective, this book provides a critical socio-legal account of CIM practice. It draws on in-depth interviews with relationship professionals, mediators, parents and children, to consider the experiences, risks and benefits of CIM. It investigates obstacles to greater uptake of CIM and its role in improving children’s wellbeing and agency.

Exploring the culture and practice changes necessary for a more routine application of CIM, the book demonstrates how reconceptualising CIM through a children’s rights framework could help to address barriers and improve outcomes for children.

Racial justice is never far from the headlines. The Windrush scandal, the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, and racism within the police have all recently captured the public’s attention and generated legal action. But, although the ideals of the legal system such as fairness and equality seem allied to the struggle for racial justice, all too often campaigners have been let down by the system.

This book examines law’s troubled relationship with racial justice. It explains that law’s historical role in creating and perpetuating racial injustices continues to stifle its ability to advance the cause of racial justice today.

Both a lawyer’s guide to antiracism, and an antiracist’s guide to legal action, it unites these perspectives to help both groups understand how to use the law to tackle racial injustices.

This captivating book explores uncharted territory in tort law, shedding light on underexplored viewpoints in the field.

The collection brings issues of social class, race, gender, marginalisation, vulnerability and harm into conversation with core tort law topics to encourage a more critical examination of the law and its impact on different groups of people.

Written by experts in the main areas of tort law from negligence to defamation and personal torts, chapters will:

• deepen students’ understanding of the central concepts and practices of tort law;

• uncover the power imbalances and privileges that underpin tort law decisions and their impact on lived experiences;

• amplify under-represented voices by signposting to the work and ideas of scholars that are less visible in the field.

Integrating marginalised perspectives into the curriculum and discourse, this indispensable textbook paves the way for a more inclusive and comprehensive understanding of tort law.

Chapter 9 available open access digitally under CC-BY licence.

Racial justice is never far from the headlines. The Windrush scandal, the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, and racism within the police have all recently captured the public’s attention and generated legal action. But, although the ideals of the legal system such as fairness and equality seem allied to the struggle for racial justice, all too often campaigners have been let down by the system.

This book examines law’s troubled relationship with racial justice. It explains that law’s historical role in creating and perpetuating racial injustices continues to stifle its ability to advance the cause of racial justice today.

Both a lawyer’s guide to antiracism, and an antiracist’s guide to legal action, it unites these perspectives to help both groups understand how to use the law to tackle racial injustices.

This captivating book explores uncharted territory in tort law, shedding light on underexplored viewpoints in the field.

The collection brings issues of social class, race, gender, marginalisation, vulnerability and harm into conversation with core tort law topics to encourage a more critical examination of the law and its impact on different groups of people.

Written by experts in the main areas of tort law from negligence to defamation and personal torts, chapters will:

• deepen students’ understanding of the central concepts and practices of tort law;

• uncover the power imbalances and privileges that underpin tort law decisions and their impact on lived experiences;

• amplify under-represented voices by signposting to the work and ideas of scholars that are less visible in the field.

Integrating marginalised perspectives into the curriculum and discourse, this indispensable textbook paves the way for a more inclusive and comprehensive understanding of tort law.

Chapter 9 available open access digitally under CC-BY licence.

Amid the shift towards neoliberalism and the privatization of resources, this book provides a radical new lens to view property and property theory.

Boldly challenging the conventional theories of property law that have shaped our understanding for centuries, leading expert Paddy Ireland explores the rise and growth of new intangible property forms; the nature of ‘investment’ and of property-as-capital; and the empirical realities of modern property.

Raising broader questions about ownership in society, the author ignites a powerful conversation about the increasingly unequal distribution of wealth, forcing us to confront that our current property system bears considerable responsibility for the current ‘polycrisis.

This groundbreaking work will set the agenda for a new era in property theory.

Amid the shift towards neoliberalism and the privatization of resources, this book provides a radical new lens to view property and property theory.

Boldly challenging the conventional theories of property law that have shaped our understanding for centuries, leading expert Paddy Ireland explores the rise and growth of new intangible property forms; the nature of ‘investment’ and of property-as-capital; and the empirical realities of modern property.

Raising broader questions about ownership in society, the author ignites a powerful conversation about the increasingly unequal distribution of wealth, forcing us to confront that our current property system bears considerable responsibility for the current ‘polycrisis.

This groundbreaking work will set the agenda for a new era in property theory.

This book aims to revitalise the link between social justice and labour law through exploring the issue of personhood and the 'subject' of the law.

Rodgers argues that incorporating a more 'relational' notion of self into labour law not only provides a fresh normative perspective through which to evaluate existing labour laws, but will also make us more able to respond to labour market 'shocks' and labour market change into the future, including the introduction of AI.

