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
