This summer, our Department funded five Goldsmiths Law students to attend the summer school in Utrecht, paying for their tuition fees there.

Adam Cooney, who will be going into Year 3 in the LLB Law with Politics and Human rights this year, was one of the students who successfully competed for our study abroad scholarships, worth c. £600 each. In the blog post that follows, he reflects on the experience in this unforgettable trip:

“International Law is about paving the path already walked.”

This was one among a range of quote-worthy lessons about international law that four other Goldsmiths law students and I were taught at Utrecht Law School’s summer programme this June. In my course, ‘An introduction to public international law’, a hybrid bachelor-masters module at Utrecht, we approached the world of international law critically accessing both the construction of international law interlaced with critical discussion; a not too dissimilar experience from what you would hear in a Goldsmiths law seminar. Having completed Dr. Sheri Labenski’s International Law and Politics module months prior I had a strong understanding of many of the concepts touched upon in the module. The broad scope of international law meant this module could provide a unique experience in expanding my knowledge further.

In such modules, we covered the topics of Sources and Subjects of International Law, Jurisdiction, State Responsibility, Attribution and Use of Force and concluded with students fielding a 20 minute presentation on something they were knowledgeable on and relating it back to the international law topics covered.

Certainly, the substance of the course was in outlining malleability of international law in its unique construction as a legal system which is constantly developing and adding exceptions to its principles. As a result, a common criticism from my cohort was how this lends favourably to powerful countries, a theme well explored in our Goldsmiths module which materialised into a review of a critical international law essay by Kathrine Knop. In the seminar-like discussion sessions, my cohort blended a unique range of voices, all challenging the concepts learned about in our classes there; we pinpointed how the concepts were used, how they could otherwise be used.

Two recurring cases critiqued in lectures, presentations and discussions were the Mothers of Srebrenica and Nicaragua cases. Having prior knowledge, from Goldsmiths, of the Nicaragua case, I entered the discussion already from a very critical position as did most of my cohort; the principles established in that case left many of us feeling that power in the horizontal system of international law created an unfair imbalance in which less powerful countries could not reach justice, with powerful countries refusing to cooperate.

Similarly, in the Mothers of Srebrenica case, the UN was unsuccessful in hold itself or the Netherlands accountable for failing to provide a promised ‘safe haven’ and enabling the genocide of Bosnian Muslims that occurred in 2007. The presentations of two of my coursemates explored this idea and applied it to the ongoing Palestinian genocide, which made for an excellent listen. 

In my own presentation with Federica, who I met on the course and became friends with, we discussed the first case to reach the ICJ, the Corfu Channel case. In our presentation we explored the ruling of the case and the methods used to reach the decision and opened up the questions of what precedent this set not only in the formation of principles but how it established the presence of hierarchy in a horizontal legal system.

Socially, my cohort would always have lunch together at a local cafe and chat about the course and our lives from our respective backgrounds. As the only person from the UK I was bombarded with questions over the, now concluded, national election and how I felt about the candidates. In the evening, I would reconvene with my Goldsmiths cohort to talk about our day and explore places to eat and visit. One such night led myself and Andy to the only gay bar in Utrecht, where we had a fantastic night hanging with locals and made friends with other queers studying at the university. 

Another such night our Goldsmiths cohort teamed up in a pub quiz ran by Utrecht University. While we didn’t win, we had some expert performances from people on the history and music rounds, scoring maximum (10) points there and even getting a bonus point for naming all of Henry VIII wives! However, our understated performance in the Netherlands round was compounded not only through our lack of Dutch experts but also my own shotcalling causing us to drop crucial points. 

All in all, the trip to the Utrecht Summer school was fulfilling academically and socially, and would have otherwise not been an opportunity for me in the absence of the competitive and generous scholarship provided to me by our Department of Law at Goldsmiths.

For the third year running, Law at Goldsmiths has achieved best (and top 5) in the UK rankings in the National Student Survey (NSS).*

With a 100 per cent satisfaction rate, we are the (joint) No. 1 Law department in the UK, out of 120 Law departments ranked in the NSS, on the question of ‘how good our teaching staff are at explaining things’.

