King's College London Law Report 2011 by King's College London

LawReport

A magazine for law Alumni of King’s college london

issue 3 | MARCH 2011

A moot courtroom comes to King’s Public Interest Lawyers’ Dan Carey Jeremy Horder back in the classroom Farewell to 152-158 Strand

jo mieszkowski

How do we respond to the world’s most urgent questions? By asking for your help.

Head of School’s welcome

www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers

Cover: Second-year students Leontine Christophersen and John Mathew Photograph by Phil Sayer Law Report editorial team James Bressor, james.bressor@kcl.ac.uk Amanda Calberry, amanda.calberry@kcl.ac.uk Contributor: Alex Bevis Fundraising & Supporter Development King’s College London Strand Bridge House 138-142 Strand London WC2R 1HH

et me begin as I think one always should, with all that there is to be grateful for. The past year has been marked by really quite notable achievements for King’s. We have launched an exciting and innovative development campaign, with a goal of £500 million. It is a campaign driven by ideas, and a deep sense of the difference that the work done at King’s can make to the world. In embarking on this campaign, we start from a position of great strength. The Sunday Times named King’s its University of the Year for 2010-11, an honour that recognises the College’s growing international stature. Renovation of Somerset House East Wing began in earnest, and we will soon move into the Law School’s beautiful new home. Our students have continued to bring great credit to us: a School of Law team was held to be the best in the world (out of a field of over 250 universities) at the Willem C. Vis Moot. However, while there is much to make us proud of our students, staff and alumni, it will not be news to any of you that as an institution in the public sector we are entering a period of great challenges – and perhaps of opportunity. Like so many parts of society today, universities are facing a future in which resources are likely to be substantially more limited and in which public finances will play a much smaller role. There can be no denying that there is much to regret in the changing landscape of higher education in the United Kingdom, as all participants in it are only too keenly aware. However, there is also some reason for optimism as we will become more flexible and resourceful. There is reason I believe certain steps are essential to our School’s continued success in this new world: for optimism as  The Law School will reassess its size to we will become ensure that it continues to excel at the things more flexible and it does best.  We must focus even more closely on resourceful our students, in terms of both their learning and their welfare, so as to enhance the student experience.  The School will continue to establish rich, rewarding connections between research and teaching, both internally and with other Schools at King’s and other institutions.  We must be clear about the kind of value the Law School offers to those who come to study with us, and thus to be convincing about the distinctive benefit of our programmes and our overall outlook on law.  We need to offer the sort of education that fits our graduates for the new century by helping them to be not simply learned but intellectually flexible and adroit. If we can achieve all of these objectives, or at least most of them in decent measure, I am convinced we will emerge from this tumultuous period with our reputation as one of the country’s best law schools renewed and strengthened. We will achieve this in large measure because we have an excellent staff, and also because we are part of a university that is forward-looking and dedicated to world-class study and research. Alumni can contribute significantly to the School’s well-being. Providing financial support, mentoring students, arranging for internships and coming back to the Strand to share your insights are all important ways to strengthen the School of Law and to prepare our students for their careers. I encourage all of you to consider the role you can play in strengthening the School of Law, and I hope you can visit our new home in Somerset House when it opens this autumn. Timothy Macklem March 2011 | LawReport | 1

phil sayer

History in the making With a global vision and ambitious goal, World questions|King’s answers will touch every part of the College

Somerset House is the most visible element of the campaign. The East Wing will become’s King’s new front door to the world; the refurbished building will offer meeting and exhibition spaces in a London landmark. In addition to providing offices and common rooms for the School of Law, the building will also house the School’s first moot courtroom (see page 6). King’s is generally returning rooms in the East Wing to their original proportions and restoring many lost design features, such as the spectacular stairwells. Several law alumni have already come forward with gifts to support the building’s restoration. Willie Kwan (Law, 1965) made a gift to renovate a lower ground

The time is now for universities like ours

greg funnell

King’s College London has launched the largest campaign in its history, a five-year, £500 million fundraising effort that includes renovation of Somerset House East Wing, which will become the School of Law’s new home. Formally launched in November, the World questions|King’s answers campaign focuses principally on urgent global challenges in three priority areas: Neuroscience & mental health, Leadership & society and Cancer. By every measure – its international scope, its fundraising goal and the level of support needed from alumni and friends to achieve success – World questions|King’s answers is an ambitious undertaking. Renovation of the East Wing of

Left, BBC presenter David Dimbleby hosted the campaign launch, watched by alumni around the world 2 | LawReport | March 2011

March 2011 | LawReport | 3

at events in Hong Kong and New York and also broadcast worldwide on the internet – the Principal, Professor Sir Richard Trainor, said universities are positioned to take on urgent global challenges, provided they have the resources. ‘This campaign unites the whole College in a belief that now is the time for universities like ours. This is a key time for our sector to make the case for what we can achieve – the great contribution we are making to society,’ Professor Trainor told more than 300 alumni, staff and students

Rory Tapner, right, says the East Wing will provide the Law School with facilities deserving of its international standing

gathered in the Great Hall. The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH, British Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997, is chairing the campaign. Rory Tapner (LLB, 1982) is Vice-Chairman. Kenneth Aldous (Law, 1998) attended the New York celebration and praised the campaign’s scope and vision. ‘This is an impressive campaign and worthy of King’s international reputation,’ he said. ‘All alumni across the globe who watched today should be extremely proud of their alma mater.’

phil sayer

floor space into a modern communal area. To be known as ‘Willie’s Common Room’, it will function as an informal place for undergraduate students to meet. At the time of the campaign’s public launch King’s had already received £197 million toward the World questions|King’s answers fundraising goal. Through the end of December, the total received had exceeded £204 million. Speaking at the campaign’s 3 November launch on the Strand Campus – celebrated simultaneously

Rory Tapner: Campaign Vice-Chairman Rory Tapner (LLB, 1982) is Vice-Chairman of the World questions|King’s answers campaign, the College’s Honorary Treasurer and Chairman of the College’s Financial Committee of Council. When not generously giving his time to King’s he is CEO of RBS Wealth Management. Some at the College describe the East Wing as ‘King’s new front door to the world’. How do you think this long-coveted building will impact the College?

Somerset House is an instantly recognisable Grade I Georgian landmark in the heart of London. Once renovated and open to the public, this building will draw people to our College like never before. We will be able to use the East Wing to tell the story of King’s to the world: the breadth of our academic programmes, the contributions our scholars have made to society since

1829 and the goals we have set for ourselves to continue improving the lives of people across the globe. Here is King’s, at the centre of one of the world’s most vibrant, cosmopolitan cities, greeting the world in one of our nation’s grandest buildings. It is simply a spectacular addition to the College. How will the East Wing change the School of Law?

King’s already is home to one of the most highly regarded law schools in Europe. Now the School will have facilities deserving of its standing in the world. Our staff will be able to use the East Wing to host law-related conferences and symposia in a beautiful setting only a short walk from the Courts of Law. Students will also benefit tremendously, as they will have new, comfortable common room space and, for the first time

Campaign goals by priority areas Neuroscience & mental health Leadership & society Cancer Somerset House East Wing and Quad

£200m £99m £143m £33m

Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care

£15m

Annual Fund, scholarships, unrestricted

£10m

World questions | King’s answers total 4 | LawReport | March 2011

£500m

at King’s, a moot courtroom.

It is simply a spectacular addition to the College

Will the East Wing raise the profile of King’s School of Law even higher?