It is only by embedding relationality into our law that can we really respect the humanity of workers and construct a legal framework through which social justice can be achieved at work.

This profound book by leading socio-legal scholar Joshua Castellino offers a fresh perspective on the lingering legacies of colonization.

While decolonization liberated territories, it left the root causes of historical injustice unaddressed. Governance change did not address past wrongs and transferred injustice through political and financial architectures.

Castellino presents a five-point plan aimed at system redress through reparations that addresses the colonially induced climate crisis through equitable and sustainable means.

In highlighting the structural legacy of colonial crimes, Castellino provides insights into the complexities of contemporary societies, showing how legal frameworks could foster a fairer, more just world.

Questions as to the mental capacity of an individual to consent to sex are an increasingly important aspect of legal scholarship and professional practice for those working in care. Recent case law has added new layers of complexity, requiring that a person must be able to understand that the other person needs to consent and can withdraw that consent. While this has been welcomed for asserting the importance of the interpersonal dynamics of sex, it has significant implications for practice and for the day-to-day lives of people with cognitive impairments.

This collection brings together academics, practitioners and organizations to consider the challenges posed by the current legal framework, and future directions for law, policy and practice.

The Bar has a long-standing reputation for being the preserve of public-school educated, white men. Power and privilege can create abuses of power. from discrimination and disadvantage in entering the profession, to toxic work practices, sexual harassment, judicial bullying and more.

In her trademark outspoken style, Jo Delahunty K.C. reveals what life at the legal aid Bar involves and identifies what can be done to change its culture and image for the better, reshaping the traditional image of a barrister in terms of the diverse profession it should be.

By celebrating the highs, but not concealing the lows, of a life in law, Jo’s love letter to her profession ‘sets the bar’ for action: what we can learn from the past and what needs to be done in future to galvanise it into a united, egalitarian, healthy environment for all.

Illuminating the often-overlooked perspectives of marginalised groups, this essential textbook offers a transformative exploration of health law and ethics.

Designed as a replacement for (or complement to) foundational health law texts, the book amplifies the voices of those frequently silenced in teaching materials: racialised communities, ethnic minorities, women, disabled individuals, LGBTQI+ people and those disadvantaged by socio-economic and structural factors.

Chapters cover key topics such as abortion, medical negligence, and public health, scrutinising how traditional legal narratives can neglect the nuanced impacts on these diverse groups. Contributors challenge readers to reflect on the production and perpetuation of health inequalities, enriching the curriculum with critical viewpoints.

Teaching tools include:

- accessible summaries throughout the chapters;

- critical reflection questions at the end of each chapter for students and teachers;

- further reading lists and links to external resources..

This is an invaluable text that encourages students and academics to engage deeply with the intersections of law, health(care) and social justice. It is an indispensable companion for any health law course, fostering a more inclusive and well-rounded approach to legal and medical education and practice.

Illuminating the often-overlooked perspectives of marginalised groups, this essential textbook offers a transformative exploration of health law and ethics.

Designed as a replacement for (or complement to) foundational health law texts, the book amplifies the voices of those frequently silenced in teaching materials: racialised communities, ethnic minorities, women, disabled individuals, LGBTQI+ people and those disadvantaged by socio-economic and structural factors.

Chapters cover key topics such as abortion, medical negligence, and public health, scrutinising how traditional legal narratives can neglect the nuanced impacts on these diverse groups. Contributors challenge readers to reflect on the production and perpetuation of health inequalities, enriching the curriculum with critical viewpoints.

Teaching tools include:

- accessible summaries throughout the chapters;

- critical reflection questions at the end of each chapter for students and teachers;

- further reading lists and links to external resources..

This is an invaluable text that encourages students and academics to engage deeply with the intersections of law, health(care) and social justice. It is an indispensable companion for any health law course, fostering a more inclusive and well-rounded approach to legal and medical education and practice.

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This book proposes a conception of social justice according to international human rights law. Social rights include everyday rights such as housing, food, fuel and social security.

Drawing on extensive research with frontline practitioners, the book frames access to social justice as a journey that should end with the realisation of an effective remedy. It highlights discourses that marginalise and disempower rights holders and reclaims the narrative around social rights as legal rights.

This is a unique contribution to our understanding of access to social justice from a social rights perspective complete with key recommendations for policy and practice.

With over five billion internet users globally, it is crucial to understand social media activism and legal change for women and girls.

