School of Law News

Congratulations to Dr Claire McGourlay on the publication of the third edition of “Evidence in Context”, (Routledge) examining the key concepts of evidence law in England and Wales, set against the backdrop of the broader social and theoretical contexts.

Jonathan Doak, a former staff member at Sheffield, is Professor of Law at Durham University. He has published widely in the fields of criminal evidence, victimology, and restorative justice.

Dr Claire McGourlay is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Faculty Director of Undergraduate Student Affairs at the University of Sheffield.

Michael Jefferson attended the 47^th Annual Conference at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, in April 2012. He delivered a talk on three very recent Criminal Law cases and provided a 35 p. handout on developments over the past year. He also chaired various parallel sessions. As a member of the Board he attended the Editorial Board of The Law Teacher and as a Committee member he attended the AGM of the Association. Among sessions attended were ones on the Legal Training and Education Review, a topic taking up the energy of the three subject associations.

He also attended the Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference at de Montfort University, Leicester. He is the Labour Law stream coordinator for the Association and chaired all labour law sessions. Speakers came from Nigeria, Ireland, Australia, and Austria, and there was even one from the UK. Talks included mediation, the forum for employment disputes in Nigeria, and the lack of evidence supporting current changes to UK employment law.

Michael Jefferson gave the first ever Law Taster session at the British Council Education Exhibition at the Kuala Lumpur Education Exhibition in March. His topic was on how the abolition of the defence of provocation to murder and its partial replacement by the defence of loss of control advantaged women (in respect that the loss of control need not be sudden) and disadvantaged men (in relation to the exclusion of sexual infidelity as a ‘qualifying trigger’ for loss of control). He also delivered talks at two of the Law School’s Malaysian partners, Brickfields Asia College and HELP University. Back in the UK at the 47th Annual Conference of the Association of Law Teachers at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, he delivered a lecture on three recent cases in criminal law (Gnango on the killing by crossfire of an innocent passerby, Dowds on whether acute elective intoxication is a ‘recognised’ medical condition within the new definition of diminished responsibility, and Clinton, the first authority on sexual infidelity within the new defence of loss of control).

Michael Jefferson acted as the Joint Academic Standards Board representative and as an External validator for all UG and PGT Law degrees at the University of Northampton in March 2012 and as the External validator for the Thematic Review of Law degrees at BPP Law School, Manchester, in the same month. His next validation event is at the Cardiff Law School where he is the External Moderator for the School’s Periodic Review and Revalidation. He has recently been appointed an External Examiner at the University of Keele (replacing the same post at Queen Mary, University of London).

Our Students’ Union organises student-nominated awards for individuals who have gone the extra mile in enhancing the student experience. Congratulations to Professor Tammy Hervey and third year LLB student Luke Mooney (student experience award nominees); Pete Odell (employability award nominee) and Gareth Braid (non-academic staff member award nominee). All those mentioned are from the School of Law. There will be an awards ceremony later this month.

Isle of Man Bank Limited has appointed Paul Morris to its Board as a Non-Executive Director.
Paul, a former Senior Partner in a law firm on the Isle of Man, has a law degree from the University of Sheffield. The Managing Director of Isle of Man Bank commented, “It is a pleasure to welcome someone of Paul Morris’ stature and experience to the Board. I am confident the Board will benefit from his wealth of experience and intricate knowledge of the island’s commercial landscape”.