Absolutely. King’s School of Law has long had an outstanding reputation. Moving into the East Wing will only help the School attract excellent staff and students. When you meet with law alumni, what do you tell them about World questions|King’s answers and why it’s important to the future of the College?

I talk about Somerset House, of course, as it will provide the School of Law with an incredible new home. I emphasise the Leadership & society theme and how the School of Law is going to be an important part of the programmes and initiatives funded through this key area. Universities are positioned to make change unlike any other type of institution. Advancing cooperation amongst nations requires a deeper appreciation of international law, and we are an international university with a global outlook. King’s School of Law will partner with other Schools across the College as well as other institutions to establish dynamic programmes that will address issues such as terrorism and governance. March 2011 | LawReport | 5

phil sayer

A first for King’s: a moot courtroom With the renovation of the East Wing, students will finally have a dedicated space for mooting

East Wing renovations

6 | LawReport | March 2011

When the renovated East Wing of Somerset House opens in the autumn of 2011, law students at King’s for the first time will have access to a dedicated moot courtroom on the Strand Campus. Although King’s students have excelled at moot court competitions over the years, they have never been able to practise their courtroom performance skills in space specifically designed for this purpose. Renovation of the East Wing is part of World questions|King’s answers, the College’s £500 million campaign. The School of Law will move into the East Wing in time for the autumn term. The moot courtroom will be on the first floor, in the corner of the building overlooking the Fountain Courtyard. ‘It is in one of the grandest spaces in the East Wing,’ says Katharine Rabson-Stark, Director of Strategic Development for Arts and Sciences. Katherine Lim (LLM, 2009) one of four coaches for the King’s mooting team that won the 2010 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, says the new moot courtroom will make a tremendous difference for students preparing for competition. She says teams devote

hundreds of hours to preparing written submissions and practising for their moot court appearance – dedicating more than 40 hours per week to a competition, and sometimes 50 to 60 hours in the final weeks of preparation, all culminating in a brief oral presentation. ‘You prepare the entire year for those 20 minutes,’ she says. That underscores the importance of having a moot courtroom on campus. Practising in a space that has ‘a sense of grandeur’ increases students’ confidence and reduces the possibility of making an informal remark during the competition. ‘If you’re in a moot courtroom, you’re automatically going to be more formal.’ Professor Timothy Macklem, Head of the Law School, agrees, ‘The more realistic the setting, the better prepared the student is.’ Grandeur aside, simply having a space dedicated to practice mooting will reduce scheduling headaches on the busy Strand Campus. Lim, a trainee solicitor at Baker & McKenzie, recalls how students in the midst of mooting practice have been asked to leave the Maughan Library and School of Law building. rob moore

Posture, voice and gesture are all part of a mooting competition

Rabson-Stark says the moot courtroom in the East Wing will accommodate an audience of about 25 and will be linked electronically to the Anatomy Theatre, a recently renovated space digitally connected to multiple performance spaces across King’s five campuses. Interest in moot court training extends beyond the School of Law. Alan Read, Professor of Theatre in the Department of English, for years has taken many of his students to the Royal Court of Appeals to watch lawyers in action. He says courtroom presentations are performances encompassing voice, gestures and how lawyers hold themselves as they address a judge or jury. Digital recording of moot practices gives students the opportunity to analyse their performance with their coaches and also provides a performance record for others to study, says Professor Read. While the room in the East Wing will be configured to look and feel like a court of law, the space will be available for other purposes. RabsonStark says the moot courtroom will have the flexibility to be used for receptions and possibly for College Council meetings.

As Somerset House is a Grade I listed building, renovation requires consultation with organisations such as the Westminster City Council and English Heritage. These projects were well underway as of midwinter:  Creation of new lift shafts.  Stabilisation of deteriorated lath and plaster ceilings throughout the building.

 Renovation or replacement of original sash windows.  Refurbishment of the exterior Portland stone. Information about the campaign, including naming opportunities in the East Wing, is available from the College’s Fundraising & Supporter Development office, +44 (0)20 7848 4701, email giving@kcl.ac.uk. March 2011 | LawReport | 7

greg funnell

Farewell to 152-158 Strand With mixed emotions the School says good-bye to its long-time home

Members of the Law School staff use words like ‘Dickensian’, ‘masochistic’ and ‘dreadful’ to describe the experience of working in their present offices. At the same time, some of them express a certain affection for the row of former townhouses cobbled together by King’s to house the School of Law. Despite the creaking stairs, draughty windows, narrow twisting corridors and the need for space heaters to get them through the winter months, several staff members who have worked in 152-158 Strand say the offices have some, albeit limited, charm. ‘The old joke is you deserve a degree if you can find your way around here,’ says Senior Lecturer Jane Henderson, who is not looking forward to moving out of the fourth floor office she has occupied for three decades. Unlike many of her colleagues, she is comfortable in the cramped, tired offices.

The School of Law will move into the renovated East Wing of Somerset House during the autumn of 2011. The new offices are sure to offer many amenities not found in the School’s current surroundings – which over the course of more than 45 years have changed very little. Professor Eva Lomnicka, whose office overlooks St Mary le Strand Church, says beyond the quirky, draughty offices and warren of corridors, the School of Law is virtually a time capsule. ‘Since I arrived it has not changed but for a lick of paint here or there,’ she says. Professor Lomnicka, who has taught at the School since 1975, adds that due to their shortcomings, the present offices fostered an esprit de corps among the staff. ‘We improvise. That’s part of the Blitz spirit,’ she says. The location of the present School of Law is, unsurprisingly, rich in history. During the Middle Ages the Church of the Innocents, where

It has not changed but for a lick of paint

The buildings along the Strand as they looked more than a century ago

Thomas Beckett served as Rector before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury, stood near the main entrance of the School of Law, tucked in the northwest corner of the Quad. By the 15th century the Strand Inn, sited where the Quad and East Wing of Somerset House now stand, provided meals and lodgings for lawyers and trained legal professionals as one of the Inns of Chancery. 8 | LawReport | March 2011

The townhouses that comprise the present School of Law offices, 152-158 Strand, date back to the 18th century at least and probably earlier. Whether any luminaries ever resided in these homes is uncertain. All students and staff members have heard that Lady Hamilton, mistress to Admiral Nelson, lived in one of the residences. However, according to Henderson, that has recently proven untrue.

With more than 150 years combined in the School’s present offices, from left, Tony Guest, Eva Lomnicka, Jane Henderson and Robin Morse

‘We were always told it was Lady Hamilton’s frontage that we possessed. But then we were told it was actually Nelson’s tailor’s, which is much less interesting,’ she laments. The College acquired 159 and 160 Strand approximately at the time of the university’s founding to provide access to the Strand from the Quad. An archway with rooms above it was constructed in this period. March 2011 | LawReport | 9

Legal skills and drills

This building doesn’t fill me with nostalgic feelings

Below, Jane Henderson in her office of 30 years. Above, the Strand as it looked in early 20th century

Martin van Nes talks about providing legal advice while in harm’s way

Despite her affection for the current offices, Henderson concedes there have been occasional headaches. She recalls a bad leak in her office several years ago. Rainwater seeped through the roof, collected on the casing above her office door and splashed on to the floor whenever the door opened or closed. After several calls, a member of the Estates staff agreed to visit, and she remembers meeting him in the corridor near the top of the stairs – on a rainy day. ‘I unlocked the door, stepped back and said, “After you.” He opened the door and got a faceful of water.’ She adds, ‘Repair followed with impressive speed.’ That was just a bit of mist compared to two floods experienced by Professor Robin Morse. The

Major Martin R. van Nes, (LLM, 2001) is the head of the Dutch Army’s 11 Airmobile Brigade (11AMB) Legal Affairs Section; 11AMB is one of the elite units of the Dutch Army and its battalions have all been deployed to Afghanistan. He was stationed in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province for six months, but he is now back in the Netherlands. He is also an active member of the Holland Alumni Committee and encourages other Dutch alumni to join via LinkedIn.

second and more serious of the two, in 2001, was due to a blocked internal gutter and resulted in a great deal of damage. He lost notes, books and all of his furniture. Professor Morse is one staff member who will not miss 152-158 Strand. ‘It’s a building that’s never been fit for its purpose,’ he says diplomatically. Similarly, Professor Tony Guest, who has taught in the School of Law since 1965 – making him the staff member who has logged the most hours in the present offices – says the move into the East Wing will only benefit the School. ‘When you have overseas students’ parents visit they are often appalled,’ says Professor Guest. ‘This building doesn’t fill me with nostalgic feelings.’

