Archives

  • Vol. 28 No. 1 (2023)

    We are very pleased to publish the first issue of the twenty-eight volume of the Coventry Law Journal. This issue contains many pieces that reflect what has occurred since the last issue – in December 2022. In the leading article, Steve Foster, from Manchester Grammar School, writes on the progress and reaction to the Illegal Migrants Bill 2023, which raises a number of issues with respect to the rule of law and the United Kingdom’s international human rights’ obligations: at the time of writing the piece the Bill of Rights Bill was dropped by the government, and the IMA was passed after some amends in the House of Lords. There are also articles by various Nigerian academics - on consumer protection, intellectual property rights and global health security. Legal professional, Dr Konstantina Michopoulou, makes a return to the journal, contributing an article on educational rights for children, and Alex Simmonds, now at Dundee University, has produced another journal on his specialist topic, Space Law, and the right to be heard.

    There are also a number of case notes and recent developments on recurring matters such as free speech and whistle-blowing, free speech and privacy, prisoners’ rights, and patient autonomy and human rights. We are especially pleased to publish a case note on police liability and negligence by Conor Monighan, a barrister at 5 Essex Court Chambers, and would like to thank him for his time and expertise. We are also grateful to other staff at the Law School, who contributed case notes and book reviews on various aspects of law: one from our research fellow, Dr Rona Epstein, and the other from our Assistant Professor in Law, Dr Tony Meacham. Dr Meacham also provides our very first formal obituary in the 28 years of the journal – on Ben Ferencz, former prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials.

    The Journal also welcome various contributions from our students. We have published four of our undergraduate students’ dissertations (reintroduced on to our LLB programme this year), as well as case notes, blogs and short stories written by students as part of their course assessments. We wish them all every success in the future.

    On a sad note, we bid farewell to Dr Evgenia Ralli (EU and company and finance law), who leaves us to take up an exciting new position at Edinburgh University; and Dr Lorraine Baron (SWUPL), who is off to Bangor University in North Wales: we wish them both the best in the future. We also say a huge thank you and goodbye to Professor Robert Upex, who has taught property and trusts at the School over the last 5 years, and who has been an academic and a barrister for a great number of years; happy retirement, Robert! Our thanks go to all of them for all their hard work at Coventry Law School.

    We hope you enjoy reading this issue and find something that will interest you: either as a student to inform your law study, or as a scholar to inspire your future research and interest in law. We also look forward to receiving your contributions for future issues. We encourage contributions from students, academic staff and practitioners, and if you wish to contribute to the Journal and want any advice or assistance in being published, then please contact the editors. The next publication date is December 2023, and contributions need to be forwarded to us by early November.

    The editors: Dr Steve Foster and Dr Stuart MacLennan

  • Vol. 27 No. 2 (2022)

    We are very pleased to publish the second issue of the twenty-seventh volume of the Coventry Law Journal. This issue contains many pieces that reflect what has occurred in this turbulent year. In the leading article, Andrew Jones writes on the application of international criminal law with respect to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There are also a number of case notes and recent developments on recurring matters such as assisted dying, free speech and public morality, and patient autonomy and human rights. We are also pleased to include an update on discrimination and hairstyles, where ex-student Demi Clarke-Jeffers re-visits her piece in the last issue of the Journal to incorporate recent observations in this area.

    We are especially pleased to include a reflective article by Rhonda Hammond-Sharlot, the School’s Curriculum Lead for Professional Studies, who uses her professional and academic experience to explore the potential impact of the new Solicitors’ Qualification Examination (SQE) on legal education and the expectations of students and the various professions. Coventry University, as with many other institutions, will become involved in the new Qualification, and Rhonda offers a valuable insight into legal education and how the new scheme will impact on students, staff and the legal profession.

    The Journal is also delighted to include articles from academics overseas. Dr Isau Olatunji Ahmed and Khafayat Yetunde Olatinwo, both from Kwara State University in Nigeria, write, respectively, on tax avoidance in Nigeria, and space law; this time considering the potential application of the law of mortgages in outer space. Our thanks also go to John Sawyer, for researching and writing, with Steve Foster, on another piece of legal history relating to his family. We are also grateful to other staff at the Law School, who contributed case notes and book reviews on crime, criminal justice and human rights.