This insightful book examines the impact of international Twitter (now X) campaigns on domestic laws affecting women and girls. Exploring the complexities of legal change for women and girls across seven countries from Latin America to Middle East and Africa, the book offers empirical insights into the effectiveness of hashtag advocacy and sheds light on the role of social media in shaping different outcomes.

This is a key resource for understanding the dynamics driving social media activism and its potential impact on the rights of women and girls worldwide.

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Although non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancers, diabetes, and heart diseases are preventable, they have risen dramatically over the last 30 years. This is in part due to increased international trade and foreign direct investment in the tobacco, alcohol and food industries.

As governments attempt to regulate these industries, this book raises important and timely questions about the relationship between public health and international trade and investment law.

Providing a clear and succinct analysis of the relevant trade and investment regimes and the obligations they impose, this book identifies the key principles that must be considered when formulating and implementing NCD prevention strategies that are both effective and able to withstand legal challenges.

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This book offers an in-depth exploration of the lives of EU migrant workers in the UK following Brexit and COVID-19.

Drawing on a longitudinal study, the book delves into the legal problems migrant workers face and sheds much-needed light on the hidden interactions between the law and communities around issues such as employment, housing, welfare and health. Through personal narratives and insights gathered from interviews, it reveals how (clustered) legal problems arise, are resolved and often bypass formal legal resolution pathways.

This is an invaluable resource that provides a rich picture of everyday life for migrant workers in the UK and highlights the vital role of NGOs working to support them.

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland has functioned without interruption for over a century, yet its intermediate position can obscure the importance of its judgments.

This book demonstrates the Court of Appeal’s pivotal role in securing justice, both by correcting lower court decisions and by developing the common law. It examines, in particular, how the Court has applied and developed the rule of law in a post-conflict society.

Authored by experts in the law of Northern Ireland, this compelling text is based on archival research, statistical and qualitative case analyses, court observations, and exclusive interviews with senior judges.

This book exposes how inequalities based on class and social background arise from employment practices in the digital age. It considers instances where social media is used in recruitment to infiltrate private lives and hide job advertisements based on locality; where algorithms assess socio-economic data to filter candidates; where human interviewers are replaced by artificial intelligence with design that disadvantages users of classed language; and where already vulnerable groups become victims of digitalisation and remote work.

The author examines whether these practices create risks of discrimination based on certain protected attributes, including ‘social origin’ in international labour law and laws in Australia and South Africa, ‘social condition’ and ‘family status’ in laws within Canada, and others. The book proposes essential law reform and improvements to workplace policy.

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

When deciding who to treat, those engaged in priority-setting and resource allocation in health care need to comply with their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

This book provides an in-depth examination of how anti-discrimination laws intersect with health care rationing in the UK. It critiques how existing legal frameworks apply to resource allocation, questioning whether and when utilitarian principles should be adjusted to incorporate anti-discrimination norms. The author offers detailed cases studies in the contexts of fertility treatment, public health and intensive care, highlighting practical implications and real-world challenges.

This is a timely legal analysis, providing crucial policy insights in the wake of recent global health crises.

This thought-provoking collection brings together academics from a range of disciplines to examine modern slavery.

It illustrates how different disciplinary positions, methodologies and perspectives form and clash together through a kaleidoscopic view to contribute a unique insight into critical modern slavery studies. Providing a platform to critique the legal, ideological and political responses to the issue, experts interrogate the construct of modern slavery and the anti-trafficking discourse which have dominated contemporary responses to and understandings of exploitation.

Drawing on a range of global real-world examples, this is a vital contribution to the study of modern slavery.

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. As climate change accelerates, our window for action is closing. To stay within the "Anthropocene" - an epoch in which humankind as the dominant force shaping the planet retains a degree of control over the destructive processes it has unleashed - global warming must be kept below 2° Celsius.

This book explores the unprecedented technological and legal changes required to achieve this. Featuring contributions from leading experts, the essays examine the intersection of technology, law, and environmental values, offering diverse viewpoints on navigating the Anthropocene.

Revealing the controversies of rapid technological adoption and legal reform, this is a crucial analysis of a complex future whose many dangers for our society are barely understood.

Over several decades, policies have made mediation a key part of the English and Welsh family justice system. As the process faces increasing demand from a diverse and complex client base, some argue for a return to a fully funded court system. However, this dominant view overlooks the longstanding problems with the court process, as well as the potential value of mediation.

This book, based on original research, highlights the evolving role of mediators who assist families without legal support. By doing so, it reveals a contemporary vision of family justice that addresses some of the challenges in today’s landscape.

In March 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe after 26 years as a member.

This timely and in-depth analysis explores Russia's tumultuous relationship with the Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights. It examines Russia’s membership record and the profound impacts of its expulsion for Europe’s human rights system. The authors provide valuable insights for future policy to safeguard the integrity of international human rights institutions.