What attracted you to this field of work?

gereg funnell

The privately owned neighbouring buildings were used as residences and for commercial purposes well into the 20th century. The College began assembling the current home of the School of Law in 1936 when it acquired the freehold of 158 Strand, with a view to demolishing it and building a new library, but the outbreak of war in 1939 scuttled the project. The Faculty of Laws may have moved into 158 Strand in the late 1930s, with the law library housed in the rooms over the arch into the Strand. However, during the Second World War the Faculty moved initially to Bristol and then to Cambridge, returning to the Strand in 1945. The College had also acquired the freehold of 157 Strand in 1939, but the basement and ground floor were occupied by Messrs Samuels until September 1964. King’s acquired 156 Strand in 1964, and the College held the freehold of 154 Strand from 1959, with the basement and ground floor occupied by Thomas Cook & Son on a leasehold basis until early in 1965. Agreement was reached to purchase the freehold of 152-153 Strand in 1964, and the leasehold was purchased for this building in January 1965. The School of Law soon moved in, with the Department of Music occupying 152-153 Strand until 1995. At that point the musicians moved out and the School of Law expanded.

While I was studying for my Master of Laws in International Public Law at King’s, a guest lecture was given by a legal adviser of the British army. This prompted me to apply for a job as a civilian lawyer in the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. However, when Dutch troops started deploying to Uruzgan province in early 2006 I felt that I needed to be more involved in the operational aspects. I underwent a relatively short specialist training at the Royal Netherlands Military Academy before undertaking my first placement as an Army lawyer. In 2009, I deployed to Uruzgan province as a military legal adviser in the rank of captain. I think it’s not just any job and I sometimes say that I work from what I call ‘a naive idealism’ when trying to make the world a better and safer place. I do enjoy the practical side of my work, which means that it always involves people, albeit in difficult circumstances. What does the typical day involve?

The average day in the peacetime environment would probably involve giving briefings to units of 11AMB on international law, such as the Law of Armed Conflict, and on Rules of Engagement. Necessarily, the legal adviser will also be involved in staff meetings and planning meetings for large international exercises in which 11AMB (or parts thereof) take part. 10 | LawReport | March 2011

In between, I would render advice to the commanding officers within 11AMB on national and international criminal law, administrative law and sometimes civil law. You have to have a flexible attitude and be able to change between the different fields of law quickly. What was the most fulfilling aspect of your job while serving in Afghanistan?

Briefing the Dutch platoons on the latest legal developments as they came into the operational theatre from the Netherlands. Regularly, the platoons had questions on legal issues specific to the area they were about to operate in. What was the most challenging aspect?

It can be quite demanding to render legal advice to troops in action in an operational and rapid-changing environment, such as Uruzgan province. Afghan or international troops are in difficult circumstances and, at the end, lives might be at stake. Also, things are not always as they seem out there and time is always short. You will, of course, do the best you can at the time. What would you say about the challenges of getting soldiers to remember law while working in the midst of tense situations?

Due to extensive training soldiers receive on the Law of Armed Conflict and on Rules of Engagement, these legal issues will be part of the legal ‘skills and drills’ of soldiers. They will think about the law and legal issues almost automatically, just as they handle their weapon. We simply have to adhere to the rules that apply to international operations and fight from the moral high ground, as it were. What are your general thoughts about the current situation in Afghanistan?

I believe progress has been made in Afghanistan. With all demanding environments, however, progress is

We must fight from the moral high ground

slow and not always clearly visible in a limited timeframe. It is my personal opinion that effort from the government of Afghanistan and its international partners is still required in order to build a safe and secure Afghanistan. Would you describe your time in Afghanistan as dangerous?

Normally, the job of a legal adviser, even when deployed, would not be so dangerous, as most of the work will be done within the perimeters of an army camp. For example, I worked at Camp Holland which is next to Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province. However, every now and then travel within the operational theatre will be necessary and you can also find yourself ending up in a platoon leaving the safety of the camp because that is just necessary. That happened to me as well. However, it’s the frontline troops that run the real risk every time they leave the camp. They also have to make the real tough decisions. For that reason, I have endless respect for those troops. March 2011 | LawReport | 11

edward moss

Pursuing justice

From death row appeals in the US to Baha Mousa, alumnus Dan Carey discusses his work as a human rights lawyer

Dan Carey graduated from King’s with a law degree in 1998. He now works for Public Interest Lawyers, a Birmingham-based law firm specialising in domestic and international human rights law. In late 2009 he received the Peter Duffy Award for his commitment to several human rights cases. Carey is an avid cyclist and musician, who recently participated in his first opera production. What did you do after King’s?

I trained with a City firm and then moved to a US firm on qualification, doing commercial property and construction law. I practised for three years and worked pro bono for the legal charity Reprieve doing legal research tasks. Finally, I quit my job to work as an unpaid Reprieve intern with the Louisiana Capital Assistance Centre in New Orleans, Louisiana. The lawyers doing that work face an uphill battle against a much better resourced prosecutor, a prodeath penalty jurisprudence, racial and economic prejudice and the illogical technicalities of the state and federal appeals system. For example, if the trial lawyer, no matter how incompetent, doesn’t raise a contemporaneous objection at the time, appeal points are usually lost. It sounds a bit cheesy, but at that point I realised there was a way for me to pursue my own personal values in practising as a lawyer, which was something of a revelation. After a few months with Reprieve I worked for a year as an international accompanier/observer with Peace Brigades International, a brilliant 12 | LawReport | March 2011

NGO supporting human rights defenders, including lawyers, in postconflict countries such as Guatemala, where I was, and Colombia. I’m sure it’s difficult for today’s students to choose less lucrative work straight out of university, but I’d certainly urge students interested in human rights and legal aid work to get as much of this kind of experience as soon as possible. I’m sure that’s something King’s could help encourage students to pursue. I feel very lucky indeed to be doing this work.

I feel very lucky indeed to be doing this work

What are your areas of practice at Public Interest Lawyers?

PIL is exclusively a public law practice, ie judicial review, which was always my favourite subject at King’s. However, it is public law with a human rights element and usually an international element also. The practice was set up in 1999 by Phil Shiner, a well-known human rights lawyer, to focus exclusively on these kinds of cases. He secured an important victory in the House of Lords in 2007 that established that the Human Rights Act applied to victims of British torture and killing in British military bases outside the UK – in this case in Iraq. That case was called Al-Skeini. As a result the Government conceded that it had to carry out a public inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa, an Iraqi hotel worker who was arrested in Basra on 14 September 2003 together with nine other Iraqis. They were held over a two-day period during which time they were hooded, forced into stress positions and physically abused. March 2011 | LawReport | 13

Are there still advances to be made in certain areas of human rights law?