    On a sad note, we bid farewell to Dr Romit Bhandari, Dr Monica Ingber and Sandrea Maynard, who leave us to take up exciting new positions at other universities. Our thanks go to them for all their hard work at Coventry Law School; we wish all of them every success in the future.

    We hope you enjoy reading this issue and find something that will interest you: either as a student to inform your law study, or as a scholar to inspire your future research and interest in law. We also look forward to receiving your contributions for future issues. We encourage contributions from students, academic staff and practitioners, and if you wish to contribute to the Journal and want any advice or assistance in being published then please contact the editors. The next publication date is July 2022, and contributions need to be forwarded to us by early June.

    The editors: Dr Steve Foster and Dr Stuart MacLennan

  • Vol. 27 No. 1 (2022)

    We are very pleased to publish the first issue of the twenty-seventh volume of the Coventry Law Journal.

    This issue contains pieces on a variety of legal topics, including the possible repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 by two Steve Fosters! Steve Foster teaches at Manchester Grammar School and is a seasoned author on many aspects of the constitution and human rights law, and joins your editor-in-chief in appraising the government’s latest plans to repeal the Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights. The Journal also contains pieces on corporate manslaughter, human rights and the economy, freedom of expression, the impact of covid- 19 regulation in Nigeria, EU Law, and Space Law.

    We are particularly pleased to include an article by Professor Carlos Espaliú-Berdud, a visiting professor at Coventry University in the Centre for Financial and Corporate Integrity. A professor from the University of Nebrija in Madrid, he has written on the regulation of disinformation in Spain. We are also delighted to publish pieces by two practitioners: Dr. Konstantina Michopoulou, on forced labour and the European Convention, and Dominic Ruck Keene, who contributes a case note on coroners and Article 2 of the Convention. Our thanks go to them for sharing their professional and academic expertise.

    This issue also includes case notes from our ex-colleague, Dr Ben Stanford, now at Liverpool John Moores University, and from Dr Gary Betts, our Head of Law at Coventry Law School. We have also included two book reviews, on Mothers in Prison, by our regular contributor Dr Rona Epstein, who comments on the texts in the context of her own impressive research into this area. Finally, we have included various student work in our Student Essays Section: from students at SWUPL in China and our students at Coventry University. Our thanks go to those students and the staff who co-ordinated those contributions.

    Our thanks go to all our contributors: from academic staff (from the UK and abroad), practitioners and students. These contributions create a rich mix of academic and practical discussion that we hope will appeal to our varied readership.

    On a sad note, we bid farewell to three colleagues who leave us for new academic adventures. Dr Katrien Steenmans, and Aaron Cooper, both experts in environmental law, and regular contributors to the Journal, have provided excellent support to our students, the School and our research and we wish them both well for the future. So too, we are very sorry to lose our research and teaching expert Dr Lorenzo Pasculli, who is leaving to take up a post at University College London: good luck Lorenzo.

    We hope you enjoy reading this issue and we look forward to publishing your contributions in future issues. If you wish to contribute to the Journal and want any advice or assistance in publishing your work then please contact the editors: the next publication date is December 2022, and contributions need to be forwarded to the editors by early November 2022.

    The editors: Dr Steve Foster and Dr Stuart MacLennan

  • Vol. 26 No. 2 (2021)

    We are very pleased to publish the second issue of the twenty-sixth volume of the Coventry Law Journal, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Journal. This event was marked by a special conference held on September 30-1 October this year, where contributors from past editions presented their pieces, together with appropriate updates.

    This gave us an opportunity to reflect on the Journal and what it has achieved over the years. We would like to thank all contributors, but particularly those who presented at the conference. These included regular contributors Dr Stuart MacLennan and Dr Steve Foster (your editors), Professor Barry Mitchell, Dr Mark Ryan and Dr Rona Epstein and Alex Simmonds from Coventry University, Professor Michael Adams from the University of New England, Australia, Chris and Nicola Monaghan from the University of Worcester, Laurence Vick (ex-student and solicitor), Professor Egbewole from Nigeria, and Sukhninder Panesar from the University of Wolverhampton. Special thanks go to Professor Nigel Duncan, and others who chaired panels; and to Dr MacLennan who organised and coordinated the whole event.