On ‘how often the course is intellectually stimulating’, with a 98 per cent satisfaction rate, we are No. 5 in the UK, top in London, and top in the South of England. We are positioned in between Cambridge Law School (which is No. 6, with 97 per cent) and Oxford Law School (which is No. 4 in the UK, with 99 per cent).

Goldsmiths Law students participating in the Debating Evening Cup 2024. Immersive, practice-centred activities are fully embedded in our LLB programmes.

On ‘how often teaching staff make the subject engaging, we are No 5 in the UK and best in London, with a 98 per cent satisfaction rate.

Bringing all these results together gives us an outstanding 97 per cent average on ‘teaching in my course’, which places us as the No 4 Law department in the UK and best in London.

This pattern of UK-leading student satisfaction scores is repeated across a range of questions. For example, on the ‘right balance between directed and independent study’, we are No. 4 in the UK, best in London and best in the South of England, with 96 per cent satisfaction rate. On ‘the extent to which students have had the chance to explore ideas and concepts in depth’, we are No. 6 in the UK (again with a 96 per cent satisfaction rate). On ‘how easy it is to contact staff when you need to’, we have achieved a 93 per cent satisfaction rate (No. 10 in the UK and best in London), just below Durham which is No. 9 (with 94 per cent). On ‘academic support’ more generally, we are No. 9 in the UK and best in London (with 93 per cent). On ‘how well library resources support the students’ learning’, we are No. 6 in the country and best in London, with a 98 per cent satisfaction rate (Cambridge Law School is No. 7).

LLB students participating in a workshop at the UK Supreme Court as part of their Public Law class at Goldsmiths

A result that we deeply cherish and celebrate relates, finally, to ‘how free students feel to express their ideas, opinions and beliefs’, and in this fundamental area we are No. 4 in the UK and best in London, with 96 per cent.

These results solidify our dynamic positioning, since being set up in 2019, as one of the best academic destinations in the UK for prospective Law students who prioritise access to leading Law faculty and an outstanding  student experience, based on sector-leading teaching that is cutting edge, forward-looking and deeply enriching, highly immersive, career experience-centred, and, above all, focussed on nurturing freedom of expression and critical thinking, all part of intellectually stimulating our students to continually pursue academic excellence and become well-rounded individuals.

Equally central to achieving UK-leading student satisfaction in our department are student community (close-knit and empathetic) and offering our students access to unique opportunities in legal, political and cultural London, and even beyond, in opening up for them invaluable study abroad experiences (that we support with generous scholarships for dozens of students), in foreign legal systems, through international study trips (e.g. to the European Court of Human Rights, annually – read here about our trips on 2023 and 2024) and attendance of summer schools e.g. our Athens summer school (annually – read here about our visits in 2022 and 2023) or summer schools in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Law students and staff dining in Athens, at the end of a busy day of our annual summer school there (June 2023)

The Complete University Guide Law League Table 2024 features us as the No. 1 Law School in the UK for student satisfaction, and this new set of NSS results explains why, providing new momentum to our continued excellence in this area.

* The National Student Survey is conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Office for Students, and nearly half a million students across the UK are invited to participate in it every year (students in their final year of study across all academic disciplinies). The survey is a key component of the quality assurance and wider regulatory landscape in UK higher education. 120 Law Schools have been included in the NSS this year, including Oxbridge and all Law Schools in the Russel Group.

Goldsmiths Law students at the European Court of Human Rights, with the UK Judge at the Court, Tim Eicke KC

We are delighted to announce that our Year 3 student graduating this summer, Esther Cudjoe Pontara, has been one of only two students at the University of London to secure a summer internship with the Refugee Law Clinic.

The Refugee Law Clinic is very happy to be able to again offer two paid internships for student volunteers over the summer period, supported by McLemore Konschnik LLP.

Our Esther Cudjoe Pontara has secured the placement alongside Sindhu Ratnarajan (UCL), who will each work more intensively with the clinic over the summer period. This will allow the interns to continue to develop their legal and practical skills in asylum and refugee law (through drafting, legal analysis, research and direct client work), and provides important support to existing clinic cases over the summer months.

