Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge

The conviction of Oscar Pistorius for committing culpable homicide in relation to the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp made worldwide news.In this video Professor Christopher Forsyth reflects on his previous comments about the original conviction, and describes how the Supreme Court of Appeal interpreted the South African law on intent to kill. Although the Court complimented Ms Justice Thokozile Masipa on her handling of the case under intense media scrutiny, they reversed her decision (as Professor Forsyth originally suggested they might), and and replaced the verdict with one of murder.Professor Christopher Forsyth is Professor of Public Law and Private International Law in the University of Cambridge, and Extraordinary Professor of Law in the University of Stellenbosch. For more information about Professor Forsyth, please refer to his profile at http://www.law.cam.ac.uk/people/academic/cf-forsyth/31 Law in Focus is a collection of short videos featuring academics from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, addressing legal issues in current affairs and the news. These issues are examples of the many which challenge researchers and students studying undergraduate and postgraduate law at the Faculty. This entry provides an audio source for iTunes U.

On Tuesday 24 November 2015, Lord (Tony) Grabiner QC delivered the 2015 Cambridge Private Law Centre Allen & Overy Annual Law Lecture entitled "Public Policy, Illegality and Contracts". The event was kindly sponsored by Allen & Overy. More information about this lecture is available from the Private Law Centre website at www.privatelaw.law.cam.ac.uk/events/past-events

This video discusses six issues arising out of the recent statement of Prime Minister David Cameron to the House of Commons entitled "Prime Minister’s Response to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee on the Extension of Offensive British Military Operations to Syria". Dr Veronika Fikfak and Dr Hayley J Hooper discuss the questionable international legality of military action, the strategic use of parliament and its potential impact upon the emerging Consultation Convention, and the responsibility of MPs to hold government to account across a broad range of relevant domestic issues. Thereafter they analyse the impact of the way government shares intelligence information with the House of Commons, especially in light of the 2003 Iraq conflict, highlighting several relevant but under-discussed rules. Finally, they discuss the role of party political discipline on armed conflict votes. Dr Fikfak researches in the fields of public law, human rights and international law. She is particularly interested in the interface between domestic and international law and is currently writing a monograph on the role of national judges in relation to international law. Dr Hooper is currently a Fellow at Homerton College, and her doctoral research at Balliol College, University of Oxford concerned the use of "closed" or "secret" evidence in the context of judicial review of counterterrorism powers, and its extension to civil procedure more broadly. Drs Fikfak and Hooper are currently co-authoring a monograph on parliament's involvement in war powers entitled Parliament's Secret War (forthcoming with Hart Bloomsbury, 2016). For more information about Dr Fikfak, please refer to her profile, and about Dr Hooper to her profile. Law in Focus is a series of short videos featuring academics from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, addressing legal issues in current affairs and the news. These issues are examples of the many which challenge researchers and students studying undergraduate and postgraduate law at the Faculty. This entry provides an audio source for iTunes U.

In his speech at Chatham House on 10 November 2015 (https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-ministers-speech-on-europe), the Prime Minister David Cameron outlined those aspects of the EU he would like to see reformed prior to any referendum on the UK's continued membership of the EU. EU employment law - one of the most controversial areas of EU policy - was not expressly identified in his list. In this video, Catherine Barnard considers the impact of EU social poicy on the lives of UK employees and what effect 'Brexit' might have on employees' rights.For more information about Professor Barnard, please refer to her profile at http://www.law.cam.ac.uk/people/academic/cs-barnard/9Law in Focus is a collection of short videos featuring academics from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, addressing legal issues in current affairs and the news. These issues are examples of the many which challenge researchers and students studying undergraduate and postgraduate law at the Faculty.This entry provides an audio source for iTunes U.

