Edinburgh Postgraduate Law Conference

2024 - "From Words to Action: Rethinking Justice in a Globalised World"

Globalisation is not a recent phenomenon, but it is continuously evolving, manifesting itself anew on a daily basis. As a consequence of this ongoing evolution, globalisation is resurfacing within legal domains that notably intersect with our lives, specifically within the realms of governance, economy, healthcare, environment, and technology. These areas are not only distinct but intricately connected to the field of law, where globalisation manifests its influence. In an era marked by unprecedented global interconnectedness, the concept of justice is undergoing a transformative revaluation. The Edinburgh Postgraduate Law Conference 2024 on “From Words to Action: Rethinking Justice in a Globalised World” invited PhD candidates and young legal scholars, practitioners, and researchers to engage in, and contribute to, a comprehensive exploration of the challenges and opportunities inherent in the evolving landscape of global justice. 

At this juncture, it is imperative to add a caveat that this call not only addressed the challenges and opportunities related to practical applications in currently regulated areas under the theme 'From Words to Action' but also emphasises the need for a broad perspective that includes areas not yet legally regulated, falling behind the trends of globalisation and development. 

2023 – "Law in the 21st Century: Challenges and Adaptations"

The rapid developments of the 21st century have created new challenges for the law regime.   The novel concepts of climate change and social responsibility have introduced new governance concepts to the traditional financial regulatory system, such as ESG (environmental, social, and governance). Technology developments, such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens, challenge the boundaries of data protection law and intellectual property law. Military conflicts and trade disputes highlight the difficulty for the law to regulate international relations, and demonstrate the ever-present role of politics in such matters.  However, the list does not end here. On the one hand, it could be argued that every area of law is influenced by social and historical developments.  On the other hand, should the law only be reactive?

What are the challenges brought by new trends? How would these new trends shift our understanding of law? Should the law evolve to cope with these challenges? If so, in what manner? The Edinburgh Postgraduate Law Conference (EPLC) 2023 welcomed proposals from postgraduate students and early career researchers, who graduated no longer than three years ago, reflecting on the topic of “Law in the 21st Century: Challenges and Adaptations”.  The theme was deliberately broad and open to interpretation, and proposals of any legal research areas werw welcome. 

2022 – “Back to the Future: The Law in the Age of Uncertainty” 

It has become almost commonplace to hear that we live in uncertain times. Our world is a constantly insecure one, with rapidly changing technology, economic instability, the erosion of rights protection across the globe, challenges to the basis of our democratic systems and the contours of nation- states, all in the shadow of an ever-more imposing climate crisis and the throes of a global pandemic. The law has many roles to play in keeping society afloat in these turbulent times. Legal systems can provide structure to our society, creating new frameworks that can anticipate future challenges and build processes for resolving uncertainty in how our society is governed. The law can shape human behaviour to manage or reduce uncertainty and charters of legally protected rights can provide a guaranteed basis of stable and equal treatment for all in times of change, especially where fundamental protections are under threat. But the law itself can also be an instrument of uncertainty, where it is co-opted for divisive or partisan ends or where it is set in broader unstable regulatory systems. Where, then, does the law sit in this age of uncertainty? Is it acting as a force for good in our society, or do our legal systems need reform to ensure this? Has it fulfilled this role in the past, and will it continue to do so in the future?
This conference explored these questions by looking at the various roles of the law in different areas of contemporary and future social life

2021 – “Great Expectations – When Law Meets Reality” 

This conference examined the relationship between the expectations we have of the law, and how the legal system operates in reality. The keynote speakers were: Lady Wolffe, judge of the Court of Session; Richard Sparks, Professor of Criminology at the University of Edinburgh; and Sharon Cowan, Professor of Feminist and Queer Legal Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

2020 – “Law and the New World Order” 

This conference examined how the law responds to the multiplicity of issues and challenges created by increasing political uncertainty. The keynote speaker was Professor Andrew Lang, Professor of International Law and Global Governance at the University of Edinburgh.

2018 – “The law as it should be” 

This conference explored the various political and social issues that necessitate legal change, the law’s responses to these issues, and the notion of legal change itself. The keynote speaker was Doctor Rumiana Yotova, Lecturer in International Law, Fellow and Director of Studies in Law at the University of Cambridge.

2017 – “Law and its Boundaries” 

This conference considered the role of legal regulation at a pivotal point in our history when it seemed that many legal, political, and technological boundaries were coming under unprecedented strain. The keynote speaker was Professor Sionaidh Douglas-Scott, Anniversary Chair in Law at Queen Mary, University of London.

2016 – “Law in an age of Technological Management” 

This conference considered the impact of various technological developments on the law. The keynote speaker was Professor Roger Brownsword, Professor of Law at King’s College London.

2014 – “Innovation in the law: New challenges, New perspectives”

This conference examined how the law could be reconceptualised in new and innovative ways to meet emerging global challenges and included presentations on rethinking international law, states’ rights, secession and self-determination and theories of justice and the judicial role. The keynote speakers were Dr Shawn Harmon, Reader at the University of Edinburgh; Professor Lesley Mcara, Professor of Penology at the University of Edinburgh; and Professor Burkhard Schaffer, Professor of Computational Legal Theory at the University of Edinburgh.

2013 – “Law, Individual, Community” 

This conference explored the various ways the law interacts with both individuals and communities and included presentations on liberalism versus communitarianism and community interests and the protection of the environment. The keynote speakers were Martin Loughlin, Professor of Public Law at LSE; and John Harris, Sir David Alliance Professor of Bioethics at the University of Manchester.

EPLC 2024

Gokce Kolukisa, Jin Wang, Muhammet Dervis METE, Xinyu Lyu

EPLC 2023

Aziz Öztürk, Chenghuai Xu, Eric Chang, Ammar Tanhan, Claudia Paduano, Annalisa Battista

EPLC 2022

Martina Cerna, Matthew Cleary, Lisa Cowan, Tahir Erdogan, Aziz Ozturk, Pravar Petkar

EPLC 2021

Mirjana Gavrilović Nilsson, Zahra Jaffer, Alice Krzanich, Hashim Mude, Shona Warwick

Get in touch with us: edlawpgconference@ed.ac.uk

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