Goldsmiths Law is excited to appoint two new Visiting Professors: Dr Liora Lazarus, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law at Oxford University, and Alison Levitt QC, of leading barristers chambers 2 Hare Court.

Following on from the announcement of other major Visiting Professorships earlier on this year (here and here), particularly in the area of international law, criminal justice and human rights, these appointments mirror Goldsmiths Law’s distinctive offer in this area, relating to integrating legal theory, research and legal practice, as well as our passion for confronting our LLB students with the perplexing socio-legal challenges that the UK’s legal and political system is facing at this time.

Dr Liora Lazarus is a Fellow of St. Anne’s College and the Head of Research at the renowned Bonavero Institute of Human Rights.

Liora’s scholarship addresses prisoners’ rights, criminal justice and security and human rights, and she is a leading legal educationalist, who has pioneered new courses in the Law Faculty at Oxford and who was the first admissions co-ordinator and race equality co-ordinator there.

Liora is well known for her dynamic public interest work, including the completion of public reports for the UK Ministry of Justice, on balancing public protection with human rights and on the relationship between rights and responsibilities, as well as submitting a report (with Oxford colleagues) to the European Parliament, on the evolution of fundamental rights .  Liora has also acted as an advisor to the UK Stern Review on Rape Complaints (2013), was asked to give evidence to the Parliamentary Modern Slavery Bill Committee (2014), and was part of an International Committee of Experts to the Basque Working Group on Treatment of Political Detainees (2014).

Liora’s Visiting Professorship adds great strength to Goldsmiths’ criminal justice and human rights research activity, and our Law & Policy Clinic, where Liora will be leading on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights work. 

Alison Levitt is a practising QC at leading barristers chambers 2 Hare Court. She was previously the principal legal adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), advising the DPP in relation to the highest level of prosecution cases  (2009-2014) and writing the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Some of the highest profile cases that Alison has been the decision maker on, or overseen, include the News of the World Phone Hacking cases (Operations Weeting and Elveden), the investigation over CPS failure to charge Jimmy Savile whilst he was alive as well as national security cases at the top level. Alison also had responsibility for final approval of all assisted suicide charging decisions and supervising every proposed prosecution for social media misuse cases, and she wrote the CPS legal guidance on the prosecution of false rape allegations.

After her role advising the DPP, Alison became Partner and the Head of Business Crime in major international law firm Mischon de Reya LLP, where she started the White Collar Crime and Investigations department.

Alison is bringing to Goldsmiths leading expertise in criminal justice and the legal profession, that feeds into our public engagement work on criminal justice and the LLB Law with Criminal Justice and Human Rights programme, and further strengthens Goldsmiths’ distinctive provision for the enhancement of career skills.

Dr Dagmar Myslinska has recently joined Goldsmiths Law. She will be convening the Contract Law module in Year 1, contributing policy research to our ‘Britain in Europe’ think tank, and taking the lead at the immigration law branch of our Law & Policy clinic. 

In this Q & A, she reflects on her educational background, rich teaching experience and legal professional expertise, and the exciting contributions she is looking forward to making to the LLB Law programme that aims to shape generations of lawyers ready for 21st century legal practice.

Where did you work/study before joining Goldsmiths?

I did my doctoral studies at the LSE. Before arriving at Goldsmiths, I had also taught at various undergraduate and postgraduate law and criminal justice programmes in the US and Japan, including at Columbia Law School.

What are your specialist areas in Law?

My research focuses on the intersection of law, migration, and equality. For better or worse, Brexit has provided an additional impetus to my work.

What is your role in Goldsmiths’ Law programme?

I’m the convenor for Contract Law. I will also be contributing policy research to the Britain in Europe think tank, based here at Goldsmiths Law, which focuses on legal and political implications of the UK’s evolving relationship with the EU. Moreover, I will be taking the lead on immigration-related projects for the Law and Policy Clinic. We will shortly be announcing some very exciting and timely clinic initiatives focusing on immigration policy.