The Clinic is open to all students studying in Law Schools at the University of London including UCL, LSE, King’s, QMU, City and others. Our Department is very proud to have been a founding partner of the Clinic. Each year, all partnering Law Schools send 5 students to the Clinic. Esther was one of our students representing Goldsmiths at the Clinic this year, and we are thrilled with her success with the summer internship.

Goldsmiths places gaining professional skills and career progression at the heart of its Law programmes, including through an array of Law & Policy Clinic initiatives that it makes available for its students.

This hybrid symposium gathered leading academic experts who explored contemporary challenges to social and economic or labour rights and the current state of these rights. It was followed by a keynote lecture by the distinguished scholar, Professor Conor Gearty.

The Symposium started with Goldsmiths Law’s Dr Dimitrios Kivotidis and Dr Aristi Volou reflecting on the socio-political backdrop, domestically and internationally, against which our annual symposium on human rights would be situated, while also providing illustrations of how the LLB Law, LLB Law with Politics and Human rights and LLM in International Human Rights programmes in our department place strong emphasis on developing cutting edge knowledge and understand around socio-economic rights.

The panel on social rights, chaired by Dr Aristi Volou.  The first presentation by Dr Koldo Casla emphasised the central importance of the right to property for social and economic rights and the need to re-conceptualise this right, taking examples from domestic law and foreign legal systems. Dr Meghan Campbell’s powerful presentation followed, which highlighted how courts and the society turn a bling eye to women’s socioeconomic inequalities. The need for courts to take a more active role in bringing governments to account was emphasised in Dr Campbell’s presentation. Dr Luke Graham’s presentation brought to the fore the State’s problematic reliance on charitable assistance, which can be seen as a deflection of its responsibility under international law, while Ms Clare James has shown how the right to food is eroded in the UK, an advanced economy, due to the disproportionate number of people lacking access to basic food.

The second panel, on economic and labour rights, was chaired by Dr Dimitrios Kivotidis. Dr Maria Tzanakopoulou kickstarted the debate. Drawing inspiration from recent cases of litigation concerning the rights of workers in the gig economy, such as Uber and Deliveroo, Dr Tzanakopoulou explored different forms of struggle and resistance to algorithmic exploitation. Dr Ioannis Katsaroumpas took up the theme of resistance in his presentation of UK labour law as a ‘tragic hero’, in the original sense of the term, trying in futility to escape a fate of juridification. Approaching the Minimum Service Levels Act 2023 as a potential neoliberal ‘hybris’, Dr Katsaroumpas explored the possible paths of redemption: political, legal, and social. Last but not least, Dr. Ricardo Buendia further solidified the presentation of the Minimum Service Levels Act 2023 as a neoliberal ‘hybris’ by arguing that the Act does not draw inspiration from ILO standards but from dictatorial and neoliberal Chile.

Our annual human rights (keynote) lecture followed, by the ever inspiring, highly distinguished human rights scholar, Professor Conor Gearty, of the LSE and Matrix Chambers, who took us on a journey and showed us the false divide between civil and political rights and socio-economic rights. Professor Gearty emphasised the anachronism of dividing the two sets of rights and called on the European Court of Human Rights to adopt a holistic and an interactional understanding of ECHR rights that draws on socioeconomic rights (and the European Social Charter in particular).

The day ended with the Head of the Law Department, Professor Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, offering concluding observations that brought the themes explored during the day together, to extrapolate from them to the right-wing political climate that has given rise to attacks to the European Court of Human Rights and the ECHR, distracting our academic human rights community, and human rights activists in the UK, from the optimistic, forward-looking work urgently required when we’re confronted with epoch-defying challenges concerning socio-economic rights, at both the domestic and international level.

This week we are launching two Law and Policy Clinics in Counter Terrorism and Human Rights and Immigration. Over 60 students from Law and other departments in the School of Culture and Society have signed up to them.

Our Counter Terrorism and Human Rights Clinic is led by the legendary Clive Stafford Smith and will look at key themes in the setting of real life cases and the opportunity to get practical experience in the issues surrounding human rights and the ‘War on Terror’.