    This issue contains pieces that reflect on legal developments over the last 25 years, and in particular, Dr Steve Foster examines both the rule of law and the protection of human rights in the UK Constitution in two articles that attack recent proposals for reform in these areas. There are also reflections from Professor Adams on comparative research, Dr Epstein on imprisonment for debt, and Dr Stanford On elections and voter ID. We also, once again, include articles from a colleague from Nigeria, as well as recent developments on various aspects of human rights and constitutional law.

    The Coventry Law Journal has gone from strength to strength since it first started in 1996 with two principal aims: to inform our students of recent legal developments, and to provide staff and students with an opportunity to publish their research. Both aims have been achieved admirably over the years, but it has also attracted contributions from outside the university, numerous citations in other works, and publication on Westlaw. Thanks go to everyone who have contributed and here is to the next 25 years!

    We hope you enjoy reading this issue and we look forward to your contributions in future issues. If you wish to contribute to the Journal and want any advice or assistance in being published then please contact the editors: the next publication date is July 2022, and contributions need to be forwarded by early June.

    The editors: Dr Steve Foster and Dr Stuart MacLennan

  • Vol. 26 No. 1 (2021)

    We are pleased to publish the first issue of the twenty-sixth volume of the Coventry Law Journal. As with previous issues, this issue contains articles, recent developments, case notes and student essays on a wide variety of legal areas, such as human rights, criminal justice, discrimination law, commercial law, arbitration, employment law, legal history, tort, corporate and company law and property law. Our thanks go to those staff and students who have contributed their research and time to this issue. We are especially pleased to include contributions from outside the school; by Dr Liz Hales, who has written an article on care of young children in the criminal justice system, and (another) Steve Foster, from Manchester Grammar School, who has written on possible future reform of the Human Rights Act.

    We are also pleased to include contributions from past and present students, both at Coventry and at SWUPL, our partner university in China. The Law School encourages student work and writing, and we have included a number of student articles, essays and case notes in this issue.

    This issue is dedicated to three former colleagues in the Law School who have sadly passed away since the publication of the last issue of the Journal. It is difficult to describe the level of commitment that Kevin Williams, David Royall, and Colin Perkin gave to the Law School in addition to their individual contribution to the university and legal education in general. Collectively, they gave over seventy-five years’ service to Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry Polytechnic and Coventry University, and each will be fondly remembered and missed terribly, as former colleagues and as friends. A special feature on each of these exceptional teachers is included in this issue.

    We are bidding farewell and good luck to three staff members: Dr Luke Graham, who has secured a post at Manchester University, Dr Emma Marchant, who is returning to the University of Birmingham, and Nicholas Squires, who is retiring after more than 25 years’ at the University. Both Luke and Emma have made significant contributions at Coventry in their short stays with us, and we would like to thank them for all their hard work and inspiration. We wish Nick a happy retirement.

    We hope you enjoy reading this issue and we look forward to your contributions in future issues. If you wish to contribute to the Journal and want any advice or assistance in being published, then please contact the editors: the next publication date is December 2021, which will coincide with our twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations, and contributions need to be forwarded by early November. The Law School will host a conference in October of this year to celebrate twenty-five years of the Journal, inviting previous contributors to recall their academic pieces and report on any changes to the law since initial publication. The December 2021 issue will include some of those contributions together with new pieces.

    The editors: Dr Steve Foster and Dr Stuart MacLennan

  • Vol. 25 No. 2 (2020)

    We are pleased to publish the second issue of the twenty-fifth volume of the Coventry Law Journal. As with previous issues, this issue contains articles, recent developments and case notes on a wide variety of legal areas, such as human rights, discrimination law, corporate crime, criminal fraud, employment law, environmental law, European Union law, and international law. Our thanks go to those staff who have contributed their research and time to this issue. We are especially pleased to include articles by staff from Law Schools outside Coventry, as well from our students: Anna O’Shea, who has written a joint piece with Dr Steve Foster on facial technology and human rights; and Emmy Tolini, who has contributed her recent dissertation on EU solidarity.