Well, I’m no expert, but even though the system of judicial review in this country is a very vital one, and the European Court of Human Rights has led the way internationally in asserting human rights standards, there are still certain areas where Strasbourg case law is of little assistance. For example, the Article 5 (liberty) jurisprudence is a very mixed bag – how it can be consistent with human rights standards to hold immigration detainees or Iraqi citizens for four years of their lives, when they have committed no criminal offence, is simply beyond me. The system of immigration detention in this country and in Europe merits a complete overhaul. Similarly, the creeping use of secret courts in the UK is extremely worrying. We now have the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal 14 | LawReport | March 2011

Rex features

terms of the result, the Al-Sweady case, seeking an independent investigation into the deaths of 20 Iraqi civilians in Iraq in May 2004, was a particularly proud moment. After working our socks off for six months, the Government finally conceded the case, after nearly a month of high court hearings. What are your memories of King’s?

Is there an ongoing erosion of civil liberties?

In terms of the actions of Government post-9/11, there has definitely been an erosion of civil liberties. The courts have often been the bulwark against this. However, judicial deference to the executive still persists in key areas. The risk is one of a death by a thousand cuts, particularly when the Government’s increasing preference for tribunals has taken key matters out of the courts’ jurisdiction.

What are the job’s greatest challenges?

For a practice like PIL the pressure of funding this kind of litigation is ever-present. Most PIL cases are started after a period of pro bono research. Thereafter, where clients are indigent, then legal aid funding may be secured, but this is – quite rightly – tightly regulated, of limited means, and requires repeated justifications to the legal services commission. That said, UK lawyers should be immensely proud of the legal aid system we have in this country, particularly as it is once again under attack in this latest round of cuts.

Booth urges students to make pro bono work part of their lives

There is a lot of talk about balancing security and the rights of the accused. How do you approach that discussion?

I think the Council of Europe states got it right when they were drafting the Convention. When it comes to certain fundamental non-derogable rights, such as the right to life and the right to be free of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, then there is no balancing act to be performed. Once we start putting into the balance the lives and mental and physical integrity of individual citizens we are at the top of a very steep and slippery slope.

Is there one case you’re most proud of? Below, Baha Mousa and his family; top right, PIL Solicitor Phil Shiner

Well, all PIL cases are a serious team effort both within the PIL team and with Counsel, and I’ve only been there for the last few years, but in

School news

I have very fond memories of Administrative Law with Conor Gearty and Constitutional Law with Keith Ewing. My tutor Jane Henderson has been a great support ever since. How about outside of the office?

I play piano in a band with some workmates called The Redactions – awful, I know. I love travelling. I went from Egypt to Tibet overland after I graduated, which was an unforgettable experience. And I love cycling. I still stay in touch with some of the old King’s gang – Andrew Thornton, Kit Brown, Roger Masterman and a few others.

herie Booth QC encouraged Law School students to make pro bono work part of their lives, during and after their time in university, saying their volunteer service will improve their legal skills, enhance their job-seeking opportunities and, most importantly, provide help to people in need. Speaking as a guest of King’s Pro Bono Society in mid-February, Booth said she has made pro bono work part of her life for 35 years, both in the UK and abroad. The widely recognised barrister and wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair said research has shown that students who do pro bono work score better in their exams. Their volunteer work provides them with valuable practical experience that cannot be learned through books, such as how to calm a nervous client, which in turn makes graduates stronger job candidates. Ultimately, ensuring that all members of society have access to good legal services – by providing pro bono work as an adjunct to legal aid – is the most important reason to step up and volunteer, she said. ‘We have to make sure there is as level a playing field as possible,’ Booth told the students. ‘Those who need legal advice most are

tan jun yin

The risk is death by a thousand cuts

and others, that decide matters concerning fundamental human rights but with very little public, or even victim, oversight.

rex features

Baha Mousa died as a result. The inquiry is looking very carefully at how interrogation techniques such as hooding and stressing came to be used in Iraq when in fact they had been banned by the British Government in 1972 following their use in Northern Ireland. The Inquiry has concluded a year of hearings and will report in early 2011. PIL represented Baha’s family and nine other survivors at the inquiry. A more recent case, Zaki Mousa, is brought on behalf of 142 different Iraqi citizens whose allegations focus on the secretive use of military interrogation in Iraq. They were held in solitary confinement, sensorily deprived, sleep deprived, forced to strip, sexually humiliated, disorientated and physically abused. It is a grim picture. These cases are based upon the UK’s obligation under the ECHR to carry out open independent investigations into human rights abuses committed by it.

Cherie Booth, third from right, with members of the Pro Bono Society

New Law School website The School of Law’s website has a new look and is constantly being updated with news articles and information about events.

Catch up with the latest from the Strand at www.kcl.ac.uk/ schools/law

the most disadvantaged.’ Booth is a leading barrister specialising in public law, human rights law, employment, arbitration and mediation. She took silk in 1995 and, together with 22 other leading barristers, founded Matrix Chambers in 2000. In addition to establishing

the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, she has been actively involved in the creation of the Africa Justice Foundation, launched on 1 February, which aims to train government lawyers for sub-Saharan nations experiencing a severe shortage of legal expertise.

New initiative shames state crimes

ing’s launched the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) in June 2010 to create a single web forum at www. StateCrime.org where reports and personal experiences of state crimes can be collated and discussed. The web portal will include a forum for the documentation and analysis of state crime, and the development of an interactive site of resistance to those crimes. The types of state criminality include torture, genocide, ethnic cleansing, corruption and the use of child soldiers. Penny Green, Professor of Law at King’s and Director of the ISCI, explains: ‘It is hoped that the portal will act as a mechanism by which to capture the impact of work dedicated

to exposing, resisting and preventing state crime. Over the coming months we will be gathering testimony from victims of state crime and we hope to document and share the experiences of people on the ground.’ The initiative is a collaboration between King’s, the University of Hull and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. To mark its launch, Robert Fisk, the Middle East correspondent for The Independent, gave a lecture State of Denial: A Reporter in the Middle East. The launch also featured an exhibition by the New York-based Turkish photojournalist Yusuf Sayman, who in 2010 was commissioned by ISCI to investigate the plight of Kurds in south-eastern Turkey and north-western Iraq. March 2011 | LawReport | 15

Staff news

Annual Fund benefits the Law School

access to video cameras and voice recorders with the goal of making accounts of the reality of their lives available to researchers, including, but not limited to, those at King’s and the wider public. The second beneficiary of the fund was the King’s Student Law Review, a student-led initiative aimed at providing a forum for publishing the very best of legal scholarship written by students at the College and other leading law schools. greg funnell

t was another fantastic year for the Annual Fund with donations in 2009-10 totalling £513,914. This money has been invested in projects and studentships across the College with the School of Law benefiting from two grants. The first of these went to the International State Crime Initiative Video Camera and Voice Recorder Distribution Project. This research and advocacy initiative provides those living in high-risk state crime areas with

New edition of Halsbury’s Laws

The Annual Fund helps students across King’s nine Schools

Government vision unveiled

16 | LawReport | March 2011

European Law conference

shut off this revolving door of crime and reoffending. ‘We need an intelligent and transparent approach to sentencing that targets the causes of reoffending, so making our communities safer and better places to live. We describe it as a Rehabilitation Revolution.’

aving submitted his PhD at King’s in 2009, Dr Cian Murphy rejoins the School, teaching public law and ‘Critical Approaches to Terrorism and State Violence’. Eloise Scotford comes to the College after three years as the Career Development Fellow in Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. Eloise will teach tort law whilst preparing for her doctoral thesis. Sandy Steel joins King’s as a lecturer after a

Staff list

Kenneth Clarke speaking at King’s

n October 2010 the Centre for European Law (CEL) hosted a conference examining leading recent judgements of EU Courts on UN counter-terrorism sanctions. The conference considered the implications of the recent judgement in Case T-85/09 Kadi for the European and international legal orders. Cameron Doley (Managing Partner, Carter Ruck) described his firm’s long relationship with Kadi, a Saudi Arabian national who has been subject to UN asset-freezing sanctions for almost a decade. He noted that Kadi had won legal proceedings in several jurisdictions but was still subject to UN sanctions.