What is your approach to teaching? What are your plans for Contract Law for the next academic year?

My approach to teaching is active and collaborative. I seek to make law come alive for my students, by engaging with its broader social, economic, and political contexts, and by connecting law to real events, real policy and ethical issues, and real people. Learning, of course, is much more than textbook-based. I hope to support my students so that they can learn from one another and from self-reflection as well. My foremost goals are to enable my students to think critically, never be afraid to question everything (including the foundations of laws, and my viewpoints!), and build various skills so that they become prepared for diverse career paths and inspired to pursue social justice.

In Contract Law, Dr Myslinska is planning to engage students in close analysis of illustrative case studies and experiential learning activities, including negotiating and drafting a house sale contract, and in skill-building for the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels)

Contract law is in many ways very accessible to new law students. Many of its concepts are easy to relate to because all of us enter into contracts on a daily basis, without even realising that we are doing so. The year-long module will cover all aspects of contract law, including its economic and political foundations, how contracts are formed, how they are performed, and what happens when something goes wrong. The module will cover a variety of types of contracts, such as individual tenancy agreements, complex commercial finance agreements, verbal agreements, and smart contracts. To make the subject even more interesting, I plan to engage students in close analysis of illustrative case studies, in experiential activities (negotiating and drafting a house sale contract), and in skill-building for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination. Finally, to help students gain a broader perspective on British contract law and its theoretical underpinnings, I will also introduce some contrasting examples from laws of select foreign jurisdictions.

You have significant experience in teaching Law at US academic institutions. Are there particular elements of US legal education that you’re seeking to bring to Goldsmiths Law?

Dr Myslinska anticipates that Goldsmiths students will be very receptive to some hallmarks of teaching law at US institutions, such as active class participation.

Since law degrees are postgraduate professional degrees in the US, American law teaching has increasingly emphasised the importance of building legal skills from day 1. I anticipate that Goldsmiths students will be very receptive to some hallmarks of teaching law at US institutions, such as taking ownership of their learning and making it collaborative and interactive – for example, through experiential learning (such as debating, drafting, negotiating, mooting, client interviewing), and active class participation. I also like to emphasise the importance of solid analytical and communication skills, unbiased judgment, thorough preparation, thinking outside the box, and not forgetting the human element involved in every legal issue. I hope to instill in my students the importance of these elements, all necessary to good lawyering, rather than teaching legal doctrine only.

What are you looking forward to the most being at Goldsmiths?

The culture at Goldsmiths promotes creativity, free thinking, new ideas, and interdisciplinary socially-driven approaches.

I am excited about being surrounded by passionate and brilliant colleagues who excel as teachers and publicly-engaged researchers. The culture at Goldsmiths promotes creativity, free thinking, new ideas, and interdisciplinary socially-driven approaches, among both its students and faculty. It’s an inspiring, relatively small community where people are happy and supportive. I am looking forward to making Goldsmiths my home and learning a great deal from both my students and colleagues.

Moreover, as an inaugural lecturer in law, I feel extremely privileged to be able to help shape the direction of the law programme, thereby creating a framework for educating generations of creative, engaged, ethical lawyers.

Goldsmiths Law academics respond to Lord Sumption’s third Reith Lecture on ‘Human Rights and Wrongs’

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (credit: Council of Europe)

The BBC  invites each year a leading figure to deliver a series of lectures on the radio, to advance public debate about significant issues of contemporary interest. In his third lecture this year, former Supreme Court judge, Jonathan Sumption, argued that judges, especially those of the European Court of Human Rights, have usurped the power of Parliament by expanding the interpretation of human rights law.

The lecture caused a stir in the legal world, with some commentators endorsing its key message (to reduce the impact of European human rights and bring power back to Parliament), whereas others, human rights experts in particular, have quickly responded by highlighting the vital importance of human rights and impact that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights has had in the UK, for example in relation to freedom from discrimination or the right to privacy.

