“Of all areas of law, it is property – particularly as it relates to housing and home – that affects people most consistently and directly. Yet, while people are intensely interested in property, property – broadly understood as the laws, doctrines and policies that govern the acquisition, accumulation, management and transfer of resources – does not appear to reciprocate. This lecture explores how the traditional methodologies of property law scholarship – centred on the status quo of established rights, obligations and duties, and invoking the ‘property values’ of certainty, autonomy, efficiency – marginalise the human ‘subjects’ of the property system. The lecture seeks to raise questions concerning the role of property law and property scholarship: is it to understand and make the best out of the available material; to achieve change in a progressive (or progressive but incremental) way; or to contribute to, or at least not to prevent, progress towards greater substantive equality between property’s ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’? In exploring these questions, the lecture reflects on the hidden politics of property discourse and its impact on the (in)visibility of the property outsider’s human experience within legal analyses, arguments and decision-making. Finally, this analysis is related to a series of ‘property problems’ in which ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ compete for ownership or access to resources, with the aims of considering an alternative approach to problem-based property scholarship that starts from the person rather than the law, and reflecting on the implications of this approach for normative arguments invoking ‘property’s values’.”

Date: Thursday 5th December 2013, 6.00-7.00pm

Location: UCL Faculty of Laws, Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens, London WC1H 0EG

Charge: Free

More information can be found here.

“‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’, wrote Santayana at the dawn of the twentieth century. And indeed, throughout history, politicians and policy-makers have — more or less self-consciously — turned to the lessons of their nation’s past to shape their judgement and inform their decision making. I shall be asking the question, ‘Is this a strategy which can be followed today?’ when the boundaries of nationhood are giving way to global histories and narratives in which forgetting is as important as remembering.”

Date: Tuesday 19th November 2013, 6.00-8.15pm

Location: UCL Cruciform Lecture Theatre, UCL Main Campus, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT

Charge: Free

More information can be found here.

“UCL is hosting a symposium on the occasion of the re-publication of Hersch Lauterpacht’s An International Bill of Rights of Man, with an Introduction by Professor Philippe Sands, UCL,
published by Oxford University Press

The symposium will have the participation of
Sir Elihu Lauterpacht QC CBE

And contributions from:
Lord Faulks QC
(1 Chancery Lane)
Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws QC
(Labour Member, House of Lords)
Lord McNally
(Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords)
Stuart Wheeler
(Treasurer, United Kingdom Independence Party)

Chaired by
Professor Philippe Sands QC
(UCL / Matrix Chambers)”

Date: Thursday 31st October 2013, 6.30-7.30pm

Location: UCL Faculty of Laws – Graduate Wing, 1-2 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0EG

Charge: Free

More information can be found here.

“Halsbury’s Law Exchange has assembled a panel of great experience and distinction to discuss ethical practice in arbitration.

Speaking at this event:

Khawar Qureshi QC (Chair) – Barrister at Serle Court

Gary Born – Partner at WilmerHale

Cyrus Benson – Gibson Dunn

Hilary Heilbron QC – Brick Court Chambers

Points for discussion include:

Are the existing professional codes or conduct or institutional rules sufficient?
Are there any reasons why arbitrators should not be able to sanction parties and Counsel who behave improperly?
What are the main issues which require further regulation (if any) and how – by code/guidance or court and arbitral decisions?”

Date: Monday 18 November 2013, 6.00-8.00pm

Location: The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, The Old Hall, London WC2A 3TL

Charge: Free

More information can be found here.