    This issue is dedicated to Dr Ben Stanford, our colleague and friend, who is leaving Coventry to join the Law School at Liverpool John Moores. Ben joined the Law School at Coventry four years ago and since that time has excelled in all areas of academic life: as a teacher, a researcher and in carrying out his duties as a course leader. Hugely popular with staff and students, Ben has received praise for his teaching on and organisation of all his modules, and has managed to combine his total commitment to teaching with an excellent research and publication record, publishing in esteemed journals such as Public Law and the European Human Rights Law Review. In addition, he has carried out a high number of administrative duties with great calm and capability, and organised and participated in staff research activities. We are delighted to include a case note of his in this edition, and hope that he will contribute to the journal in the future. Ben has been a true friend of the School and the Journal and we dedicate this issue to him and wish him every success in his future career.

    We hope you enjoy reading this issue and we look forward to your contributions in future issues. If you wish to contribute to the Journal and want any advice or assistance in getting published, then please contact the editors: the next publication date is April 2021, which will coincide with our twenty-fifth anniversary, and contributions need to be forwarded by early March.

    The editors: Dr Steve Foster and Dr Stuart MacLennan

  • Vol. 25 No. 1 (2020)

    We are pleased to publish the first issue of the twenty-fifth volume of the Coventry Law Journal, a special issue featuring selected papers from the EU-CARICOM Law Conference held at Coventry University on 10th and 11th October 2019. The theme of the conference was ‘Beyond Brexit: Sustaining Business and Law Relations’. Academic readers of this journal will be familiar with the tenuous resemblance that conference themes often bear to the papers presented, however, in this instance the conference papers were all faithful to the theme. Nevertheless, the themes emerging from a conference often evolve and this is reflected in the theme of this special issue: ‘Law, Education, and Entrepreneurship in the Age of Brexit’.

    The first article of this special issue provides an historical and contemporary overview of the origins of Brexit. Anna-Theresia Krein contrasts the United Kingdom’s looser relationship with the European Union to that of Germany’s, concluding that seeds of Brexit were sown long before 2016. An apt introduction to the articles that follow. 

    ‘Trade in goods after Brexit’ takes us, appropriately, beyond Brexit, considering the various options for the United Kingdom’s relationship for trade in goods with the European Union. Dr MacLennan identifies many of the hurdles that have to be overcome in such a future relationship and concludes that there is no easy solution to these problems.

    One of the challenges identified by Dr MacLennan – customs procedures – is elaborated upon by Leonie Zappel. ‘Customs procedures after Brexit’ identifies a number of potential procedural changes that might be used to overcome these challenges.

    ‘Electronic bills of lading in international trade transactions’ explores the opportunities presented by new technological approaches to bills of lading. While acknowledging the promise of new technologies like ‘blockchain’ for the development of bills of lading, Dr Marxen sounds a cautious note in contrast to the enthusiasm and excitement prevalent in some circles of the international trade (finance) industry.

    In ‘The impact of Brexit on the United Kingdom’s start-up ecosystem’ Professor Dr Asghari and Mathis Vetter consider the effects of Brexit on entrepreneurship. They consider, in particular, the macroeconomic and microeconomic effects on start-ups. They further consider how changes in a complex, modern, open economy might impact start-ups concerning the loss of important framework conditions.

    Finally, Dr Ben Stanford and Dr Steve Foster share their experience of using publishing opportunities to improve legal writing skills in ‘Enhancing student knowledge and skills with publishing opportunities’. The product of this experience can be seen in the student case notes on ground-breaking cases in the English Legal System that conclude this issue, written as part of their assessment for their module on Academic and Career Development. These case notes were selected as the top case notes for that assignment. Well done to those students.

    We hope you enjoy reading this issue and we look forward to your contributions in future issues. If you wish to contribute to the Journal and want any advice or assistance in getting published, then please contact the editors: the next publication date is December 2020 and contributions need to be forwarded by early November.

    The editors: Dr Stuart MacLennan and Dr Steve Foster.