Goldsmiths Law experts have reacted to the lecture. Our Head of Law, Professor Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, has a published (with Prof Julian Petley) a long piece in Open Democracy, noting that Lord Sumption’s analysis offers a stark reminder of how deeply entrenched the anti-European human rights narrative is in the UK.

In a letter to the Times, Visiting Professor in Law, Kirsty Brimelow QC, explained that the provisions of the Human Rights Act ensure that parliament remains sovereign and the courts do not obtain extra powers.

Finally, Visiting Professor in Law, Adam Wagner, has written for the Prospect magazine, denouncing the misrepresentations and overblown criticisms of the European Court of Human Rights, and concluding that Brexit puts in serious risk the longevity of the operation of the European Convention on Human Rights in the UK.

The law programme at Goldsmiths offers a unique opportunity to develop expertise in issues relating to human rights, including by studying for the LLB Law with Criminal Justice and Human Rights.

We’re delighted to welcome new arrivals to our teaching team:

Dr Alex Dymock returns to Goldsmiths – where she was once a Master’s student – from Royal Holloway, University of London, as a criminal law specialist with research interests in sexuality, sexual ‘deviance’ and the history of drugs.

Dr Virginie Barral joins us from the University of Hertfordshire, where she was Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Research. Virginie is an experienced lecturer in international law and human rights, with a passion for environmental issues including sustainable development and climate justice.

Dagmar Myslinska’s teaching career has taken her from New York and Tokyo to Goldsmiths, via the London School of Economics. Previous work as a lawyer based in US law firms, including in relation to challenging anti-same sex marriage legislation in the United States, speaks to her interest in social justice, and she brings an interdisciplinary approach to her teaching that includes a deep interest in migratory, racial and post-colonial issues.

Adam Wagner is a leading barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, and the founder and Chair of the pioneering and multi-award-winning RightsInfo charity. He will be joining Goldsmiths Law as a Visiting Professor, bringing with him a wealth of experience and exciting opportunities that our students will benefit from as they seek to learn the skills demanded by a career in law.

Dr Dymock, Dr Barral and Ms Myslinska will be leading in the delivery of Year 1 modules in the LLB Law programme, including Criminal Law: Theory and Practice, Contract Law and Public Law and the Human Rights Act. Prof Wagner will be making contributions to the Public Law and Human Rights Act module in Year 1, alongside leading on a number of initiatives relating to human rights law and public education.

Dr Alex Dymock

Dr Alex Dymock’s expertise lies principally in sexuality and gender studies with a focus on criminal law and sexual ‘deviance’. Her work draws frequently on her interdisciplinary background and combines methods from both the humanities and social sciences.

Prior to joining Goldsmiths, Alex was a Lecturer in Criminology and Law at Royal Holloway, University of London. She completed her PhD at the School of Law, University of Reading in 2015 and before this undertook an MA in Gender and Culture at Goldsmiths, and a BA in English Language and Literature at the University of Leeds. She converted her first degree to law at the University of Westminster.

Currently, Alex is leading a project funded by a Wellcome Trust Seed Award with Dr Leah Moyle and Dr Ben Mechen, entitled Pharmacosexuality: the past, present and future of sex on drugs. The project investigates the historical and contemporary interaction between the pharmaceuticalisation of sexuality and recreational drug use in sexual contexts, and uses both archival and qualitative methods. More information about the project is available here and on Twitter: @pharmacosex.

Research

Alex’s research interests centre on interdisciplinary sexuality and gender studies, particularly sexual ‘deviance’ and subcultures, pornography and the law, the history of sexuality, sexual medicine and psychiatry, and feminist and queer theory. She also has interests in the history of drugs, and the relationship between crime, criminal justice and visual culture.