Judge Dean Spielmann, President of the European Court of Human Rights, gave a talk entitled "The contribution of the Court to a culture of human rights in Europe" on 12 November 2015 as a guest of the Centre for Public Law (CPL).For more information, see the CPL website at: http://www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk

In an interview with the BBC yesterday (23 July 2015), US President Barack Obama argued that having "the United Kingdom in the European Union gives us much greater confidence about the strength of the transatlantic union and is part of the cornerstone of institutions built after World War II that has made the world safer and more prosperous." He continued: "And we want to make sure that United Kingdom continues to have that influence. Because we believe that the values that we share are the right ones, not just for ourselves, but for Europe as a whole and the world as a whole." In this video, Catherine Barnard looks at the debate surrounding Brexit and in particular what Brexit would mean for free movement.Further references from the video:- Obama urges UK to stay in European Union (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33647154): BBC, 23 July 2015;- Positive economic impact of UK immigration from the European Union: new evidence (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1114/051114-economic-impact-EU-immigration): UCL, 5 November 2014.For more information about Professor Barnard, please refer to her profile at http://www.law.cam.ac.uk/people/academic/cs-barnard/9Law in Focus is a collection of short videos featuring academics from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, addressing legal issues in current affairs and the news. These issues are examples of the many which challenge researchers and students studying undergraduate and postgraduate law at the Faculty. This entry provides an audio source for iTunes U.

Prior to the 2015 general election, the Conservative Party undertook in its manifesto to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 and to enact a British Bill of Rights. In this video, Mark Elliott addresses three key questions raised by these proposals:First, what lies behind the desire of some politicians to secure the Human Rights Act’s repeal? Second, how might a British Bill of Rights differ from the present legislation? And, third, what constitutional obstacles might lie in the way of the implementation of these reforms?In relation to the last of those three issues, the argument is developed that although the UK Parliament has the legal power to legislate for the proposed changes, the increasingly multi-layered nature of the British constitution limits Parliament’s capacity to exploit its sovereign legislative authority. In particular, the constraining effects of international law - in the form of the European Convention on Human Rights - and the devolved nature of the modern British constitution are likely to limit the UK Government’s room for manoeuvre. As a result, it is likely to be difficult to deliver upon the manifesto commitments that were made in a legally coherent and constitutionally legitimate manner.Dr Mark Elliott is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St Catharine's College. His main research interests are in the fields of constitutional and administrative law. Dr Elliott's recent publications include Elliott and Thomas, Public Law (2nd ed OUP 2014); Elliott, Beatson, Matthews and Elliott's Administrative Law: Text and Materials (OUP 2011, 4th edition); and Forsyth, Elliott, Jhaveri, Scully-Hill and Ramsden (eds), Effective Judicial Review: A Cornerstone of Good Governance (OUP 2010). Dr Elliott was the 2011 Legal Research Foundation Visiting Scholar at The University of Auckland, New Zealand. In 2010, he was awarded a University of Cambridge Pilkington Prize for excellence in University teaching. He writes a blog - http://publiclawforeveryone.com/ - which includes information for people applying, or thinking of applying, to study Law at university.For more information about Dr Elliott, you can also refer to his profile at http://www.law.cam.ac.uk/people/academic/mc-elliott/25Law in Focus is a collection of short videos featuring academics from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, addressing legal issues in current affairs and the news. These issues are examples of the many which challenge researchers and students studying undergraduate and postgraduate law at the Faculty. This entry provides an audio source for iTunes U.

Brendan Van Alsenoy, KU Leuven, ICRI/CIR, iMinds delivers the second lecture from the "Jurisdiction, Applicable Law and Beyond after Google Spain" section of the "EU Internet Regulation After Google Spain" conference. (The second lecture was not recorded). This conference was held at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge on 27 March 2015, and brought together leading experts on Data Protection and Privacy from around the World. The conference was held with the support of the Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS). This lecture was only recorded in audio.

David Smith, UK Deputy Information Commissioner delivers the second lecture from the "The General Shape of EU Internet Regulation After Google Spain" section of the "EU Internet Regulation After Google Spain" conference. This conference was held at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge on 27 March 2015, and brought together leading experts on Data Protection and Privacy from around the World. The conference was held with the support of the Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS). This entry provides an audio source for iTunes U.

Hugh Tomlinson QC, Matrix Chambers delivers the third lecture from the "The General Shape of EU Internet Regulation After Google Spain" section of the "EU Internet Regulation After Google Spain" conference. This conference was held at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge on 27 March 2015, and brought together leading experts on Data Protection and Privacy from around the World. The conference was held with the support of the Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS). This entry provides an audio source for iTunes U.