As a law student, you will tackle the fundamental questions facing society, develop understanding of key areas of English, European and International law and investigate and evaluate ideas such as fairness, justice and equality.
When it comes to something as important as European defence, you would imagine that the European Union has strict structures in place to guarantee its solidity.
Research conducted over the past few years by Dr Theodore Konstadinides, however, suggests that may not be the case. Together with Dr Tom Dyson at Royal Holloway, he has adopted an interdisciplinary approach to the study of European defence cooperation — combining legal perspectives with political analysis grounded in International Relations theory. Their results demonstrate that, in order to improve our understanding of defence cooperation, it is vital to start a dialogue between legal scholars and international relations experts.
Are current incentives enough to foster further defence cooperation under the banner of the EU? Or will such cooperation remain limited, due to the unwillingness of great European powers to cede sovereignty in defence?
The recent economic troubles in Europe have shown just how challenging it can be for a continent-wide union to act in the interests of each individual member state. When it comes to the European Convention of Human Rights, however, we may instead find the opposite situation — that the policies of individual states may influence the bigger picture.
Dr Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou has studied how effectively the European Court of Human Rights can balance both evolution and stability by looking at the policies of individual member states and coming up with a consensus view. If enough member states’ policies match, could that be sufficient grounds to adjust the convention across the whole union?
While we’re all conscious of the need to protect the environment, certain extreme circumstances can cause such concerns to be overlooked. Armed conflict, for instance, often results in significant environmental damage — whether through deliberate strategies like scorched earth practice, or as an unintentional side effect (troop movement through fragile ecosystems, for example).
Research by Dr Regina Rauxloh has found that astonishingly little legal environmental protection is provided during times of conflict. Considering that the impact of environmental damage can often be felt by local communities for generations to come, though, surely the same importance should be placed on protecting the environment as on other war crimes?
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For postgraduate taught and research admissions enquiries, please see the individual course pages.
In the closing weeks of last semester, the School of Law introduced its first Mediation Project for family law students.
The purpose of the Project is to give students an understanding of the aims of mediation and how the process works, as well as how it fits into the family justice system.
