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.