New School of Law staff, from left: Rachael Walsh, Cian Murphy, Eloise Scotford, Sandy Steel and Barbara Lauriat

number of years at Cambridge as an undergraduate, postgraduate and, most recently, Bye Fellow. Rachael Walsh’s core area of research is the theory of private property and the interaction of public and private law concerning

Head of School

Professor Timothy Macklem Academic and teaching staff

navresh verlander

une 2010 saw the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, visit King’s to deliver the Government’s vision for criminal justice reform. In his keynote address at the event hosted by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, the Justice Secretary reflected on his return to Government and explained the challenges facing the justice system – especially with regard to sentencing and criminal justice. He said: ‘I have three main priorities – to protect the public, punish offenders and provide access to justice. More than half of the crime in this country is committed by people who have been through the system. We must now take action and

he multi-volume series of Halsbury’s Laws of England is regarded by lawyers as the definitive statement of English law, and a new edition on any of its titles is an important event within the legal community. This is particularly so with regard to its title on Parliament (LexisNexis, 5th edition, 2010, volume 78) which has been re-written by Robert Blackburn, Professor of Constitutional Law and one of the UK’s leading parliamentary law specialists. Standing alongside Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice, which is periodically re-issued in the name of the Clerk of the House of Commons, Halsbury’s Laws on Parliament is the primary independent work on the law and proceedings of the two Houses of Parliament. The work involved in this edition has been extensive, coming in the wake of an enormous number of changes taking place at Westminster over the period since the last edition in 1997. Removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords and the systematic use of guillotine motions on government bills are among the wide range of reforms dealt with in this book. Perhaps most significant of all, largely driven by the expenses scandal that rocked Westminster, has been the extension of external controls over parliamentary matters, particularly the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

New academic staff welcomed property, with a particular focus on property as a human right. Rachael will teach property law. Barbara Lauriat joined King’s in January. Her research concerns the history and theory of intellectual property. Dr Federico Ortino has been appointed the School of Law’s first Innovation Fellow. The King’s Business Innovation Fellows scheme will foster links between academic staff and external organisations in developing and delivering the School’s innovation strategy.

Henrique Carvalho

School news

For more information about the School and its staff, visit the Law School website www.kcl.ac.uk/ schools/law

Dr Tanya Aplin Dr Dennis Baker Ms Monica Bhandari (King’s, LLB, 2001) Professor Andrea Biondi Professor Robert Blackburn Professor Benjamin Bowling Professor Roger Brownsword Professor Phillip Capper Ms Catriona Cook Professor Piet Eeckhout Professor Keith Ewing Mr Stephen Gilmore (King’s, LLB, 1976) Professor Jonathan Glover Professor Penny Green Professor Anthony Guest Mrs Jane Henderson

Professor Richard Hooley Professor Sir Francis Jacobs Professor Alison Jones Professor Satvinder Juss Mr Perry Keller Dr Christoph Kletzer Professor Penney Lewis (King’s, MA, 1994) Professor David Llewelyn Professor Eva Lomnicka Professor Aileen McColgan Ms Maleiha Malik (King’s, LLB, 1989) Professor Paul Matthews Professor Robin Morse Dr Tunde Ogowewo Dr Federico Ortino Dr Jan Oster Professor John Phillips Professor Lord Plant (King’s, Philosophy, 1966)

Professor Elaine Player Professor Genevra Richardson (King’s, LLB, 1969) Dr Irit Samet-Porat Dr Michael Schillig (King’s, LLM, 2004) Professor Rosamund Scott (King’s, DPhil, 1999) Dr John Stanton-Ife Dr Eva Steiner Dr Leslie Turano Taylor Professor Ravi Tennekoon Dr Christopher Townley Dr Alexander Türk (King’s, PhD, 2004) Dr Mary Vogel Professor Leif Wenar Professor Richard Whish Professor Robert Wintemute Professor Karen Yeung Dr Lorenzo Zucca

March 2011 | LawReport | 17

Alumni news

david tett

team of King’s law students won the 17th Willem C. Vis Moot International Commercial Arbitration Moot in April 2010. Held in Vienna, last year’s moot was only the second time that a UK university has won the competition. The team, composed of LLM students Shingirirai Chaza, Scheherazade Dubash, Bhavna Gokaldas, Heloise Robinson, and Ben Waidhofer, and third-year LLB student Oliver Coddington won against the University of Ottawa. The Willem C. Vis Moot is the most prestigious international commercial law moot court competition in the world. The 2010 competition saw a record number of 253 universities from 62 countries participating. In September, the team and their coaches, Greg Travaini, Ziva Filipic, Katherine Lim and Gabriel Olearnik, won the Principal’s Award at the prestigious King’s Awards in recognition of their success.

pril 2010 saw King’s students beat rival London universities to win the inaugural Taylor Wessing Commercial Challenge Cup. The team, King’s Commercial Advisers, succeeded in winning a fictional contract for the firm after competing against 25 other teams in a number of tasks including a conference call, a written pitch and a presentation. The competition culminated in a final between teams from King’s, the University College London and the London School of Economics. They presented in front of a fictional management board, including graduate recruitment partners Neil Smyth and Jane Schnider, as well as trainee solicitors and associates from Taylor Wessing. King’s team, Emily Cozner, Jesse Lozano, Parry Griffin and Philip Povey, received a trophy before being treated to a meal at a top London restaurant.

The Principal, Professor Sir Richard Trainor, with members of the team that captured the 2010 Willem C. Vis Moot

Shared mooting success

Law student wins film competition

Katherine Grainger crowned world champion

Last year, second-year law student Dominic Hatje won a national film competition. The competition ‘Scene>>Heard’ challenged student filmmakers to create a 90-second cinematic interpretation of a famous musical quote, song lyric or title. Inspired by the Shakespearean quote ‘If music be the food of love, play on’, Hatje, now in his third year, made the winning film The Food of Love. Hatje also won a film competition run by the King’s Careers Service in 2009.

King’s student Katherine Grainger MBE won a record fifth world title at the World Rowing Championships in November 2010. She and her partner Anna Watkins dominated the double sculls final, coming in six seconds ahead of silver medallists Australia. Grainger, a PhD law student and Olympic silver medallist in 2000, 2004 and 2008, is Great Britain’s most successful Olympic female rower and was awarded an MBE in 2006. Her World Championship win is a huge boost to her 2012 Olympic campaign.