The book fills an important gap in legal scholarship by exploring the legality and legitimacy of Russia’s membership and expulsion, and represents a key reference in understanding the challenge of protecting human rights in the face of rising authoritarianism.

In March 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe after 26 years as a member.

This timely and in-depth analysis explores Russia's tumultuous relationship with the Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights. It examines Russia’s membership record and the profound impacts of its expulsion for Europe’s human rights system. The authors provide valuable insights for future policy to safeguard the integrity of international human rights institutions.

The book fills an important gap in legal scholarship by exploring the legality and legitimacy of Russia’s membership and expulsion, and represents a key reference in understanding the challenge of protecting human rights in the face of rising authoritarianism.

Since the 2012 LASPO cuts, legal aid provision in England and Wales has faced severe challenges, threatening both client access to justice and traditional practices.

This book offers an in-depth ethnographic study of how these cuts have transformed the professional identity of legal aid lawyers amid shrinking resources. By documenting the first-hand experiences of those on the front line, it reveals how these professionals navigate the precarious landscape while maintaining their commitment to justice.

This is a unique and insightful look into the evolving role of legal aid lawyers in a diminishing industry across both civil and criminal remits.

This edited collection brings together a range of experts on surrogacy, at a time when the law in the UK has been fully reconsidered for the first time in generations.

Society has developed significantly since surrogacy laws were first written and the existing law is out of date and no longer fit for purpose. Each chapter in this collection considers one aspect of surrogacy regulation and analyses the potential effectiveness of proposed reforms or suggests what changes should be made based on experience in other jurisdictions.

This is an unprecedented contribution to the public and regulatory debate on surrogacy.

Immigration control in the West has increasingly focused on preventing migrants from reaching the external border and the territory of states. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the evolving preventive immigration control system and highlights the many ways in which contemporary border controls undermine the rule of law.

By examining border control practices at the state and European levels (including by EU agencies and through the use of AI), the book explores how these measures affect the rule of law across different areas, including extraterritorial immigration control, control of the external borders and the digitalization of border control.

This is an essential resource, presenting a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of today’s border management challenges.

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This book presents the first ethnographic study into a new consent-based rape law in Sweden and shows how the implementation of this legislation challenges outdated legal frameworks and requires a shift in legal practice.

Focusing on the Swedish context, it provides insights that are globally applicable, offering lessons for other countries where consent-based rape laws are in place. By examining the limitations of the conventional legal enactment of autonomy, rationality and objectivity, the authors argue for an evolved approach to ensure fairness and effectiveness. Integrating feminist legal theory with the sociology of emotions, the book reveals how emotional and contextual factors shape legal reasoning.

Aiming to make legal processes for sexual violence more transparent, predictable and democratic worldwide, this is an urgent call for enhanced professional training in emotional reflexivity and empathy.

The European Court of Human Rights depends on the good faith cooperation of its members to implement judgement and maintain legitimacy, but how this translates into compliance varies both across and within states. This book presents an innovative framework for understanding how local cultures dynamically shape states’ ideas about what is and is not legitimate in international human rights regimes.

The book investigates compliance as a product of cultural politics. Case studies from the United Kingdom, Germany, and Croatia reveal how states rely on local understanding of human rights and law to deal not only with compliance ‘sticking points’ but also to evaluate the legitimacy of the European human rights system as a whole.

Vulnerability theory offers an alternative to social-contract and rights-based paradigms. Beginning with the corporeal body, the theory argues we are inevitably and constantly dependent on social institutions that are generated (and ideally monitored) through law. Accordingly, vulnerability theory argues for a state attentive to the needs of the universally 'vulnerable subject'.

Based on lectures at Trinity College Dublin that focused on four foundational concepts, this book highlights how vulnerability theory differs from individualistic liberal frameworks.

Calling for a reorientation of law toward a collective responsibility-based approach, it is essential reading for anyone interested in political theory, social justice, and sociolegal scholarship.

Vulnerability theory offers an alternative to social-contract and rights-based paradigms. Beginning with the corporeal body, the theory argues we are inevitably and constantly dependent on social institutions that are generated (and ideally monitored) through law. Accordingly, vulnerability theory argues for a state attentive to the needs of the universally 'vulnerable subject'.

Based on lectures at Trinity College Dublin that focused on four foundational concepts, this book highlights how vulnerability theory differs from individualistic liberal frameworks.

Calling for a reorientation of law toward a collective responsibility-based approach, it is essential reading for anyone interested in political theory, social justice, and sociolegal scholarship.