Aside from Alex’s work on sex and drugs, other recent and current research projects include:

• A book developed from her PhD thesis, which examines the interaction between the history of discourses of perversion and criminal law in England and Wales (under contract with Routledge).
• The longstanding cultural, legal and social impacts of the Operation Spanner investigation.
• A series of publications on ‘revenge pornography’, with recent work appearing in a 2018 issue of Legal Studies.

Teaching

Alex is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and her teaching frequently employs critical and radical pedagogies. She also has an interest in experiential learning through assessment, and in 2018 was awarded a Royal Holloway College Teaching Excellence Prize with Commendation for her work in this area.

Public engagement

Alex’s research has been featured in a number of media outlets, such as BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour and the Guardian. She has given talks at venues such as the British Film Institute, Amnesty International, and the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.

Dr Virginie Barral

Dr Virginie Barral specialises in international law and holds a PhD from the European University Institute (Florence), and postgraduate degrees from University College London and Université Paris 2 Panthéon Assas.

Before joining Goldsmiths she was an Associate Professor and Associate Dean Research at Hertfordshire Law School. She has previously taught at Université Paris 5. Prior to this she has worked for the French Commission for Sustainable Development and as a legal expert in the Paris office of Eversheds LLP.

She is a member of the European Society of International Law, the Société Française pour le droit international and the Society of Legal Scholars, and is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Teaching

Virginie has extensive experience teaching international law, human rights, EU Law, public law and international environmental law. Her teaching combines theoretical grounding with innovative teaching skills and she is keen on placing current legal questions within their wider political and social contexts. Virginie has been an invited Professor at Chuo University (Tokyo) and a research scholar at Michigan Law School.

Research

Virginie has significant research expertise in international environmental law and is widely published in the field, with work in leading journals including a 2018 article at the International and Comparative Law Quarterly, where she explores how the right to water is consolidated in its procedural dimension, and a 2012 article in the European Journal on International Law, on sustainable development. Her 2015 monograph (Bruylant) explores the legal nature and implications of sustainable development in international law. Virginie is interested in issues of equity, sovereignty, natural resources, climate change and climate justice, and the relationship between culture and the environment. Her latest projects focus on environmental peacebuilding; climate justice, culture and human rights; and the role of community-based resource management.

Public engagement

Virginie regularly disseminates the results of her research at international conferences and colloquia. She did so most recently at the Sorbonne at a Conference opened by the COP21 president on the Global Pact for the Environment to be discussed by the UN General Assembly. In the last few years she has presented her work in e.g. Leiden, Tokyo, Kyoto, Geneva, the SLS, ESIL and the SFDI and in a symposium jointly organised by the French and Quebec Ministries for culture, on culture and sustainable development.

Dagmar Myslinska

Dagmar Myslinska has undertaken a fully-funded PhD at the Department of Law at the London School of Economics, under the supervision of Professor Nicola Lacey and Dr Coretta Phillips, which critically examines Poles’ experience of mobility and their positioning within EU and UK equality frameworks. Dagmar graduated from Yale University with a BA (cum laude) in Psychology and Film Studies, with distinctions in both majors. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University School of Law, where she was the Head Notes Editor for the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, and a recipient of the Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar award. She was admitted to the New York and New Jersey state bars in 2005.

Teaching

Prior to joining Goldsmiths Law, Dagmar taught modules on commercial law, evidence law, and legal research and writing at the LSE. She has lectured at several undergraduate and postgraduate criminal justice and law programmes in the USA, including at Columbia Law School, State University of New York, and Fordham University, and has taught at a postgraduate law programme at Temple University in Tokyo. She has also supervised clinical students practicing immigration law, and overseen Juris Doctor and LLM students writing their dissertations.

In her teaching, Dagmar seeks to place law within its cultural, ethical, and socio-political contexts, often drawing on critical race theory and human rights perspectives. She also incorporates case studies from her own legal practice to provide experiential learning opportunities, while critically examining the foundations of laws. Her overarching teaching goals have been to guide students towards thinking creatively and critically, and to inspire them to pursue social justice.