Student satisfaction increases

he National Student Survey 2010 showed that King’s students are amongst the most satisfied with their studies in the UK. King’s students overall satisfaction increased from 83 per cent to 86 per cent, while the national satisfaction score remained at 82 per cent. The survey stated that King’s ranks fifth for student satisfaction among all institutions of higher education in London, rising from 11th in 2009.

Share your success

peter spurrier

Henrique Carvalho

our law students argued a legal case before Baroness Hale of Richmond, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, in the School of Law’s annual Baker & McKenzie Mooting Competition. The finalists argued the moot problem concerning the tort of defamation, in particular whether an allegation of being a victim of rape or sexual abuse could be defamatory, and whether a defence of qualified privilege was defeated by a dominant motive of malice on the part of the person making the allegation. Baroness Hale presented Thomas Innes and Jia Lin Hoe with the Baker & McKenzie mooting trophy.

18 | LawReport | March 2011

Taylor Wessing Commercial Challenge Cup

Law Report is keen to celebrate and share the achievements of our alumni. To share news with your fellow School of Law alumni, or to learn about upcoming events, please send us a note at alumoff@ kcl.ac.uk.

Lord Plant receives achievement award

n September 2010, alumnus and current School of Law staff member Professor Lord Plant FKC received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the King’s

Professor Lord Plant FKC

Lauretta Alexander

King’s win Willem C.Vis Moot

Pro Bono award for alumnus

uly 2010 saw King’s alumnus Bobby Kensah (LLB, 2007) win ‘Best Individual Contribution to Law’ at the LawWorks Pro Bono Awards. The awards celebrate best pro bono activities undertaken by organisations and individuals and recognise the positive impact that they have made on their clients and communities. Kensah was nominated for the award following the dedication he has shown to the LawWorks Pro Bono Clinic. Outside of work, Kensah manages to find the time to run a self-funded programme in which he mentors young people from inner-city schools. He is also a campaigns and policy officer for the United Nations Youth Council.

Bobby Kensah was honoured for his varied work to help others

Henrique Carvalho

Student news

Awards. In a distinguished career stretching over four decades, Lord Plant has combined important contributions to political, social and legal philosophy. He has served as a life peer on the Labour Party front bench in the House of Lords since 1992. Joining King’s in 2002 as Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Philosophy, Lord Plant went on to become Head of the School. His contribution to public life has been varied and extensive, and has included serving as the Labour Party spokesman on Home Affairs, membership of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights and the committee of both Houses conducting pre-legislative scrutiny of the Constitutional Renewal Bill. He was one of the founders of the Journal of Medical Ethics and a columnist for The Times.

Supporting the Principal’s Circle King’s law alumni are amongst the College’s most generous and make up almost a third of the Principal’s Circle, the annual giving club for supporters who donate £1,000 or more in the academic year. In 2009-10, 110 Circle members contributed over £130,000, which has been invested in projects to enhance the student experience. Thanks to the Government’s Matched Funding scheme, for every £3 donated, King’s receives an additional £1; so a gift of £1,000 means King’s will receive £1,333.33; with the addition of Gift Aid a £1,000 gift becomes £1,666.67 – at no extra cost to the donor. The Matched Funding scheme will end in July 2011. If you’ve ever considered making a gift to King’s, now is the time. For more information about the Principal’s Circle, please contact Helen Nicholson, Leadership Giving Manager, on +44 (0)20 7848 4711 or email helen.nicholson@kcl.ac.uk.

March 2011 | LawReport | 19

After five years in the high-profile role of a Law Commissioner for England and Wales, Jeremy Horder is delighted to be back in the classroom

20 | LawReport | March 2011

gereg funnell

Happy to be back in the classroom

Standing in front of 300 first-year students in the ground floor lecture theatre of the Franklin-Wilkins Building on a day when he needed four hours to reach the campus due to heavy snow and the projector system isn’t working, Professor Jeremy Horder shrugs off those inconveniences and delivers an entertaining, hour-long lecture on the issue of whether individuals can legally have harm brought against themselves. The lecture flows from common law dating back centuries to bungee jumping to the question of whether an individual can legally consent to being branded by his or her spouse. He cites a European Court of Human Rights ruling that physical or psychological harm between consenting adults is a matter for individual member nations, and not the EU. The case involved individuals videotaped while engaged in unusual sexual behaviour, and he concludes the discussion by stating, ‘There is not a pan-European vision of sadomasochism.’ For Professor Horder, who joined the King’s School of Law in September 2010 as the EdmundDavies Chair in Criminal Law, speaking to a theatre filled with 18and 19-year-olds is the most attractive aspect of working in academia. ‘Some scholars prefer to be with graduate classes and doing research at that high level with them. Whilst I enormously appreciate that, probably what I enjoy most about teaching is the experience of trying to persuade first-year undergraduates that there is something not only important but really interesting about legal thinking,’ he says. ‘I’m not going to take it for granted that they’ve come here to read law so that means they’re really motivated. I’m not going to make that assumption. I’m going to conduct my lecturing on the basis that I have a lot of persuading to do to a sceptical audience.’ Given his experience as a Law Commissioner and his nearly 20 years of teaching experience at Oxford, Professor Horder had his choice of appointments in 2010 but opted to join King’s for three main reasons: the opportunity to hold the UK’s only named professorship in criminal law, the School of Law faculty’s excellent reputation and the fact that the School will move into Somerset House in 2011. In his post he has assumed overall responsibility for the teaching of criminal law at King’s, with what he hopes will be a special emphasis on the teaching of law governing corruption and fraud.

‘Jeremy has the ability to share his deep understanding of law in part by sharing his real-life experiences. It’s a real feat to be able to bridge these perspectives without betraying either,’ says Professor Timothy Macklem, Head of the Law School. Professor Horder served as Law Commissioner from 2005 until August 2010, managing the Criminal Law and Evidence Team – the first academic lawyer to hold the position. The Commission is an advisory body that reviews and recommends legal reform, with a charge to recommend changes that make the law as fair, modern and cost-effective as possible. Given that Parliament had established nearly 3,000 criminal offences between 1997 and 2005 – a doubling of criminal statutes driven by EU membership and Government’s desire to be seen to be fighting crime, he says – the

King’s has plans to go further and faster, and that excites me Law Commission faced a mountain of new laws in need of a comprehensive review. Professor Horder says his proudest achievement as Commissioner was the report recommending an overhaul of the UK’s bribery laws. When the Bribery Act 2010 is fully in place, the UK will have ‘the toughest set of bribery laws anywhere in the world’. These new laws are not highly prescriptive, he says, but instead rely on jurors to ‘use their common sense and group judgement’. ‘I wanted to ensure the jury asks more open-ended but substantial questions about whether there was a breach of impartiality or a duty of good faith as they understood those notions, not as they’re understood in technical legal terms,’ he says. ‘Now, that wasn’t very much appreciated by the business community, who I think understandably wanted a greater degree of certainty. What we argued is that you can’t just look to the law for guidance, you have to look to understandings within industry and ordinary moral understandings about what is appropriate. ‘It might be all right, for example, if you’re a pharmaceutical company