The Immigration Law Clinic is led by our wonderful Marta Minetti and will explore key current immigration themes, seeking to situate them within the government’s overarching “hostile environment” approach.

The clinics take place in the Spring Term via five two hour in-person sessions, and independent small group and individual student, Clinic-supervised, work.

Clinics are part of the ‘Beyond the Classroom’ initiative developed by Prof Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, Associate Head of School, and supported by the Head of School, Prof Adam Dinham.

The initiative brings students from different parts of the School of Culture & Society together, exposing them to unique experiential learning opportunities and study trips, to enhance cross-disciplinary skills, strengthen student community and expand the students’ career horizons.

Study trips to legal London are central to the Goldsmiths Law experience. Autumn 2023 saw Law students from all years of study go into legal institutions, museums and archives for important experiential learning.

Immigration Law students in Year 2 visited the Migration Museum in London along with their lecturer Dr. Marta Minetti. This is a particularly special visit for us because of our close ties with the local community in Lewisham, and visiting the museum provided an important opportunity to understand the law in its socio-political and local context.

The Human Rights Law and Clinic visited the Queer Museum with their lecturer Dr. Aristi Volou, where they learnt about the relationship between the Law and Queer Rights. Critical and intersectional analyses of the law are important to us at Goldsmiths Law, and we make sure that our students hear about these themes not only from our lecturers, but also through immersive learning experiences such as this museum visit.

Year 3 dissertation students had a chance to visit the LSE Reading Rooms in November 2023, where they learnt about doing deep-dive primary research in archives from one of the library’s curators. They had a chance to examine a selection of original archival material from the Women’s Library and Hall Carpenter Collection, which included documents on women’s suffrage, regulation of sex work/prostitution, trafficking, equal pay, LGBT rights.

The third week of November saw Year 2 Tort Law students visit the Royal Observatory at Greenwich with their lecturer, Dr. Jinal Dadiya. Students had a chance to learn about the history of time and length measurement, as relevant to legal adjudication and consumer protection. The lecture ended with a brief discussion on the relationship between commercial clarity and judicial fairness.

As part of the Beyond the Classroom initiative, which brings Law students in contact with other students and faculty in our Social Sciences and Media departments, and exposes them to a wealth of opportunities in London, we have, since the beginning of term, been to the National Theatre, an architectural awards evening at the Royal Academy of Arts, a book talk on big tech firms’ intrusion upon our freedom to think, a visit to the House of Commons and a lunchtime event with the NGO Airwars where we discussed civilian casualties in Palestine, Israel and Ukraine.

Sophia, a Year 1 student at Goldsmiths, said about the programme: “One of the things that really drew me to Goldsmiths was its hands-on, immersive learning experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom. The Beyond the Classroom initiative has far exceeded my expectations, enabling me to meet fascinating people from throughout the University and scaffolding me with the acute understanding of greater societal issues and the necessary tools to contribute both directly and indirectly to positive change through a Law degree”.

With the comparative criminal justice class, discussing how ECHR jurisprudence can be a driving force for legal reform.

With Prof Charles Weisselberg, on a visit to the Robbins Collection, which hosts over 300 manuscripts, of the civil law and religious traditions, dating back to the 12th century.

Head of Goldsmiths Law, Prof Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, was invited to visit the world-leading Berkeley Law School in October 2023. He taught the comparative law postgraduate class, supported Berkeley’s Human Rights Clinic and delivered a research paper on ‘The assault of the British government on the European Court of Human Rights’.

Prof Giannoulopoulos’ work raises awareness on how the Conservative government has continued to undermine the historically strong relationship that the UK enjoys with the Court, to satisfy the right wing audience in the party. Talking about his experiences with the pedagogy at Berkeley, Dimitrios says that he “found great inspiration in them, about continuing to actively engage students in class, bringing film, literature and popular culture into the lectures and the importance of integrating theory and legal practice; all these are elements that we are already enthusiastically embedding into our teaching at Goldsmiths Law”.

Observing Berkeley’s Prof Andrea Roth, teaching Criminal Evidence.