Research

Dagmar’s research expertise falls at the intersection of law, migration, and race studies. She has published on how contemporary migrants have been approached under various jurisdictions’ equality frameworks, including in the UK, EU, USA, and Japan. Her current research project looks at the evolution of EU citizens’ rights during the unique post-referendum, pre-Brexit socio-legal and political regime. She is also working on publishing her doctoral monograph.

Her research is interdisciplinary and draws heavily on sociology, politics, geography, and postcolonial studies. Her academic publications have featured on leading US journals such as Tulane Law Review and PACE Law Review and have also been featured on several blogs, including the Immigration Prof Blog, the Legal Theory Blog, Race Racism and the Law, The Book Forum, and the American Immigrant Policy Portal. Dagmar had been invited to present her scholarship at numerous international conferences, including in Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, Korea, the UK, and the USA.

Dagmar has served as a peer reviewer for the McGill Law Journal, and an assistant editor for the LSE Law, Society and Economy Working Paper Series. She is currently a manuscript peer referee for the University of Bologna Law Review.

Public Engagement

Before entering academia, Dagmar practiced commercial litigation and pro bono immigration law. She worked at the law firms of Debevoise & Plimpton, Boies, Schiller & Flexner, and Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. She was involved in several high-profile cases, including representing institutional and individual investors in Madoff feeder funds, same-sex couples in a challenge to Proposition 8 in California, and Maurice Greenberg in his disputes with AIG. She also clerked for two federal judges in the USA, including in the Southern District of New York. Dagmar has volunteered extensively for immigrant and refugee charities and NGOs, including Human Rights First in New York. Her numerous open-access reference articles on US asylum law have been published online by Nolo Press.

She has been interviewed and quoted by various media outlets on migration issues. She has also presented continuing-education seminars to US attorneys.

Adam Wagner

Goldsmiths Law is delighted to announce the appointment of Adam Wagner as a Visiting Professor in Law with a focus on human rights law and public legal education. This appointment reflects our commitment to offering a distinctive and eclectic educational and research provision – particularly in the areas of human rights and social justice – and a vibrant, professionally relevant, LLB programme. It follows up on the appointment of other world leading experts in this area and brings with it the opportunity to foster further outstanding career skills development opportunities for our students.

Adam is a leading barrister at Doughty Street Chambers. He has appeared in path-breaking cases such as the successful Supreme Court challenge to the law of joint enterprise murder, as well as acting in five major public inquiries, including the Al-Sweady Inquiry into allegations of mistreatment and unlawful killing by the British military in Iraq. His body of case work is truly diverse, representing claimants on a range of issues as varied as the over-spending of the Leave campaign during the 2016 Referendum campaign, to claims of an unlawful arrest and search of a child with autism, to the unjustified detention by the Home Office of a man with severe mental health issues. He has recently been appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s ‘A’ Panel of Counsel.

In addition to his busy legal practice, Adam is the founder and Chair of the pioneering and multi-award-winning RightsInfo charity, which has had great success in raising awareness of human rights in the UK, quickly becoming the go-to source on the internet for human rights awareness and engagement with topical human rights issues.

Adam is probably the best known lawyer in the UK for promoting human rights education through social and traditional media. He is well known on social media for his commentary on human rights law, with over 50,000 followers on Twitter and regular appearances on the TV and radio. He regularly writes on human rights issues in the national media. It is no surprise that in 2015, Adam won the Plain English Campaign’s Communicator award for his work on RightsInfo, the same year in which he was shortlisted for Human Rights Lawyer of the Year at the Liberty Awards.

Through lectures and other experiential learning activities, Adam will help to introduce students to the fundamental skills of the legal profession. There is also huge potential for talented Goldsmiths students to benefit from engagement with research opportunities, creative competitions, assisting with writing human rights news articles and overseeing Law Clinic activity.

Adam will carry out this role whilst continuing his legal practice at Doughty Street Chambers.