to invite doctors and other practitioners to a Christmas party. That’s OK. But what you can’t do is to provide doctors with free holidays in Switzerland because that puts undue influence on them.’ Professor Horder received his undergraduate degree from the University of Hull and studied law at Keble College, Oxford. Following his two-year course he took a junior research fellowship and then became a Tutorial Fellow in Law at Worcester College, Oxford. As Chairman of the Law Faculty from 1998 to 2000 he immersed himself in another aspect of university life in the UK today – fundraising. He and his colleagues launched a campaign to establish an endowment for the Law Faculty. ‘Oxford and Cambridge colleges are wealthy and faculty is generally poor – well, in terms of Oxford and Cambridge they’re poor. We wanted to try to do something about that, to make the faculty a power in its own right. We were quite successful,’ he says. As part of this effort, he encouraged his colleagues to become more entrepreneurial and more oriented toward research that had relevance to practitioners. He says the school developed an approach to fundraising that was beneficial to students, professors and supporters, who collaboratively developed areas of research. It became remarkably popular with students. ‘I’m very interested personally in fundraising,’ he says. ‘We’re way behind what even a standard state university – and not necessarily a very distinctive one – would do in the USA. We can do a lot more if we want, but of course it may not be the faculty’s wish to go down that road.’ He says he senses a growing entrepreneurial spirit at King’s. ‘King’s is going though a phase now in which it feels the need to move forward,’ he says. ‘For me it’s preferable to be at a university that is taking that approach rather than one that thinks of itself as already being at the top of the tree and actually all they need to do is have a touch on the tiller here and there. King’s is already a high-performing university, but it’s got big plans to go further and faster, and that excites me.’ In addition to his teaching, Professor Horder swims a kilometre nearly every day, drives his 14-yearold daughter to cricket matches on weekends and holds season tickets for Arsenal. He is finishing his third book, Homicide and the Politics of Law Reform, due to be published this year. March 2011 | LawReport | 21

gautier deblonde

The view from Brussels

Many School of Law alumni have worked for various European Union institutions over the years. Three of them recently shared their thoughts about current EU issues, including the possible need for better coordination of domestic policies. They agreed that many Europeans have forgotten one of the EU’s most important roles: providing a peaceful forum for discussing disputes that once were tragically resolved on battlefields. ‘I believe that the European Union is politically and economically both useful and necessary,’ says Dr Haris Kountouros (Law, PhD, 2006), Administrator in the Directorate for Relations with National Parliaments. ‘Politically because it locks member states in a system whereby democracy, human rights and the rule of law prevail and where differences are resolved by peaceful means rather than war. We must never lose sight of this great achievement that the EU has brought about. The EU is also economically useful because, despite its problems, as an economic bloc it can compete more effectively in the international market. ‘We should also consider future challenges and in this respect the acquisition of know- how, advancements in new technologies and research programmes are crucial. 22 | LawReport | March 2011

Right, Daniel Giorev works in the private office of the Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response

gautier deblonde

Law School alumni share their thoughts about the EU today

Above, Dr Haris Kountouros is Administrator in the Directorate for Relations with National Parliaments

EU economic policy can provide growth, competition and social justice

The enormity of investment that many of these projects require means that individual states do not have the capacity to pursue them.’ Daniel Giorev (LLB English and French Law, 2005), who works in the private office of the Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, says while the economic woes of Greece, Ireland and other members states have understandably prompted many Europeans to reconsider the role of the EU, he believes the wave of fiscal problems is reason for a stronger EU. ‘I perceive this as a case for more Europe, not less Europe,’ he says. Several European nations probably would not have found themselves in such dire fiscal straits if there had been more EU-level competence to coordinate and supervise economic policy. Moreover, in a world of economic giants and emerging superpowers, it’s more and more unrealistic to think that individual member states, large or small, can make an impact on their own. Dr Kountouros says the European Commission has published several proposals, some of which have been already adopted, that aim to provide more efficient coordination of member states’ economic policies. While the EU must always be sensitive to national sovereignty,

he says greater transparency and coordination can lead to more economic stability. ‘It’s possible for EU economic policy to play an important role in achieving lasting growth and competitiveness but also social justice.’ Mara Goldstein (LLB, 1988), Detached National Expert for Justice and Home Affairs from 1994 to 1997 and Deputy Head in the Foreign Office’s EU Internal Department 2001-2005, says the EU, despite its many achievements, ‘has never done enough to “market” itself’. As a result, in places such as the UK where there is a vocal number of euro-sceptics, any problems related to the EU are cast in the worst light possible. ‘When it was set up, the EU had the support of founder members for fundamental moral reasons – it was about ensuring there could never be another war in Europe,’ she says. ‘For the UK, that argument never had quite the same resonance, because we hadn’t been occupied, which may explain why the UK always saw the EU with less idealism than mainland Europe’s members. For younger generations across Europe the antiwar imperative doesn’t have the same resonance either.’ As for the integration of EU and national law, most agreed this is generally working well, although there are occasional flare-ups. ‘There

are, to be sure, some countries which score better than others in terms of timely and correct transposition of the various directives adopted by the EU,’ Dr Kountouros says. While many member states have case law dating back hundreds of years, Goldstein said the Court of Justice of the European Union has built solid, well-respected case law. ‘Sixty-plus years is a long time and the influence of the Community started as soon as it was established. The challenges for the UK have been largely because of our schizophrenic attitude toward the EU – our failure to play at the start meant we didn’t get to influence the structures and processes as we could have done, and we’ve been paying for it ever since.’ All three agreed that the continuing euro-scepticism in some member states, particularly the UK, is frustrating. ‘Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation especially in large parts of the British media about the European Union and its relationship to the UK,’ argues Dr Kountouros. ‘Saying this does not mean that one has to agree with every single policy or measure that stems from the Union; on the contrary a critical approach to the EU might at times be a good thing, as long as it is rationally and objectively founded.’ March 2011 | LawReport | 23

View from the Strand mary evans picture library

Tolerance or toleration

An opinion about religion in the public sphere

Europe is once again beset by religious conflicts. There are several examples of unrestrained opposition against, and by, religious minorities and majorities alike. Think of the ban on minarets in Switzerland, which is spreading like a wildfire in Germany, Italy and beyond. Think also of the veil saga that has occupied French politicians and their society in the last two decades. The target of opposition can be religious majorities as well; one example is the litigation on the crucifix in the classroom. Needless to say, opposition calls for an equal reply, and so religious minorities and majorities respond with individual actions or campaigns against secular societies and their states. Religious conflicts are not new in Europe. Religious wars in the 17th century were the bloodiest and most violent confrontation on the continent. The treaty of Westphalia of 1648 put an end to them, and organised Europe in such a way that states could rule over religiously homogenous communities. There were Catholic and Protestant states; 24 | LawReport | March 2011

religious pluralism within each state was limited as much as possible. Religious conflicts in the 17th century were about belief, more precisely about the best Christian faith. Their starting point was theological disagreement. Religious conflicts today are about political disagreement. They are conflicts about whether or not a faithful can bring to bear her religion in the public sphere in order to regulate her own behaviour (in a classroom, in parliament, in courts in the streets). Religious pluralism has not been a characteristic trait of European nation states after Westphalia. In the Council of Europe, there are still many states with an established church and fairly homogeneous societies. This is markedly different from the United States, for example, where non-establishment is constitutionally protected and religious pluralism is at the foundation of the state. But European societies are changing at a fast pace and are becoming increasingly more pluralist. This makes conflicts more, rather than less, visible. Toleration emerged in the 17th century and was portrayed as the best response to religious conflicts. It was recognised as a key political virtue, which the state imposed as a legal obligation. A famous example of such a legal implementation is Britain’s socalled Act of Toleration 1689, which divided Christian beliefs into right, wrong and tolerable, establishing that Catholics did not deserve to be tolerated. The Act of Toleration is an example of a moralising attitude of the political and intellectual elite towards the masses. Toleration is regarded as one chief virtue of morally enlightened people who are capable to regard wrong beliefs as

The Thirty Years’ War, ignited by religious tensions and one of Europe’s bloodiest conflicts, ended with the Peace of Westphalia

conditionally acceptable. Most liberal theories that promote toleration follow this path of imposition of reason from an ideal moral viewpoint. These theories are normative through and through and rely on heavy assumptions about the wrongness of some religious beliefs and the rightness of some liberal values. The question is whether toleration as a moralising attitude provides a good enough way of coping with conflicts that involve religion. The short answer is that toleration might have dealt with 17th century conflicts, but does not seem to provide a sound basis to deal with present day conflicts because it divides the society into ruling majorities and tolerated minorities and draws between them arbitrary lines. Non-moralising tolerance should be distinguished from moralising toleration and should be understood as the human disposition to cope with

No official truth should be taken as written in stone

diversity in a changing environment. By this, I mean that as a biological, physiological and psychological matter every individual has a disposition to cope with a certain amount of diversity – tolerance of a non-moralising kind – that does not depend on sophisticated moral reasons. Thus, the practice of tolerance does not depend on a prior decision to refrain from opposing some categories of beliefs or people. Tolerance thus defined is the basis for an alternative approach to deal with religious conflicts. A non-moralising approach insists that negative emotions towards diversity are the result of lack of appropriate thinking. How can one possibly hate something or someone just because he or she is different? Negative emotions are more likely in the case of a moralising approach that states which beliefs are right and which are wrong. Wrong beliefs can sometimes be tolerated, but others

they are firmly opposed as a matter of stipulation. For example, polygamy is considered morally wrong and unacceptable in our societies, but I would argue that it is not necessarily the case. Why would it be unacceptable to have a relationship between several people when this is the result of open and rational deliberation? The only reason why polygamy is perceived as intolerably wrong is because the institution of marriage as defined by Christian norms does not accept any other form of union beyond monogamy. Another example comes from axel fassio/getty images

Dr Lorenzo Zucca joined King’s in 2007 as a Lecturer in law. His interests are in jurisprudence, constitutional theory, European Union constitutional law and human rights. He is the author of Constitutional Dilemmas: Conflicts of Fundamental Legal Rights in Europe and the USA (Oxford University Press, 2007) and articles on European human rights law and theory. The following is excerpted from his paper Tolerance or Toleration? How to Deal with Religious Conflict in Europe, which will appear in the forthcoming book A Secular Europe: Law and Religion in the European Constitution Landscape (Oxford University Press).

Italy, where some citizens argue that the presence of the crucifix in classrooms infringes their secular conviction, whereas the Italian State claims that the crucifix stands for the values of secularism. Put it this way, the disagreement is between two forms of secularism, but in reality the question is whether religious symbols and traditions have a place within the secular public sphere. I believe the presence of a symbol can be the starting point of a creative debate. Pupils may be asked whether they want to complement that symbol or whether they want to remove it. In either case, they should be asked to provide an explanation. Those who take the crucifix for granted would have to review their position, while those who oppose it or never even thought about it are encouraged to think about it from a completely free viewpoint. The crucifix could be considered as a starting point for reflection rather than an endpoint. This may truly put the students in a position where they can empathize with other students. Knowledge and imagination must be supported by an ability to put oneself in other people’s shoes. A non-moralising approach requires from each individual that no official truth be taken as written in stone. It also requires the state to create the pre-conditions for mutual knowledge, which is necessary in order to preserve and nurture the natural disposition of individuals and groups to cope with difference. Such an approach is sceptical about conceptions of secularism that rule out altogether the possibility of a public role for religion. Not that religion should enjoy an unlimited access to the public sphere or special protection as it speaks up its voice. It nevertheless cannot be excluded from participation in political affairs as a matter of principle because it may capture some important messages that should be taken into account. Secularism should be regarded as a default framework, a worldview or worldviews, within which disagreement about the best political regime, as well as about the best life are widely protected. The place of religion in the emerging new world order is a key issue for us all. I hope that my nonmoralising approach can advance our mutual knowledge and dispel the causes of polarisation that divide our societies. March 2011 | LawReport | 25

Events & Benefits phil sayer

Events Alumni weekend

Friday 10 - Sunday 12 June 2011 Last year’s event saw 600 alumni return to King’s for this hallmark event. In 2011 it will be even bigger and better, with a wide variety of events both on campus and at exclusive locations across London. For information about the programme and how to book, please email alumnoff@kcl.ac.uk. Law Alumni Reception

The School of Law will move into Somerset House in 2011

Law Careers Event

In October 2010, 150 King’s students on LLB and LLM courses crowded into the Great Hall to hear from a panel of law alumni about the paths their careers have taken. The event was the highlight of Legal Week, an initiative begun by the King’s Careers Service to provide advice and resources to students studying or considering studying law. The panel consisted of three law firm partners, a circuit judge and two alumni who are no longer working in the legal field. The students were keen to question them about their choices and their advice for today’s students, and the conversations continued at an informal drinks reception afterwards. Law Alumni Committee

The past year was a busy one for the Law Alumni Committee, with members involved in a range of projects and

To catch up with Law alumni visit the alumni directory at www.alumni.kcl.ac.uk

events. As the opening of Somerset House East Wing draws closer, the Committee is looking forward to celebrating with other alumni, staff and current students, and marking the occasion with some special events and activities. Following the very popular Treaty of Lisbon Debate in 2009, another such event is planned for spring 2011; details will be posted soon at www. alumni.kcl.ac.uk. Robin Healey (Law 1968), Chair of the Law Alumni Committee, says: ‘We are always keen to hear from alumni who have ideas for events or other initiatives, or who would like to help with our activities.’ For more information about the committee, please email alumoff@kcl.ac.uk. Thought leadership

The School of Law – working with King’s Business, the College’s innovation company – is exploring the development of a leading programme for thought leaders in the legal profession. The ambition is to provide a challenging and thought-provoking space within the School of Law in which leading legal practitioners and advisers from the private, public and third sectors will discuss,

debate and network on key legal issues of the day with the School’s academic experts. The School strongly encourages the alumni community to become involved in the development of this programme. The School of Law wants to connect and collaborate with alumni and other parties interested in this exciting project. For details or a conversation on how you can get involved, please contact Martin Laing at martin.laing@kcl.ac.uk

Benefits Careers directory: King’s Connections

King’s Connections is an online database of King’s graduates who have volunteered to share their career experiences with current students and alumni. If you would like to be a volunteer, or if you would like to search for alumni in your field, please visit www.alumni.kcl.ac.uk/careers. King’s email address

As a member of Alumni Online, the free King’s web community, you can set up a King’s email address for professional and personal use. Visit www.alumni.kcl.ac.uk/email to find out more. Alumni discounts

King’s alumni can enjoy discounts with popular retailers, hoteliers and other businesses. Visit www.alumni. co.uk to find out more.

jason ford

The reception is the social highlight of the law alumni calendar and gives former students the opportunity to meet, network and hear the latest news from the School. In November 2010, Butchers’ Hall in the City of London hosted a gathering of 120 former students and friends. Guest speakers included Professor Tim Macklem, Head of the School of Law, and Robin Healey (Law, 1968), Chair of the Law Alumni Committee, who called on alumni to volunteer for the College’s mentoring and careers advice programmes. A large number of alumni signed up that evening; if you were not able to attend this event but are interested in volunteering, please email alumoff@kcl.ac.uk.